By Mary DeTurris Poust
Check out this great clip about Pentecost from Busted Halo. It's the perfect primer on the basics of this feast, which we will celebrate this Sunday, and a powerful reminder of why it's so important.
Sometimes it's easy for the Holy Spirit to get overlooked in our prayer lives. At least that's often how it is for me. Or how it used to be. I tended to head to Father and Son with only a cursory nod toward the Spirit. And then, somewhere along the way, I realized how critical the Spirit is to my prayer life, and my life in general. Before every speaking engagement, before silent prayer, before my children face big decisions or moments of their lives, I find myself turning to the Spirit for guidance and wisdom.
In my book on prayer and the Mass, I put it like this:
"If you were to set off on a hike down a long and winding path through deep and strange woods, you'd probably look for a trail guide, someone to keep you on the right path and continually lead you in a safe direction. When it comes to prayer, the Holy Spirit is your trail guide
"The Spirit is God's presence and loving action here on Earth. We can't see or hear the Spirit, but we can sometimes feel the Spirit, especially as we begin to enter into prayer more deeply. We may have felt the Spirit at work in our life already, at one of those times when we sensed God's presence in a very real way or when we just knew what we had to do in a difficult situation despite the confusion all around us.
"...When we pray, the Spirit leads us through the sometimes dark and strange landscape of our spiritual life to a place where we can see clearly and bask in God's light, just as that trail guide, if we trust and have faith, will lead us out of those deep woods and to our destination. So when we pray, we direct our prayers toward God, praying in union with Jesus and always seeking direction from the Spirit." (Excerpted from The Essential Guide to Catholic Prayer and the Mass.)
Happy Pentecost. Let's pray together:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,
and enkindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And you shall renew the face of the earth.
