Dear Friends,

In May, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the First Disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem, after Jesus’ ascension back into heaven.

As the Holy Spirit falls upon the Disciples, they are filled with power from on high to proclaim the gospel to those around them. They are also enabled to speak in languages that up until that point in time, they had never spoken. Instead of being shy and not wanting to be seen in public after the Resurrection, because they feared arrest if they were, they begin preaching to the crowds, no longer concerned about the consequences.  In short, their lives are completely transformed.

The Holy Spirit is also able to fill us with the same power and change our lives too. He fills us first of all at our baptism and whenever we allow him to do so thereafter. He is able to pray for us when we are unable to do so ourselves and makes the words and deeds of Jesus real to us, by reminding us of them, throughout our lives. In addition, He empowers us to live life God’s way, rather than our own.

St. Paul urges us to keep on being filled by the Holy Spirit throughout our lives. He recognised from the outset that we each need the infilling of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis, in order to succeed as Jesus’ disciples. Without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, help or power, the Christian life, which is not easy to live out in an increasingly secular world, would be impossible.

 God bless.

Andrew