St James Catholic Church

Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promised to his disciples when he assured them that he would not leave them orphans. We are not left orphans either, as the Holy Spirit descended upon us in baptism and remains with us forever. Throughout our lives the Holy Spirit guides us along the path Jesus left for us and flows through us to bear fruit in the world. May the Holy Spirit, “bend our stubborn hearts and  wills when we resist God’s will and “guide us when we go astray,” in order to give us joys that never end.”

     The accounts of the coming of the Holy Spirit given by Luke in The Acts of the Apostles, and by John in his Gospel, are markedly different. In John’s Gospel, Jesus gave his disciples the Spirit himself the first time he appeared to them after the Resurrection. In Acts, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples after Jesus ascended to heaven. In John, the Spirit arrived on the soft breath of Jesus. In Luke, it was on a strong driving wind. In John, the disciples were silent. In Acts, the disciples immediately began to speak in tongues loud enough to be heard outside. Why the contradictions? It might help to think of the coming of the Holy Spirit as a process in stages, with the disciples slowly realizing the power they’d been given. Indeed, the Holy Spirit descended upon most of us in infancy, when we could not know what was happening, but appears again and again in different ways, with different gifts, and with different workings throughout our whole life.

     Today is the fiftieth day of Easter Pentecost. In fire and wind, the Spirit of the Lord descends with God’s sevenfold gifts of wisdom, understanding, judgement, courage, knowledge, reverence, and wonder. What great gifts the Lord gives to the Church! It’s the birth, the beginning of God’s people, and that means our rebirth as well.

Happy Birthday, everyone!

Love, Peace, Joy,

Fr. Bob