It may not be the case for everyone, but certainly, in my experience, the Holy Spirit seems to take a bit of a back seat behind Jesus and God the Father. In some Catholic circles (not all!), we “don’t do” the Holy Spirit. Maybe because there has been a lack of education about Him and the Trinity, or He is harder to understand. All of these factors are what ‘The Wild Goose’ series aims to address, and it does so very well.
This Pentecost, we invite you to pray Come, Holy Spirit. As Fr. Dave Pivonka says, “God wants to come with His power, with His fire on the world.”
These words may sound comforting, or they may sound weird or frightening. Maybe for me, I have shied away from the Holy Spirit because the language surrounding Him is too dramatic. Wind and fire and power and outpourings. Stories of people speaking in tongues, waving their hands in the air, and proclaiming dramatically. If that was how an outpouring of the Holy Spirit worked, then I didn’t want it.
Yet over time, I have started to understand who the Holy Spirit is and how He works. His power is not frightening. It is a power that is warm and full of encouragement, a power that banishes fear and fills one up with strength and confidence. A priest once said to me, “The Holy Spirit is a gentleman.” This I have found to be true. He works quietly, carefully, with us, waiting for the right moment, never barging into the door of our hearts, but asking gently, whilst waiting to be invited.
When we look at our world today, scarred and fractured, where nothing can be certain, and life is a commodity that can be done away with in many ways, including war and torture, do we not need an outpouring of God’s power over it? For how else can humanity find peace, between nations as well as in our hearts?
As Fr. Dave encourages, it doesn’t matter where you are, whether you want to meet in a parish group, with friends, or just by yourself, the Holy Spirit brings us all together in prayer.
There is one purpose to Pentecost, and that is: Come Holy Spirit. Come that you may pour out your power on our broken world, so in need of healing. Come that we ourselves may be healed. Come for all our friends who we know need healing. Come that you may bring peace to our world and our hearts. Come, Holy Spirit.
Catholic Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Catholic Books On The Holy Spirit
True Devotion to the Holy Spirit
In the School of the Holy Spirit
Sober Intoxication of the Spirit
