God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of his love.
The Ascension command of Jesus to go, teach and baptize was a moment when he conferred the power of giving new life in God. These words are from St. Irenaeus, a second century writer.
He reminds his writers and hearers who were on various journeys of life that God "had promised through the (words) of the prophets that ... he would pour out his Spirit" upon them. Furthermore, he taught that "when the Son of God became Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with the human race, to living in men (and women) and to inhabiting God's creation .... The Spirit accomplished the Father's will in men (and women) who had grown old in sin, and gave them new life in Christ."
He also reminded us that St. Luke taught "that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost ... with power to open the gates of all nations and to make known to them the new covenant." In his writings he uses the image of water to describe the Holy Spirit. Without water dough fails to become bread; without water trees produce no fruit.
These past five days you have read some of the insights from the earliest writings about the Holy Spirit. Hopefully these words have helped you renew in your hearts a stronger awareness of the power, the dynamism that God has given in the gift of the Spirit.
Perhaps the challenges we confront in our lives, in our society, in our world are a sign to us that we need to renew the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God does not fail in continuing the gifts of the Holy Spirit for us. As many of the early writers commented: the gift of the Spirit is an unending gift to those who are open to receiving it. On this Pentecost Day might we not ask ourselves about our own devotion, our own reliance upon the Holy Spirit in our day-to-day encounters with the world around us.
