Deacon Tom Writes,
“Lord,
Send Out Your Spirit,
And Renew The Face Of The Earth”
On this Feast of
Pentecost, we celebrate the birthday of our church. On this special day we pray
to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for whose help we are most in need. We
pray for the Spirit of God to come into our lives and revive our hearts so we
may know God’s presence at work within us and in our world, renewing us and
filling us with his love.
This Pentecost we
pray that the Spirit of Jesus Christ will awaken in us a desire to know God and
to do his Will. Yet, we really don’t need to ask for this gift…. Jesus told us
that he would send…“The Advocate, the
Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name -- will teach you everything
and remind you of all that (I) told you” JN 14:26. Our need is to be open
to receive this Spirit of God deep within the fiber of our being. We need the
Holy Spirit so that we can meet the demands of Christian discipleship … that is
to grow daily in the knowledge and
love of God and in service to our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is the
Holy Spirit who breathes into us the knowledge of God’s love so that we, in
turn, can love and engender love in others as Jesus taught us. For indeed…“we have been given the manifestation of the
spirit for some benefit”…. and that benefit is to realize God’s abundant
love not only in ourselves, but in others also giving them the opportunity to discover
God’s love for themselves.
Jesus sent his
disciples into this world that hungered for the love and peace that only God
can give and to find rest from the toils and anxieties of life. We have these
same needs today! Can there really be any question about that as we witness the
horrific suffering in our world, the political divisiveness, the economic
disparity, and the hopelessness engendered by the degradation of the human
spirit? We are in desperate need of the gifts of the Holy Spirit...wisdom,
understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, and fear of the Lord so
that we can live together and realize our full potential as children of God. These
gifts of the Spirit transform our lives and conform us to the life of Christ in
every way. Too difficult? Yes, for us left to ourselves, but not for Christ to
accomplish in us. That is the transformative power of Holy Spirit this
Pentecost for all who strive to be disciples of Christ today. As Christ sent
his first disciples into the world to dispel the darkness and give it hope, he
now sends us into the world so we can continue to be people of hope…. who
forgive and love one another, who act justly and work for a justice in this
world, who look forward to the fullness of God’s reign. We, like those who have
gone before us, have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit and, so empowered,
are sent into the world to be witnesses of God’s love and to cooperated with
his own Spirit so that together we can renew the face of the earth.
Enjoy the day
Deacon Tom
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