THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TAKES AWAY OUR FEARS AND ENERGIZES OUR LIVES
(A biblical refection on the PENTECOST SUNDAY, 8th of June 2014)
First Reading: Acts 2:1-11; Psalms: Psalm 104:1,24,29-31,34; Second Reading: 1Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13; Gospel Reading: John 20:19-23
Dale Carnegie, the author of How to win Friends and Influence People, once remarked that he had heard the “confessions” of thousands of men and women. These people timidly confided that they were “scared to death” to stand in front of an audience to give a speech. Many of these crowd-frightened individuals were otherwise fearless in their beliefs and highly successful in their careers.
Those “confessions” led Carnegie to write another book: On Public Speaking, and moved him to establish courses to help people speak in public without suffering from paralyzing fears. These classes have helped many people and are still very popular today.
The Bible tells us that the apostles suffered a similar fear of facing the public after Jesus had ascended to His Father. For a brief time they floundered in their helplessness to preach to the world, until divine assistance was sent to them.
Pentecost is the day we celebrate the anniversary of the gift of this power from on high, which converted fearful fishermen into courageous preachers and launched them on their world-wide mission.
The liturgical observance of this Spirit-filled day can also be the occasion for renewed encouragement to those of us who are too timid to take a stand for the things we know we should. We are all in need of this divine strength from above, to speak out and live out our convictions.
We don’t want to imitate the shiftless hobo, who was seen wandering aimlessly about town. When asked about his destination, he replied, “No place in particular.” “Well, how do you decide which direction to go at the beginning of the day?” He replied: “I always travel with the wind at my back.”
Many ill winds blow through our world to carry us in their directions, but Pentecost is the wind and-fire from Heaven that pushes us toward the Kingdom.
The sacrament of Confirmation is our personal Pentecost, where we open our lives to divine guidance, lest we become spiritual drifters.
Without the strength of the Spirit, the apostles would have been assigned to a mission impossible. Having received the Spirit, they were now able to accept the victor’s crown of martyrdom and the ultimate affirmation from their Master.
The first step to fulfil our missions in this world is to believe that we can, because the power of the Spirit takes away our fears and energizes our lives. Once freed from our crippling anxieties we can, like the apostles, walk bravely and talk confidently on our journey to the Kingdom.
Source: Rev. James McKarns, GO TELL EVERYONE, Makati, Philippines: St. Paul Publications, 1991, pages 36-37.