The Descent of the Holy Spirit

‘... there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.’

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

Dear Family in Christ, 

A blessed Feast of Pentecost to you all! This great Solemnity concludes the Church’s celebration of the Easter Season, and commemorates the Apostles being filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Advocate Jesus promised the Father would send, to ‘teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you’, and who will ‘guide you in all truth’. 

C.S. Lewis pointed out the objection to Christianity that, if we are all supposed to be like Jesus, and if we are all filled with the same Holy Spirit, it would seem that all good Christians would be ‘boringly alike’. In actual fact, however, this could not be further from the truth. Like adding salt to food, or shining light on an object, the impact of the Holy Spirit on a soul actually brings out something wondrously singular. Contrary to the objection, it is the lack of the Holy Spirit in a soul, particularly sin, that makes us boring: "How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been; how gloriously different are the saints." (Mere Christianity, Book 3)

Practically, within our parish family, there are many different gifts. God in His infinite wisdom has granted to each and all of us some definite purpose, and created us with this purpose in mind. It is said that ‘no one is so poor that they have nothing to give, nor so rich as to have nothing to receive.’ My prayer for our parish family this Pentecost is that we would grow in love by by recognizing both our gifts, and our needs, and that by leaning on one another, bearing one another’s burdens, and not being afraid to ask for help when we need it, we would become the Saints we were created to be, and help each other to do the same.

God love you, 

Father Corso