Come, Holy Spirit!

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • St. Josaphat Formation Center, Phoenix, AZ

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He commmissioned His Apostles to go into the whole world to preach to and baptize everyone; but, before they were to start this arduous mission, they were first to go back to Jerusalem to wait and pray for “power from high” that the Holy Spirit would provide them with. Hence, nine days later, the Holy Spirit came with hurricane force and enflamed their hearts and enlightened their minds so much that the Apostles burst forth from the Upper Room with the message of salvation to everyone at hand. Their preaching that day alone was so fruitful that 3,000 men were baptized!

Each of us receives the Gifts of the Holy Spirit in Baptism along with the other supernatural gifts, especially Sanctifying Grace – the source of all Divine Life within us – the Theological Virtues and the Moral Virtues. The image of a boat with oars and a sail helps to illustrate these gifts of God to the soul at Baptism: the boat which provides us with support and life in the supernatural order is Sanctifying Grace, the two oars which represent the Three Theological and Four Moral Virtues that have to be exercised by us to work, and the mast with its sail which represents the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit. With these supernatural gifts, we are to travel the tempestuous seas of life through storm and calm to reach not merely the shores of eternity, but the very face of God who is calling us and waiting for us there while accompanying us along the way.

The Holy Spirit’s Gifts provided to the soul in Baptism are not fully activated until Confirmation and, even then, they only provide help to us in our journey on the way to God in this life if we ‘trim the sail’, so to speak, and dispose ourselves to the working and power of the Holy Spirit. When we are well disposed – praying as the Apostles did – then He who came as the strong wind on Pentecost and shook the house where they were, will come to us, ‘fill our sail’, and move us powerfully and quickly on our way to salvation and aid us in our work for the salvation of others! 

So the beautiful prayer of this time of the Liturgical year, and whenever we need special help in any and every endeavor, big or small, is: Come, Holy Spirit! Like the Apostles, we pray confidently with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Lord Jesus, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit!