Pentecost Sunday - May 23, 2021

 

Homily for Pentecost

May 23, 2021

Praying in the Spirit

 

            The Holy Spirit gave some remarkable gifts in the early Church. Today, we hear about the gift of tongues – and the gift of evangelization, as Peter’s preaching converts three thousand people (I wish my homilies could be as effective!). If we keep reading through Acts of the Apostles, we see the Holy Spirit giving the Apostles the gifts of healing and prophecy and extraordinary knowledge – even the gift of raising people from the dead!

            So where are these gifts now? Don’t you and I possess the same Holy Spirit that filled the Apostles? Three thoughts on this. First, the early Church needed to see extraordinary signs for the Faith to be spread – just as it is important to take extra care of a baby that an adult wouldn’t require, it was important for God to shower the infant Catholic Church with extraordinary gifts to help it grow into full maturity.

            Second, the Holy Spirit is still active in the Church – just in different ways. We see the Spirit active in our lives when we feel inspired to do something good, when we have a desire to pray, or are filled with courage to follow Christ despite any difficulty. The Spirit gives gifts that are often subtle, but are nonetheless from God.

            But there is a third reason I believe why the Church does not manifest such extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit – and that is because we don’t desire it enough.

            One time a young man sought to join a Catholic monastery, so he knocked on the door and was met by the abbot. The young man said that he loved God and wanted to devote his whole life to Him. To his surprise, the abbot took the young man to the back of the monastery and instructed him to wade into the lake, and the abbot went in with him. When they were chest-deep in the water, the abbot grabbed the young man by the hair and plunged him under the water.

            The young man was so taken by surprise that he began flailing around, sucking in water, feeling like he would drown. Just before he passed out, the old monk let him up for air – but just for one breath, before he dunked him again. Once again the young man fought but this old abbot was surprisingly strong, and he once again felt like drowning, as his lungs were burning and he couldn’t breathe. Finally the monk let him up for one more breath before plunging him yet again. This time the young man was able to struggle free from the grasp of the monk, and he quickly swam to shore where he stood there panting and gasping for breath.

            “What was that for?” the young man angrily demanded. The old monk simply replied, “When you desire God as much as you desired air, you can enter the monastery.”

            Do we desire God that much? Do we pray with expectation, with confidence that God is actually listening, and that He has the power to actually send us His Spirit? Or are our prayers perfunctory? Many of us merely recite an Our Father and a Hail Mary before going to bed and wonder why we’ve never experienced the Holy Spirit. Because we don’t burn with a desire for Him!

            People will pray with such fervor when they want material blessings. Pope Francis recently told a wonderful story about a poor man whom he knew in Argentina, who was told that his nine-year-old daughter in the hospital wasn’t going to live much longer. In desperation, he took a train to a distant shrine of Our Lady, and he arrived late at night when the shrine was closed. Undaunted, the man fell to his knees, gripping the gate, and prayed aloud with tears and pleading. When the nuns came in the morning to open up the shrine, they found the man there, on his knees, clutching the gate. He went in and prayed before a statue of Our Lady, and as he was returning home, his wife called with the good news – doctors couldn’t understand it, but his daughter made a full recovery. The power of prayer!

But if we are willing to do this just for earthly blessings, have we ever prayed with such fervor just to know God, to be filled with the Spirit? The word “enthusiasm” actually comes from the Greek word “enthousiazein” which literally translates to “being possessed by a god”. To pray with enthusiasm – not just with words but with fervor – this will unleash the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

            St. Paul talks about this in Romans 8, when he says: “The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” Have you ever desired something so intensely that your words fail you, and you just feel an ache inside? This is what St. Paul is talking about – desiring God so intensely that we feel it, we groan for it. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are unleashed in proportion to our faith – so when we desire Him intensely, we will receive His Spirit.

            I believe that as it becomes harder and harder to believe in God in our modern, rationalistic world, God is prepared to shower extraordinary graces and gifts of the Spirit on believers. I know people – young and old – who have had mystical experiences such as visions and speaking in tongues. I have seen people exercise gifts of healing and prophecy right before my eyes. These gifts are real and are still given to the Church – but only if we have enough faith to burn with a holy desire for God.

            Today – whether in this church after Mass, or in the silence of your room tonight – beg God for an outpouring of His Holy Spirit. If you ask with faith and desire – confident that He will come through, hungry for Him and Him alone – you will see the Spirit alive and active in your life.