Pentecost Sunday

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Although we might understand the role of God the Father as our Creator and Patriarch and Jesus, the Son of God, as our Savior and Teacher... we don’t always appreciated the role of the Holy Spirit. We know we have been given the Holy Spirit by the Father through Christ, but do not fully comprehend what His Divine Mission is. We hear the words Advocate and Sanctifier, but do not quite understand how central the Holy Spirit is to our lives, especially if we wish to answer God’s call for us to become saints. As our Advocate, the Holy Spirit is called to our side, to remind us of all that God has done for us, is doing for us, and will do for us. He reminds us that God is always with us, will never abandon us, and will uphold us in times of trial. As our Sanctifier, the Holy Spirit inspires our consciences, reminds us of the teachings of Christ, and gives us every gift of grace that we need to fulfill our calling as Christians. In light of this, we should make it a point to not only pray to God our Father and Jesus His Beloved Son, but also to the Holy Spirit... the Spirit of Truth and the Love.

Do we seek the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, words, and works? How can we remind ourselves that the Holy Spirit is always with us, waiting for us to turn to Him? Are we willing to listen to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to sanctify us?

O Lord, send us your Holy Spirit.

Amen.