Conception Abbey

What role does the Holy Spirit play in your life or in my life? How often do we express our belief in the Holy Spirit in the Creed or in simple ways like the sign of the cross? This Sunday (June 12) is the Solemnity of Pentecost. The feast itself should help to enhance our understanding and appreciation of the Holy Spirit.

Scholars tell us that one of the general purposes for which St. Luke wrote his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles was to show the universal nature of Christianity. Christ came for the salvation of all people. God offers his saving love for everyone, everywhere and in every age. The agent of this worldwide expansion is the Holy Spirit. It is especially in the Acts of the Apostles, in the history of the early Church, that Luke shows clearly the Spirit’s power at work, the power to evangelize all kinds of peoples.

St. Luke understands the experience of the first Pentecost as the official beginning of the Church and of her commitment to evangelize the world through the power of the Spirit. As St. Peter brings out in his first discourse after the coming of the Spirit, this is all due to the saving activity of Jesus Christ. The Spirit brings Christ’s saving love to us.

To all of us who believe, if we can truthfully say that we believe in Jesus Christ, then we know that the Holy Spirit has been at work in us. St. Paul reminds us in the 2nd reading for this feast…."no one can say: Jesus is Lord, except in the Holy Spirit." Anything we do as Christians to help one another is the Spirit’s power working in us; it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It can be said that one major criterion for recognizing the possession of a gift is if it helps others, or, as St. Paul puts it, if it is "for the common good." The Spirit’s gifts are not for a chosen few; they are for all who believe; and who act on their belief. And St. Paul reminds us that the greatest gift of all is love.

The Holy Spirit is indeed important in our Christian life. Our gifts of service, no matter how small, our oneness with others, our ability to say, "I forgive," to one who has hurt us – all these and many more are proofs of the Spirit dwelling and acting in us.

Blessed and joyful feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit.

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Reminder to all oblates: The oblate "Pray and Work" weekend is coming us on July 8-10, 2011. Please make your reservation through the guest department: 660-944-2809 or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it