(Audio)
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Without the Holy Spirit we too are afraid as are the disciples. We tend to, even when not required by circumstance, to lock ourselves away from situations where we might be called to share our gifts. We are not yet ready to head out on mission. Into this fear Jesus comes to us and wishes us peace.
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
His words have power for us because the one who speaks is the same one whom we saw crucified. He reveals himself to us as alive, not a ghost, not just a disembodied spirit, but risen both body and soul.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
He wishes us peace a second time. By doing so a second time he seems to emphasize that this peace comes from his revelation of his resurrected body and leads to the gift of the Spirit.
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.
The new creation began here when Jesus breathed life into it, just as the original creation began with the breath of life breathed into Adam. The Hebrew word for breath, ruah, also means Spirit. And the basis of the new life in Christ is precisely this life-giving Spirit.
We receive peace from our faith in the resurrection of Jesus. The peace our faith in him gives us allows us to be open to new life by the power of the Spirit, whereas without it we our minds would be too overcome with fear to welcome him.
The Spirit is the principle by which any threats to new life in Christ are avoided or healed. The principle threat is sin, which can collapse our new life back into a natural state tending toward death. Hence the Spirit guides us away from sin, toward all truth. He advocates for us against the Accuser. He convicts us about sin and righteousness. And he himself is the one through whom forgiveness is given. He himself is the salve that heals and restores life.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
We might think that we would be ready to head out on mission after this new life is given. But Jesus has more that he wants us to receive.
While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for "the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit" (see Acts 1:4-5).
The resurrection faith is not all Jesus has for us. Sacramental grace is not all he has for us. He calls us to remain where we are until we are filled with the Holy Spirit. It is this Spirit that transforms moments of revelation into a new and reality on which we can base our lives.
But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (see Acts 1:8).
Until we receive the Holy Spirit in this way we lack the power to live the lives that Jesus intends for us. We will have moments of faith and revelation but we will vacillate between those and fear and doubt still strong enough to keep us locked away and ineffective.
Confirmation is meant to be the place where we receive the Holy Spirit. It is supposed to make the grace of Pentecost present to each believer. But for how many of us did confirmation truly translate to power to live the Christian life? For how many did it genuinely strengthen our ability to bear an adult witness to the faith? If the answer is almost none of us that isn't surprising. Our preparation often missed the expectant prayer that characterized the early Church as she prepared for the first Pentecost.
All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers (see Acts 1:14).
This does not mean that Confirmation was any less efficacious for us. But it does mean that for most of us there is much untapped potential latent within us. The Holy Spirit has placed his seal upon us (see CCC 1293) and his power within us. We need to prepare ourselves for it to be unleashed. From the resurrection peace of Jesus we are free enough from the world to come together and devote ourselves to expectant prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to come.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
The Holy Spirit responds to us, accepting any invitation he is offered.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
The coming of the Holy Spirit is always miraculous and often dramatic. But no two encounters with him are the same. It would not serve him to make everyone speak only one language while there was still a world that spoke many. It would not serve him to empower only a single gift when the world needs his manifold grace.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
Our preparations for receiving him should include prayer that he remove any doubts we have about his power or any limits on our expectations about what he can do in us specifically. As soon as we hear that each gift is unique we tend to excuse ourselves from looking for the specially miraculous so as to avoid disappointment. But it should rather be that we realize that all of the gifts of the Spirit, even those that seem the most mundane, are equally miraculous, equally impossible without his presence.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
When the Spirit fills us we can begin to proclaim the Lordship of Jesus in a way that is powerful. Whatever our gifts, they come together in this one proclamation. It is here that the division of Babel of finally reversed.
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.
You Will Receive Power - John Michael Talbot
Set a Fire - Jesus Culture
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