Pentecost: The holy Spirit, creative, lively, quiet and encouraging

The Bible speaks of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. When he came, it was Pentecost. Where he comes, there is Pentecost. But what is this Holy Spirit? Can you touch it? Can you see it, or at least feel it? We all know that and have a 7th sense for it. When you enter a room full of people and hear them talking to each other, you somehow sense whether it’s good here or not. You sense something of the spirit that dwells here, even if you might not call it that. It speaks of the spirit of money, the spirit of power, the spirit of capitalism, etc. What does the Bible mean when it speaks of the Spirit of God? What kind of spirit is this? The Bible tells stories about it. It tells what it’s like when people come into contact with this spirit, when it comes over them. Ruach – that’s the Hebrew word for our word spirit. At the beginning of the Bible, it tells how God breathed the Ruach into man’s nostrils, and thus man became alive. So this Holy Spirit is a spirit that gives life. Wonderful. Elijah, a great prophet of his time, wanted to see God, and he saw him not in mighty natural events but in a gentle rushing. The word “spirit” appears here, too. This Holy Spirit does not come spectacularly, not in the wake of volcanic eruptions and roaring waves. He comes quietly; he is suddenly there. The disciples of Jesus, as we heard earlier, were crouching together, full of fear and discouragement (caught in a kind of spirit of fear!), and suddenly this spirit of life came over them, and their fear was gone. They gained courage and began to tell people about what they had experienced. That is what the Holy Spirit who comes from God is like: creative, lively, quiet, encouraging.

What more could one wish than for us all to feel this living, quiet, encouraging spirit? But often enough, it’s not there. Our time, some say, is spiritless. It revolves only around material things, commerce, careers. And then what? Some say that this ancient Holy Spirit of life, which our ancestors still felt, has departed, emigrated. But where to? And what are we left with? Some say that our lives have become so fast-paced that there’s hardly any time for this spirit that wants to come.

Sometimes one gets the impression that behind the excessive hectic pace of our activities lies a mistrust of God’s power. And behind the proliferation of our works lies a weakening of our faith, as we ultimately rely only on what we ourselves accomplish and achieve. But we are effective not only through what we do, but also no less through who we are when we become mature, free, and true by keeping the roots of our being in the fruitful silence of God.

The Bible, especially the evangelist John, tells us that this spirit of life is comforting. He tells us that life is a coming and going, a beginning and an ending, and that this spirit of consolation is with us. Whether that is security, I don’t know, but it can become the certainty that we are not alone. That is what the disciples experienced, too. Their master, with whom they had experienced so many good things, was gone – and what was left behind? The spirit of consolation, which guides them in the truth. That is the experience they had. The Holy Spirit of life, who had, so to speak, taken up residence in this Jesus of Nazareth, came back and stayed with them: alive, quiet, and encouraging.

The Holy Spirit overcomes fear. Let us step forward, fearlessly, and proclaim the message of Christ Crucified, without fear, knowing we are in the hands of the Strong.

Fr Joe