Ground Breaking -The Holy Spirit: God’s Answer to Our Fears!

The Feast of Pentecost                                                              

The Holy Spirit: God’s Answer to Our Fears!

One of the clear attributes that stood out in the post resurrection Apostles was their fearlessness!  For most people, F-E-A-R means “Flee Everything And Run!” and for others it means “Face Everything And Rise!”  So, which version fits you?    

Saint Paul writes in his Letter to the Romans: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. You did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption through which we cry ‘Abba, Father’”.(Romans 8:14-15)  Have you consciously accepted your adopted identity?  Do you know with certainty that God loves and claims you as his own; that you have not been abandoned, forgotten, or forsaken? Well, God sent the Holy Spirit to remind you – to remind us! The Holy Spirit gives you a new start, a new heart, a new way of thinking and a new purpose for living.  The Holy Spirit gives you a new lease on life; something you may have thought was impossible, like being born all over again!   In fact, the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was as groundbreaking as the resurrection itself.  With the coming of the Holy Spirit, which, we are told, “came to rest on each of them” (Acts 2:3), we see the groundbreaking power of the resurrection made available to and manifested through the believing community.  The Apostle Paul puts it this way:  “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” (1 Corinthians 12:7). Saint Paul continues, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service… but the same God who produces all of them in everyone”. Everyone?  Yes, that means each and every one of you here today! 

As the Church across the globe celebrates Pentecost today, we are invited to stop fleeing and start rising!  Rise from your self-pity and constant doubts!  Rise from past failures and sins and receive God’s forgiveness!  Rise from all the excuses you have had that have blocked God from accomplishing the great things in you that he has always wanted to do!  Be humble enough to fall to your knees and pray, and confident enough to stand to your feet and praise. Open your hearts to receive his grace and open your minds to believe the Faith!  Believe that God has anointed you, and appointed you; blessed you and equipped you; called and gifted you to go forth and bear much fruit! Trusting in the Divine Advocate, face everything today with confidence, and rise to the grace-filled life that Jesus died, rose, and sent the Holy Spirit for you to have!