With the celebration of Pentecost, we formally close or end the Easter Season. The last fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus have been opportunities or avenues for the disciples to recover their sense of discipleship, to rekindle once again their courage and fortitude. Why was that? Because they were disillusioned when Christ died; their hope and their faith were crushed or plummeted, not knowing what to do anymore when Christ died. So, after the resurrection, the different encounters of Jesus with his disciples were really meant to teach them once again of the ways of the kingdom of God, for the disciples to re-learn how to trust in Jesus, to recover their identity and not to be afraid. Before the Pentecost event, the disciples weren’t out in the open—they were hiding. In fact, the Gospel for tomorrow says that “the disciples locked themselves for fear—fear to lose themselves, fear for what is known, fear to commit to the Gospel.” So Jesus promised to them that he would send the Holy Spirit to dispel all their anxieties and fears.
But who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the love that exists and binds God the Father and Jesus. It’s the continuous manifestation of God’s abiding presence. Since Jesus and God the Father could not be bodily
present, it is their Spirit that continues to make their presence felt. It is the same Spirit that continues to guide the Church to its ultimate goal and continues to direct us if we are listening intently towards the fulfillment of God’s will for us. A simplistic, but helpful, analogy would be this: We are alive because of the air we breathe. We don’t see the air, but we know that it does exist. We can’t touch it, but we know it’s there. Same thing with the wind. We don’t see it, but we can feel and experience its effect. We don’t see God the Father or the Jesus in bodily form, but we know that they are real because of the Spirit that makes them known.
Another helpful way of understanding the Holy Spirit’s role is what is contained in the famous song, “Spirit of the Living God” — Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, Fall afresh on me.
Holy Spirit, melt me. To melt is to change the form; a radical change of the heart; it’s basically to be renewed, to be transformed from the old self to a new self like what happened with the disciples. The Holy Spirit melted their fears, their anxieties, melted their old self, melted their insecurities and sins. And, the Holy Spirit melted the locks of the doors that shut them off from proclaiming the Gospel. What are the things that the Holy Spirit needs to melt in us so that we can experience renewal, so that we don’t find ourselves locked in fear? If we are still submerged in sin, unforgiveness, an excessive desire for material things, for power, for riches, if we are still plunged in any kind of addiction, then we are still locked up like the apostles when Jesus first appeared to them. Holy Spirit, melt me. And then, after we are melted, the Holy Spirit can only mold us. From melting to molding, to be formed once again according to the original dignity that we share in God. To be molded according to the plan of God, to lead lives according to the Gospel. Looking at my life right now, to whose mold have I been formed? Can people see in me the form or the presence of God? Then, after we have been molded, the Holy Spirit fills us, breathes on us. When our true mold is back once again, the Holy Spirit also gives us the necessary grace in order to function according to the plan of God. The Holy Spirit fills us with what? With the gifts of the Holy Spirit! — wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord– the necessary virtues and gifts that we need in order to remain faithful to our call. Just like what happened with the disciples. They were given the necessary tools in order for them to carry out their call and their mission. They weren’t just left on their own to take care of the mission by themselves. They were given the necessary tools to be effective! But, they had to be melted first, to be molded and then the Holy Spirit could work in them. And so, after we have been filled in by the Holy Spirit, the last part of the work of the Holy Spirit is to use us, to send us.
Just like the disciples after being transformed, and filled in by the Holy Spirit, they were sent to the world to continue the mission of Jesus — so are we. We are being sent to the world to continue the work of Jesus in our own unique way. We can’t just hide and take our discipleship as private. We can’t continue to be locked up. We have to go out and be the hands, the feet and the mouth of Christ! The work of evangelization — this work begins at home, in our workplaces and is most powerfully shown by our own witnessing, not so much by our own words. How am I responding to this call of being sent? Do I know where I am being sent by God?
When the disciples took seriously their call to be sent, the Church grew enormously and exists this very day! And, we take on that role in continuing to advance the kingdom of God. Are you ready to be melted, be
molded, be filled and be sent? – Fr. Cary