PREPARING for PENTECOST

In preparation for the feast of Pentecost I will post a series of meditions on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, composed by my recently deceased brother , Peter, and me.  I dedicate these postings to Peter's memory and the joy of working with him.

I shall never forget that glorious day when  my twin brother, Peter, a fellow Dominican, were  standing  on the deck of a schooner   sailing  between the W. Indian islands  of Grenada and  Carriacou.  There, at the foot of the mast we gazed up at the sails embracing the strong breeze  that enabled   our boat to  carve  its way through the waves towards our destination.

St John tells us that “the wind blows where it pleases,” and that “so it is with everyone that is born of the Spirit,” (Jn. 3.8).  Now it has been said the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit may be compared to the sails of a boat eagerly awaiting the breeze that would be its driving force.
In this scenario we can see ourselves as being  like the crew of the schooner with the choice of hoisting the sails  so that  their boat might  carve its way through the waves or leaving the furled on deck while their anchored boat anchored, rocking gently in  port. The obvious parallel is laid-back, lack-lustre Christians or   ones eager to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Our  Heavenly  Father want us to be activated by the Gifts of  the Holy Spirit which we received at our Baptism. It was then we became   Temples of the Holy Spirit – dynamic people who would lead lives that gave great  glory to God.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches): “ By the Sacrament of Confirmation the baptized are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength  of the Holy Spirit. Hence they are, as true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed,” (1285).
The Catechism also tells us:
“The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.¹⁰⁹ They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations,” (1831).

Now we are going to attempt to deepen our understanding and appreciation of their role in our lives. At Baptism we received these gifts. When we were Confirmed  these gifts perfected and activated so as to enable us to lead fully Christian lives.

The idea of being endowed with spiritual gifts is to be found in the writings of the Prophecy of Isaiah. The recipient of these gifts would be the One Almighty God promised sent to His Chosen People.
 “A shoot will spring from the stock of Jesse, a new shoot will grow from his roots.  On him will rest the Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and insight, the spirit of counsel and power, the spirit of knowledge and fear of  the Lord:    his lie in fearing the Lord. His judgement  will  not be by appearances. his verdict not given on hearsay, (Isaiah 11).
Elsewhere Isaiah tells us this person would claim to be anointed by the Spirit of God: “The spirit of the Lord is on me for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the news to the afflicted, to soothe the broken-hearted,  to proclaim liberty to captives, release to those in prison… to comfort all who mourn,” (Is.61).
These  prophesies become exciting as we realize that according to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament  “Messiah” was the word used of one anointed as king, priest or  prophet. The equivalent word in Greek of the New Testament is “Christ.”
Of  all the passages  from Sacred Scripture Jesus could have chosen to read in the Synagogue in Capernaum  He selected, “The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted...” Dramatically He exclaimed,  ‘This text is being fulfilled today  even while you are listening.(Lk.4).  Through and through His humanity was briskly alert to the impulses  of the Holy Spirit in the service of His Heavenly Father.
The Church would have us know that we ourselves are caught up in this Messianic thrust of energy – like the schooner opening its sails to the wind. After the water of Baptism had flowed over our brows we were anointed with Chrism, ‘As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.’
Loaded with such spiritual Gifts it is up to us to let God do great things in us and through us!
Isidore and Peter O.P.