When St. Francis de Sales became Bishop of Geneva in 1602, he inherited a diocese mostly made up of “former Catholics.” They were now Calvinists. Francis had been through his own crisis with Calvinist thinking during his student days—and from this natural empathy for the thinking of those who left the church to follow Calvin, he worked assiduously to bring them back. He is the patron of evangelists today because of his remarkable success. I have read 55,000 people returned to the Catholic Church–or that over 70,000 returned—because of St. Francis’ efforts. Impressive numbers!
St. Francis was a practical man who did not begin with theological arguments. He tended to begin with practical practices of the faith—like having those who remained Catholic in a village to drop to their knees when the Angeles bells rang or to make the simple Sign of the Cross, saying “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
This simple action must have activated the Holy Spirit to work within and through the faithful of his diocese, for they began to draw those who had left the church back.
The Holy Spirit can do the same through us today. It IS doing that through the simple recognition that God lives in us and is active in us as we work with the Holy Spirit.
Paul in Ephesus
As we prepare between Ascension and Pentecost for our annual celebration of the Holy Spirit, today we hear what happened to Paul in Ephesus. Today’s first reading says Paul went down to Ephesus and found some disciples. Paul must have noticed something incomplete about their practice of The Way, because he asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” Their reply was, “We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
Paul then baptized these disciples, laid hands on them, and they began to manifest the Holy Spirit through speaking in tongues and prophesying.
Does it take speaking in tongues or prophesying or healing to have the Holy Spirit?
NO! Absolutely not. Our church teaches that we receive the Holy Spirit—that is, God living in us—at baptism. A stronger power of the Holy Spirit is received in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Each and every sacrament is a dose of God, and so, each and every Confession or Eucharist can enhance the flame of God’s Life in us.
However, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives depends on our practical life with God—specifically our avoidance of sin and our prayer for God to work through and in us. As we have heard Jesus say in the Gospels again and again the past couple of weeks “You are my friends if you do what I command of you.”
While the Holy Spirit does not depart from us when we are in a state of sin or unaware of it, it is as if we have imprisoned or hidden God. He is dormant, silent within It is as if we have never even heard of the Holy Spirit. We have to both confess/repent from the sin and then pray for the re-activization of the Holy Spirit.
In My Life
That was me in my “barely hanging onto the Faith years.” When I confessed and repented, strange things began to happen in my mind and heart. It spooked me. It was as if I had never even heard of the Holy Spirit. I did not recognize him. I started attending to prayer more. I started thinking differently. I started doing good things without deciding to do them. One night I went to a community Martin Luther King celebration in an African-American Baptist Church. People were seriously praying in and for the Holy Spirit. Their intensity and emotion spooked me some more, but I wanted more of God, “Give me something like what they have,” I asked.
He did. I had lots more repenting and converting to do, but the ship was turned. That was nine years ago. God is still working on me! I still cannot tell “this is the Holy Spirit” with certainty—until afterwards, when I see the results.
But there are characteristics which are surer guides than feelings of “this is of God” or even of special expressions of the Holy Spirit—like tongues, prophecy, or healing. (The Holy Spirit can be expressed in those special ways, but the Holy Spirit is also expressed in ordinary actions we all can do-like make the Sign of the Cross, as St. Francis de Sales taught.)
Those Characteristics Include:
Gifts of the Spirit: Fear of the Lord, Piety, Fortitude, Knowledge, Counsel, Understanding, and Wisdom.
Fruits of the Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Self-Control.
Charisms: Charisms are gifts EVERY Christian receives to take his or her place in building the Kingdom of God. These are like talents or skills—but deeper, richer. In a study I made several years ago with some of Sherry Weddell’s materials, characteristics of a Charism include: (1) an attraction to doing this work—you love it; (2) results when you do it that are better than you would expect; (3) other people recognize the effectiveness/giftedness of your work; (4) you cannot, do not use this gift for evil—only for good; (5) charisms may be evident from youth or may be given at the time they are needed. I’ve taught from youth, written for years, but only recently added a charism of hospitality.
So…How Is the Holy Spirit in Your Life?
Do you see the Presence of the Gifts of the Spirit?
Do you see the Presence of the Fruits of the Spirit?
Do you see the Presence of particular talents/skills/charisms? Which ones?
Pray. Ask God. See what God does: Even a simply Sign of the Cross can be the beginning of your new conversion–or God’s use of you to spark new conversions of family, friends, parish.
As a reader pointed out last week , we are now in the time of the original novena, the nine days of prayer between Ascension and Pentecost, when the Apostles and the Blessed Virgin prayed and fasted for Jesus’ promised gift of the Holy Spirit. Here is a link to the novena. Begin it now. If you are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, you HAVE the Holy Spirit—whether you have truly heard of it or not. Pray that the Holy Spirit be released or re-released in you!
Prayer:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be re-created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen
