Have you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? The answer is “yes!” So what are you doing with the gift of the Holy Spirit in your life? For too many of us, the answer is “not as much as we should.” The Holy Spirit is our advocate and helper. The Holy Spirit aids us in growing closer to God AND in bringing others to God and God to others. Who did you bring to God this week? Who did you try to bring? Who did you want to bring? I ask these questions not to embarrass or to make you feel guilty but hopefully to make all of us reflect and renew our efforts.
St. Pope Paul VI taught that the Church exists to evangelize. The mission of every baptized person is to bring people to God and God to people. Jesus gave us the Great Commission “Go, make disciples!”. He deliberately gave us a mission and not a maintenance plan! Jesus promised us the Gift of the Holy Spirit to help us in this mission. The Second Vatican Council teaches us that the laity have a special role in fulfilling this mission of the Church. All the baptized are called to go out to all the world and share the Good News. We start with the Kerygma – the essential proclamation of Christ. The Kerygma is sharing the truth that God exists, He created us out of love, human beings have rejected that love by sinning and that God has sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue us from sin and death. If we allow the Holy Spirit to help us, all of us can proclaim this saving message of God’s love and our salvation through the sacrifice of Christ crucified and risen. With the Holy Spirit we can overcome every hindrance.
Proclaiming the Good News of Jesus to the whole world does not mean we all have to stand up on soap boxes and start yelling, have a podcast or a TV show. But neither does it mean that we hide our faith. When we live our faith openly, joyfully, and enthusiastically, others can see it. We proclaim the truth of Jesus in our actions as well as with our words. As Catholics, we say that God is first in our lives. But what do we say when we don’t come to Mass on Sunday? What are we “preaching” when sports, leisure or laziness, keep us from Sunday Mass? Is God really first in our lives? People notice. As disciples of Jesus, we believe and proclaim that God is the God of life. We claim that the Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life. So, what do we “preach” when we use contraception? Is that proclaiming the sacredness of life? Does that show our trust in God? We believe that true marriage as given by God is an exclusive, permanent relationship between one man and one woman for the good of the couple and the raising of children. What do we “preach” when we fail to uphold that in our lives and our marriages or say that is merely one opinion of marriage? Is that proclaiming the teaching of Christ? Is that upholding the sacredness of Christian marriage? We believe that God is merciful and forgiving. When we hold resentments and fail to forgive, is that merciful? Is that proclaiming the Good News to others? When we say that everything is okay and what God has declared sinful is acceptable, what are we preaching? When Christ conquered sin by his death and resurrection he did not make sin acceptable or give us license to sin. He gave us a means to overcome sin through his grace, mercy and forgiveness. Indulging our own sinfulness and that of others is neither merciful nor loving. To truly love is to hate the sin and love the sinner. To love someone is to want them not to sin, it is not the acceptance or approval of sin.
It is a challenge in today’s culture to proclaim the truth of Jesus. It is not always easy to bring the saving message of Christ to others. God knows that and yet God still desires that we bring others to him and his message to the world. God has given us all that we need to fulfill this mission in the Holy Spirit. It is up to each of us to avail ourselves of the Spirit’s power.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Amen