Living The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit
Most churches today observe the celebration of Pentecost, marking the descent of the Holy Spirit into the world. I love how Scripture describes this momentous event: Jesus breathes on his disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He breathes the Spirit into them. I admit that the rest of the story is a bit hard to fathom so mysterious and preposterous as it is — the tongues of fire, the house-shaking wind, the apostles suddenly being able to speak and understand many different languages.
A more poetic reading of the Pentecost Scripture makes sense. Perhaps the writer of the Acts of the Apostles was trying to describe just how consequential this event was, reflecting a dramatic change in Jesus’ disciples. They moved from despair over the crucifixion and confusion over seeing Christ apparently risen from the dead, to boldly proclaiming Jesus’ message to anyone who would listen, even at the risk of losing their lives.
Perhaps we can interpret the part in which the disciples suddenly understand many foreign tongues as the point at which they truly begin to listen to people who are not like them, whom they no longer choose to see as “other.” Perhaps those who were “astounded” to hear the disciples speaking in their language were reacting more to the disciples’ actions than their words, to their use of the universal language of love.
If I can’t quite grasp the mechanics of what actually transpired on Pentecost, I certainly can attest to feeling the presence of the Spirit in my own life. (By the way, I’m glad the church stopped referring to the Spirit several decades ago as the “Holy Ghost” which petrified generations of children!). There have been times when I literally held my face in my hands despairing over some situation in my life and prayed with all my heart to the Spirit for guidance. An answer always comes.
When I begin preparing for a retreat, I pray to the Holy Spirit to inspire in me the right words that will touch even just one person’s heart. I pray for each member of the retreat, by name, that they might have a meaningful and uplifting experience.
Michael K. Marsh, rector of St. Philip Episcopal Church in Uvalde, Texas (yes, that Uvalde where teachers and children died in a mass shooting in 2022) wrote a beautiful reflection on Pentecost in which he encourages us to look upon what fills us with amazement as the work of the Spirit.
“I’m talking about the kind of amazement that deepens your life and gives meaning; that leaves you weeping in gratitude; that surprises you with your own goodness and beauty; that causes you to whisper to yourself, Yes, amen, let it be; that takes your breath away, leaves you speechless, and makes you glad to be alive; that opens your heart and eyes to more than you ever imagined; that makes you wonder how you ever got through that rough time in your life,” Marsh writes.
Likewise, what perplexes us is also fertile ground for the work of the Spirit, Marsh says.
He adds, “These days I am perplexed by how we often talk to and about one another, and our inability or refusal to listen to each other. I’m perplexed by the violence in our world today and how some can turn away from injustice and say we need to move on. I am perplexed by my own inconsistencies and self-contradictions. I’m perplexed by how I keep the same patterns of thought and behavior even when I know they aren’t working and I say I want something else.”
Who couldn’t use the Spirit’s help in all those areas? I know I can.
In a lovely reflection this week for “Catholic Women Preach,” Brooklyn educator Brooke Matejka offers an interesting interpretation of those “tongues of fire” recorded in Acts. She sees them as the “divine spark for the church, a fire that never goes out.”
Might those “tongues” also spur us to have the proverbial fire in our bellies, to resist the many injustices taking place in our country right now against the poor, the marginalized, and other minorities. To keep demanding an end to the wars and conflicts raging in so many places?
It was part of the genius of St. Paul to identify a litany of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These include wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord, which can also be considered as “reverence” for the Lord. All of these gifts fall under a rubric of love; all can be considered another word for a form of love.
It’s interesting too that Paul describes these attributes as gifts, something given to us which we can accept or reject. Our world sorely needs these gifts today.
In his letter to Galatians, Paul goes further and describes the “fruits” that flow from the gifts of the Spirit. These include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Writing on Pentecost in the prayer booklet “Give Us This Day,” Sister of Mercy Julia Upton says that each sister in her community receives a prayer card on Pentecost with one of the gifts of the Spirit written on it. It is to remind the sister to focus on that gift throughout the year.
What gift would you choose to focus on this year? Fortitude? Piety? Understanding? A combination of several of the gifts?
What fruit of the Spirit do you yearn for? Gentleness, peace, self-control?
How can we remind ourselves of both the gifts and the fruits of the Spirit, and daily?
