Come Holy Spirit
15 May 2018
Preparing for the feast of Pentecost this weekend is the perfect opportunity to reflect on our relationship with the Holy Spirit. We have some concept of God the Father – given that we have earthly parents ourselves. God the Son is easier still – the gospels give such vivid descriptions of the life and ministry of Jesus, but who is this mysterious third person of the Trinity, God the Spirit?
In the Acts of the Apostles, we are introduced to the dynamism and drama of the first century Church. Today’s reading is a good example. Paul is speaking to the elders of the Church in Ephesus, a community he founded. He tells them,
I am on my way to Jerusalem but have no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, in town after town, has made it clear enough that imprisonment and persecution await me.
Paul isn’t vague about who the Holy Spirit is. He hears His voice, feels led by Him and understands himself as an instrument for His power. He reminded the Corinthians, ‘in my speeches and sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit’ (1 Cor. 2.4). He told the community in Rome that he was proud of ‘what I have said and done by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ (Rom. 15.19) He reminds them that ‘the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.’ (Rom. 5.5)
Do you experience the Spirit moving in your life?
This week, invite Him to fill you once again with love and power. You can’t be a Christian without Him!