Photo credit to Enjuley Evers
Friends, The Great Apostolic Call once again rings out across the Church as Pentecost was recently upon us. We now celebrate when the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit, so rushed into the world and revealed the true weight of Christ and His mission into the heart of the Apostles, who then in the same whirlwind, broke into the world to proclaim the Gospel that has endured up until this very day. There are many great testimonies on the importance of this event; and the ways that we as Catholics can respond and embrace the Spirit of Pentecost (no pun intended).
If this article is read on the day of Pentecost, excellent, if this is read on any other day, even better. We celebrate Pentecost for one day, but we should live it out every day. What Pentecost shows us is that, among many amazing things, you do not need to be great in any notable capacity to be set ablaze with a zeal for souls, and to subsequently play a major role in their path to know, love and serve our Blessed Lord.
What I mean is that you need not doubt if you are *insert any adjective* enough to be a pivotal player in this most amazing Theodrama and in service to God’s Kingdom. Those who were embraced by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost were certainly not prestigious in the eyes of the world. They were fishermen for crying out loud, living in a corner of the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, and even in that corner, were quite cornered themselves in the wake of persecution. Yet, it was these uneducated Galileans that would go with courage under the Holy Spirit and preach with ardor leading to the conversion of thousands.
The defining element here is that the Apostles were filled with gifts of the Holy Spirit and despite what we would consider a lack of credentials to preach or lay the foundations of the Church as we know it today, God provided the skills necessary and made his Apostles examples of those Whom they lived as witnesses to. Pentecost was the Great Revealing of Christ in the hearts of the Apostles, who then went out into this wayward world for the salvation of souls. Christ revealed his hidden excellence through the Spirit in that moment.
Let the Holy Spirit illuminate your mind and fill your heart with the many gifts scripture describes; wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. You need only open yourself up and ask the Paraclete. God in His time, and occasionally His humor, will reveal these things and magnify them in you, that is what the Great Intercessor does! This revelation of our Apostolic call applies to you as well. The Spirit will continue to reveal Christ’s hidden excellence in your heart through the grace of faith, hope and love. Now you must reveal yourself, as God’s hidden excellence, called out of nothingness and blessed with gifts that will bring about the salvation of souls. This is no matter what qualifications, or lack thereof, you have. To embrace what the Holy Spirit wills will undoubtedly carry you beyond where you can imagine yourself going.
As the saying goes, God does not call the qualified, God qualifies the called. You are called, now go and change this wayward world.
Veni, Sancte Spiritus.