Erik's Corner - Pentecost

Our Lady refers to the celebration of Pentecost in May's message to the world. I find the holy day of Pentecost to be the most inspirational of the Catholic Church's celebrations.

Think about what it must have been like to be an apostle shortly after Jesus' crucifixion. You just spent years leaving behind everything in your life to follow someone speaking of the divine, and now your world has been completely shaken up. You've lost your spiritual leader, the Jews are looking for you to crucify you, and your thoughts are probably completely consumed with fear and doubts about what you have devoted your life to. You spend your days hiding, not knowing what to do next.

Then in comes the Holy Spirit - in visible form - and the Church is born.

The apostles experience the miraculous in seeing the Holy Spirit as fire and are filled with inspiration and new abilities. Fear is dropped and the missionary work of the Church begins. Absolutely incredible!

I think the celebration of Pentecost is too often read as something that happened a long time ago but doesn't have the same relevance now. The Holy Spirit has not changed - It is the same as It was 2,000 years ago - and is accessible to all of us!

I have experienced being filled with the Holy Spirit so often. Praying the Rosary daily has strengthened my faith and opened my eyes to the working of the Holy Spirit in my everyday life. When you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit you realize all things are possible. When nothing is impossible fear, anxiety, and stress melt away. You realize the concerns of this life are passing, and eternal life becomes your focus.

I think God gives us the miraculous when we need it. The apostles, fearful of so much in the days after Christ's death, needed to experience the visual and physical to be strengthened enough to begin spreading the Gospel throughout the world. While we are not necessarily blessed to see and experience the visual and physical with regards to the coming of the Holy Spirit, it is nonetheless equally gratifying to feel its presence and be guided by Its divine wisdom.


Erik