Pentecost
By Mike Lambrecht
This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost-- when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles after Jesus ascended into heaven. This is a great event in the life of the Church. Some even call Pentecost the birthday of the Church because this is the day that the Apostles, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, first publicly preached the gospel to others.1
Each one of us receives this same Spirit which descended upon the Apostles at Pentecost at our own Confirmation. Our faith is strengthened just as the apostles was. We receive the fullness of the gifts and fruits of the Spirit. However, like any other virtues, these gifts must be used in order to grow. If we merely receive them and don't foster them, they wither away. On the other hand, if we nourish these gifts, they will continue to grow throughout our lives.
Traditionally, the gifts of the Spirit are: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude (courage), knowledge, piety, and Fear of the Lord (reverence). The fruits of the Spirit are: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, humility, fidelity, modesty, continence, and chastity. Who wouldn't want these to grow in their life?
These gifts are not given to us solely for our own good. The Holy Spirit gives us these so that we may change the world. Just as the apostles went out to teach and preach after they received the Holy Spirit, so too are we called to go out and witness to the world around us. This does not mean that each of us needs to become missionaries and move to third world countries. However, there are many practical ways that we can influence the world around us.
One of the principle ways that we can do this is at work. Do we treat others with charity? Do we gossip or speak badly about others behind their back? Do we work hard, or do we take every opportunity we can to slack off? Do we give good advice to our fellow co-workers when they come to us? Do we help out others in need? In other words, do we follow the great commandments-- Do we place God first in our lives and do we exhibit the love of neighbor that Christ taught us to? Can others look at us and say, "There is a good Christian?"
What we so often forget in this life is that we are called to be Saints. From the moment of our creation, our goal and destiny were placed within us--- to spend eternity with God in heaven. To fall short of this goal, is the greatest tragedy that I can fathom. I can't imagine the pain and suffering that those who spend eternity separated from God must endure. Each and every day for 100 billion years, they know that they could have spent eternity with the Lord God in perfect happiness in heaven if they had made other choices in their lives. Even after that much time, there is still the pain and suffering of knowing that they have not even scratched the surface of eternity. They still have 100 billion times 100 billion years to go. And when they reach that point, they still haven't scratched the surface of eternity. Eternity is just that, it never ends. I believe that if everyone spent about 15 minutes a day thinking about this, there would be a lot better choices made in our daily lives.
So many times we choose the wrong path and fail to exercise the virtues given to us in Confirmation. So many times we choose the limited good, the quick pleasure, over the eternal and everlasting. So many times we lose sight of the big picture and in doing so, we condemn ourselves.
It doesn't have to be that way. God has given us the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. God has given us the Sacraments to give us his life within us. If we have strayed from the path and lost sight of the big picture, now is the time to make a decision to reform our lives. Now is the time to make use of the Sacraments and to nourish the virtues that God has given us. It is never too late to change our lives for the better. If we do so, we may one day hear the words of the Master, " Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy."2
1 United States Catholic Catechism for Adults p. 523
2 Matthew 25:21