Living in the Spirit

Homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost

Today our celebration of the Paschal Mystery comes to a dramatic end with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the disciples gathered with them in the upper room. Although the Gospels seem to indicate that the Resurrection, Ascension, and the coming of the Holy Spirit all happened on the same day, Saint Luke uses his Acts of the Apostles to separate these components of the Paschal Mystery so that the coming of the Holy Spirit is celebrated on Pentecost, a Jewish feast that came after the harvest of the first fruits of the fields fifty days after the Passover. Over time, the Jewish feast of Pentecost evolved into a celebration of the day on which God gave the Jewish people the covenant that was mediated by Moses on Mount Sinai. Saint Luke realized that the Holy Spirit signified the beginning of a new covenant between God and the people, a covenant that gave birth to what we now call the Church.

The Holy Spirit is classically defined in theology as “the love between God and Christ, the Father and the Son.” It is in meditating on this concept that we come to some understanding of what it means to live in the Spirit. The Father, the Creator constantly creates and gives life. The Son, who is present as the Father creates, receives life from the Father and gives it back in gratitude. When the Son takes on human flesh, he literally expresses gratitude for the life the Father gave him by dying on a cross. As is true in all relationships wherein a gift is received lovingly, this makes it possible for the Father to give even more to the Son. That “more” is the Resurrection. As this flow of life, this giving and receiving, goes on, gratitude intensifies and an energy, a spirit, the Holy Spirit, is present with the Father and the Son.

This Spirit, since it is “generated” by gratitude, naturally is a Spirit of charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, long-suffering, mildness, faith, and chastity as well as many other gifts that are part of a spirit of thanksgiving. It is then, too, a Spirit that is naturally incompatible with idolatry, adultery, violence, gossip, factionalism, jealousy, rage, and infidelity.

When we meditate in this way upon the Holy Spirit, we are under less illusion as to what it means to live in the Spirit. Throughout his writings St. Paul tells us what it means to live in the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself has already told the apostles to expect the Holy Spirit to be another “Advocate,” a word that is used in its juridical meaning. Everyone who comes before a judge is supposed to have an advocate who will plead his or her cause before the judge. The Holy Spirit will stand with us at the last judgment to speak for us and to remind the Judge that, though we are all guilty of sin, Jesus has washed away our guilt with his blood which was shed on the cross.

We are called to be one through the Holy Spirit. The Acts of the Apostles speaks to this in the story we hear today. St. Luke takes great pains to illustrate the diversity which is displayed by those who have come to Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. The miracle of being able to be understood by people of many different tongues is an illustration of the unity that is called for by those who live in the Spirit. This miracle is the first example of how the Holy Spirit was poured out for the forgiveness of sins by wiping out the result of the sin that was committed at the Tower of Babel. 

To believe that we are living in the Spirit when our lives are not permeated by and radiating gratitude is to be dangerously deluded. It is said that the one common element for anyone who desires holiness is the virtue of gratitude. It is the gratitude of Jesus for the life given him by the Creator that gives birth to the Holy Spirit. As the Nicene Creed puts it, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Thanksgiving that we are to express to the creator is made concrete in our celebration of the Eucharist, for the very word “Eucharist” means to give thanks. This is why the Church asks us to come to the table of the Lord every Sunday in memory of the gift of life that is given to Jesus through the Resurrection. While many believe that this is an obligation, a more proper way to understand our presence and our worship on Sunday is to unite ourselves with the Holy Spirit in Thanksgiving for all the gifts with which we have been blessed. Let us give thanks.