Pentecost Sunday
Today is Pentecost Sunday. Oddly, the Gospel recounts Jesus’ speaking “in reference to the Spirit” to the scared-to-death apostles on Easter evening, long before the Spirit came on Pentecost. This may seem strange, but there is a connection between the Holy Spirit and the peace the resurrected Christ imparted to his trembling apostles.
The Spirit drives out fear so that the peace of Christ may take root in the soul. We live in a society today where assorted fears haunt our everyday lives. So, we have desperate need of the Spirit to assure us Christ is with us beside our fears.
As at Pentecost, the Spirit comes to us giving us a mission: Go, proclaim the Gospel, the Good News! He calls us to be witnesses that Christ is with us and therefore we should not give in hopelessly to fear, but give evidence to his mercy and forgiveness.
Resolve: During this Pentecost week I shall put aside time to thank the Lord humbly and gratefully for all he has given me, and I shall ask him to enable me, through prayers and activities, to bring him and his peace to each person I encounter, especially those whose lives are dominated by present fears and those of a seeming hopeless future.