Pentecost Sunday 31.5.20 Be not afraid
The economy requires consumer confidence. If we all spend up
that will create jobs and production and everything gets going.
If everyone stays home it all grinds to a halt.
We can see a spiritual parallel in the coming of the Holy
Spirit.
If everyone has the confidence to believe in God and all the
story of our salvation, then there will be a collective enthusiasm. The churches
would be bulging; evangelising and catechising would be everywhere, and there
would be miracles.
But if there is no prayer there will be hesitation and
confusion; no one will be passing on the faith.
There is definitely a lack of confidence abroad at present.
In any case we cannot do it on our own. We cannot spend the
economy into action nor be able to motivate whole Church, but we can do our
bit.
This will be good for us and for the Church.
When we pray Come Holy Spirit it is an appeal that He
work on us, making us ready for action.
He will cleanse our souls and make us bold in reaching others.
We also ask Him to come on everyone else - the whole Church,
the society, the world - in the hope that enthusiasm, commitment and faith will
spread (like a fire).
We have said it before Come Holy Spirit, but we always need to keep current.
Just as we have to eat and drink every day, so we must pray.
It is an ongoing need for us, as we live in time, and can take things only one
at a time.
Each of us can ask for all that we need in each situation.
Our faith has to be on the boil, ready to grasp and to exercise.
We cannot afford to cool off with the passing of time. This
would happen if we neglect the essential points, such as daily prayer.
With enough prayer we will have greater insight into God's
will, realizing that it is not always spectacular things He calls us to.
We do not all have to be preaching in the public square; but
we do all have to be sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit.
And to be filled with Him, meaning that our wills are at one
with His: whatever He wants we will do it, even die for Him.
Are we ready to die for Him? We will be if we dwell long
enough in His presence.
Fear is always some sort of emptiness, something missing.
When the Holy Spirit comes He fills that empty feeling.
The apostles were hiding for fear of the Jews. But when the Holy
Spirit came they were bursting down the door, never again to give way to fear.
Unfortunately that state of affairs did not last long. The
first Pentecost was the highest point of the Church’s history. We have been
recovering and re-starting ever since. We are forever trying to recapture that first
fervour and apply it in our time.
No matter how much we have failed we can make a new start. Every
moment is a new chance. We are renewing every moment our beliefs, and our
desire to put those beliefs into action.
Come, renew the face of the earth.
Renewal is not change of beliefs or rules, but the deepening
of beliefs, with a greater understanding of the rules that go with that.
The ‘newness’ that many seek is to change everything; instead
we should look for renewal in getting back to where it all came from – the ancient
truth which is ever new.
It is the same Holy Spirit, the same human need, the same
plan of salvation as two thousand years ago.
It is within our reach, at least individually, to claim the
Holy Spirit’s guidance, knowing that whatever improvement we can make as
individuals will help the whole Church.
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