Pentecost Sunday

The Gift of Pentecost

Pentecost is God looking at us through the gift of the Spirit. I read that this week and it left me curious about what that means. At the Ascension, the disciples were literally told to not just stand there looking up to the sky, but to do something—to go out and make disciples of all nations. The promise of sending the Holy Spirit was to sustain them in their efforts.

When we prepared for Confirmation, most of us learned the gifts of the Holy Spirit: understanding, knowledge, counsel, courage, reverence, and awe in the presence of God. In the Scriptures for this weekend we hear, “They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak…”

How are we using the gifts of the Spirit today? Do we engage those gifts in our speaking? Are we speaking in ways that give evidence of those gifts in our lives? Are we speaking in ways that build up and enrich the Body of Christ?

In these days of uncertainty, we are too often barraged by disconcerting, divisive speech. We are witnessing the suffering of so many; perhaps we ourselves are suffering. St. Paul reminds us that where one suffers, we all suffer. As we gather this weekend, at home with our families or elsewhere, let us pray that God infuses each of us with the gifts of the Spirit that we need most. And let us also pray in gratitude for those gifts of the Holy Spirit that we experience in each other, in our families, in our work, and in our world. Pentecost is God looking at us through the gift of the Spirit. May it be so.