Pentecost 2020
Acts 2: 1-11; 1Cor 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20: 19-23
How did you receive the Spirit? Indeed, how do you receive the Spirit? Did/does the Holy Spirit come to you as the Pentecost Spirit, in wind and flame and spectacular gifts, or does that same Holy Spirit come as the Easter Sunday evening Spirit, in a gentle inbreathing?
Either way, make no mistake about it: you have received the Spirit, and you do receive the Spirit. You received the Holy Spirit when you were baptised, you received the Holy Spirit when you were confirmed; and be very clear that these two sacraments (if indeed they are two separate sacraments rather than two parts of the same sacrament) are manifestations of God’s love for you and of God’s gifts to you.
The sort of catechesis which sees confirmation as the action of the candidate, making some sort of commitment to God as if it were some sort of Christian bar mitzvah is downright heretical, for sacraments are always a gift from God, and the coming of the Holy Spirit is a gift OF God, for the one who comes is indeed God.
Are these though the only occasions on which you have received the Holy Spirit? Surely not. As St. Paul states, there is nothing good or godly which we can do without the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, the Lectionary omits verses 8-11 from that passage in 1 Corinthians, verses in which Paul lists some of the gifts which the Spirit gives, and the verbs of giving are all in the present tense. In other words, the Holy Spirit is still giving us gifts here and now. The Spirit came to dwell in us at our baptism/confirmation, but that Spirit is still active in enabling us through His/Her/Its gifts.
“No one” declares St. Paul, “can say Jesus is Lord unless under the influence of the Holy Spirit.” So every time we proclaim our faith in Jesus, every time we perform a work of service, the Holy Spirit is, at that moment, active in us.
Which brings me back to my original question: how did, and how do you receive the Holy Spirit? There may be people who are conscious of the action of the Holy Spirit, who are driven by a wind of change, moved by fire in their bellies: perhaps more of us than we may have thought enjoy that experience from time to time. I distinctly remember one afternoon in my teens being struck by the thought, completely out of the blue, “You must become much more aware of the needs of other people, and especially much more grateful to your Mum and Dad.” There was no spectacular appearance or sound of wind or fire, but it was a very clear moment of inspiration to which I knew I had to respond, and which remains with me to this day.
Similarly, I can point to the exact spot in St. Peter’s Cathedral, Lancaster, where I was kneeling during my dinner hour from work at Whiteside’s Laundry when I knew that I must consider seriously the possibility of a vocation to the priesthood, and I have read the account by Lancaster lass Edwina Gateley, founder of the Volunteer Missionary Movement and social justice prophet, of her similar experience, likewise in the Cathedral.
Such moments tend to be few and far between. They are the Pentecost moments of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Much more frequent are the Easter Sunday evening moments, as described in today’s Gospel, when the risen Christ breathes the Spirit into us, and thus empowers us to be agents of forgiveness and healing. Whenever we perform some positive action, we are being guided by the Holy Spirit to help build the Kingdom of God. Every such moment is, in reality, a Pentecost moment, though the Spirit’s action may be closer to that of Easter Sunday evening.
