Reflection on Pentecost Sunday (Br Samuel Lim)

Last Sunday, in the parish I attended, I was amused by the slide they projected before Mass.


What an irony! ;p

This Sunday the Church will be celebrating Pentecost Sunday. In the Gospel, Jesus promised his disciples that the Holy Spirit would be with them forever, and that this Spirit would teach them everything [ Jn 14:15-16, 23-26]. That promise is extended to all of us as well, particularly us who are his disciples of today. But are we ready to receive the Holy Spirit? How has our preparation been? Jesus says the Father will send the Holy Spirit in his name; but we will not be able receive if we are not in the proper disposition – like how communication may be affected if we switch off the means or tools of communication, as comically illustrated in the slide above.

So how do we prepare ourselves to receive the Holy Spirit? There is, of course, no strict formula since “the wind blows where it chooses,” [Jn 3:8] but we can gather some points from the Gospel. Jesus says, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him and make our home with him.” [Jn 14:23] What is most important is our intimate relationship with God – to abide in the Holy Trinity as they make their home in us, and they “come to us” precisely in the Holy Spirit, the Advocate that Jesus sent to the Church after his ascension into heaven. And living an intimate relationship with God entails us being faithful and obedient to his word. Have we been faithful? How have we been living our lives according to God’s Word? Do our lives testify that the Word of God is alive and active? [cf Heb 4:12]

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your love!

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Alphonsus Dominic on 21st May 2010.