By Kate Walsh-Soucheray

“To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” ~ 1 Cor 12:7

The term ‘Pentecost’ was a name and feast that was familiar to the Jewish people in Palestine at the time of Jesus. It was the commemoration of Moses’ reception of the Decalogue, or the Ten Commandments, from God during the making of the Sinai Covenant. Pentecost for the Hebrew People celebrated the end of the wheat harvest and the offering of the first fruits. The Decalogue, given to Moses for the benefit of this People, provided guidance for them to know and understand how God expected them to live in community and honor Him through offering the first fruits of their harvest.

The Christian Pentecost

When Jesus, a Jewish man, was crucified on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, fifty days following His Resurrection became the Christian celebration of Pentecost. However, the feast day for Catholics and Christians is not the giving of guidance for how they were to live, but rather, it was the giving of the third Person of the Trinity: The Holy Spirit. When the Spirit entered the room where the apostles were gathered, “a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:2–4). 

This life-giving Spirit inspired the early followers of Christ with the joyful essence celebrated between the Father and the Son. Catherine LaCugna refers to this essence of the Spirit as “the bond of love” between the Father and the Son. His initiative is to fill us with awareness and clarity needed for us to fulfill the work we have been sent to the earth to complete. We can only know and accomplish this work when we are knowledgeable of what is asked of us.

Trusting in the Spirit

This does not mean we will be fully aware of every aspect of the mission we have been given at the outset. The Spirit wants our trust in His work in our hearts, minds, and souls so that we will surrender our life to Him. Imagine how joyful the Spirit must have been to bestow these gifts upon the apostles, knowing how wonderful each one would be in his ministry going forward? And likewise, how joyful the Spirit must be when He bestows the gifts that have been given to each one of us, knowing how wonderful each one of us will be in our ministry going forward? 

The true mystery and gift of Pentecost is how we recognize and use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given to us. This requires our trust, our willingness to be courageous and bold, and our willingness to become spirit-filled women! When we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us with His grace and mission for us, we too are on fire with His passion, burning within us.

Prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit, burn in us and help us know the fire of your love for your people. Help us to be your compassionate, loving Spirit on this earth, offering ourselves to help those in need so that we can help heal the world.

Call to Action:

Ask the Holy Spirit to move in your heart, mind, and soul today and listen to what He is telling you to do. Then ask for the courage to act on what you hear, going forth in the Spirit’s loving inspiration and power.

Quote from LaCugna, C.M. (1991). “The Trinitarian Mystery of God,” In Systematic Theology: Roman Catholic Perspectives, Vol II. Fiorenza & Galvin, eds., Fortress Press: Minneapolis.

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