The voice of the Holy Spirit

For this Solemnity of Pentecost, from one of my favorite Cistercian writers, .....

Aelred of Rielvaux (1110-1167), English Cistercian monk

Sermon on the sevenfold voice of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost


(translated from the French: Sermones inediti, éd. Talbot, Rome 1952, 1, 112-114)



"In the beginning, according to God’s plan, God’s Spirit filled the world, “reaching mightily from one end of the earth to the other, and governing all things sweetly.” (Wis 8:1) But where the Spirit’s work of sanctification is concerned, it was on the day of Pentecost that “the Spirit of the Lord filled the world.” (Wis 1:7)



For it is today that this Spirit of sweetness is sent by the Father and the Son to sanctify every creature according to a new plan, in a new way, a new manifestation of the Spirit’s power and strength. Before this, “the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (Jn 7:39) … Today, the Spirit, coming from his heavenly abode, is given with all his richness, all his fruitfulness to the souls of mortals.



Thus this divine dew, with its diversity and its spiritual gifts, is spread out over all the earth. And it is true that the fullness of the Spirit’s richness flowed down for us from the highest heaven, since a few days previously, through our earth’s generosity, heaven had received a marvelously sweet fruit… Christ’s humanity is all of earth’s grace; Christ’s Spirit is all of heaven’s sweetness.



Thus, a very salvific exchange was brought about: Christ’s humanity went up from earth to heaven; and today, the Spirit of Christ descended from heaven to us… The Holy Spirit is active everywhere; the Spirit speaks everywhere.

Of course, before the Ascension the Lord’s Spirit was given to the disciples when the Lord said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” (Jn 20:23)

But before Pentecost, the voice of the Holy Spirit was not heard, his shining power was not seen. And knowledge of him had not been given to Christ’s disciples, who had not been confirmed in courage since fear still made them hide in a locked room. But starting on that day, “the voice of the Lord is over the waters; …it lashes forth flames of fire … and all say, ‘Glory!’” (Ps 29:3-9)

Seven gifts to open

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are seven in number, according to theology. Here they are in their original Hebrew Scriptural context, Isaiah 11:1-2:

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—

the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and of power,

the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.

These seven gifts are given in baptism and quickened in Confirmation. They are given to help us get closer to God and be more useful to Him. As a Protestant I was really more familiar with the lists of gifts in the New Testament, primarily in 1 Corinthians 14 and Ephesians 4. however,looking at all three lists the corinthians grouping is really talking about functions or activities and the author of Ephesians is really speaking about offices or functions in the CHurch. Both are given "for the common good." And that's great.

But these gifts are given to each Christian personally so that she or he might fulfill God's will in life. They function in Isaiah as descriptors of the Messiah, God's annointed. That helps explain how they got into the liturgy and life of the Church at Pentecost. Jesus was God's annointed, and so are we, through our baptism and gift of the Holy Spirit.

I'll be blogging more about that later, since this is one of the primary themes in the first part of Benedict XVI's new book, Jesus of Nazareth. More on that later.....

But in the meantime, I've been praying this Litany the last week, from Benedictine Daily Prayer . It's a cool summary ofwhat we're seeking on Pentecost.

Through Christ Jesus, the blessing bestowed on Abraham shall descend on the Gentiles, enabling us to receive the promised spirit through faith, Alleluia!

Father, every good gift comes to us through your son Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Give is wisdom to rejoice in your saving deeds.

Give us understanding to deepen our faith.

Give us counsel to guide us to the right path.

Give us fortitude to conquer our weakness.

Give us knowledge to see you wherever you show yourself.

Give us piety to love and trust you as our Father.

Give us fear to revere and praise you as our God.

Novena! Novena!

Today is the beginning of the Ur-Novena, the primary origin of the Catholic novena, or nine day series of prayers, the Novena of Pentecost.

The Christian use of the novena stems directly from the nine day time frame, Ascension to Pentecost, during which the Apostles were commanded by Christ to tarry in prayer in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14). They were to wait nine days in prayer with Mother Mary and at the end of that time the Spirit was poured out in great measure, giving birth to the public Church and the great Evangelization which followed.

Novenas were also common in many cultures in the ancient world, especially as a nine day period of mourning following the death of a loved one. How fitting, then, that the Church waits in expectation for the return of her Lord in the form of life-giving Spirit.

Many dioceses in the United States have transferred today's Feast of Ascension to this coming Sunday. I suppose the rationale is to make the Ascension celebration more widely accessible to those not attending daily Mass. However, the practical effect of this tranference is also to obscure the "nine-ness" of the Novena.

Novenas come in all shapes and sizes. My own first experience came several years ago when a colleague of mine casually remarked that she did a nine-day novena to St Therese of Liseux in order to get help with her vocation as an artist. She reported that immediately following the novena she was asked to place her paintings in a prominent office in the Metro area- a totally unexpected boon. Based on her testimony, I then began a similar series of prayers on behalf of my sons. A few days into the novena I discovered, unbeknownst to me, that the last day of my novena coincided with the Feast of St Joseph. It was a small sign to me that my prayers were being heard. And they were.

It seems that the novena can at times become a superstitious practice. One sometimes sees slips of paper left in pews about the "Never-Fail" Novena. I am sure the intent of the pray-ers is toward a positive good. However, simple repetition of words is not really at the heart of the novena process.

Instead, I like to think of the novena as a training period leading up to a race. Right now in spring one sees dozens of cyclists pedalling down the Minnesota roads. They are in intense preparation for the coming races. Joggers and runners likewise are out in force, doing their daily part. They all know that without some stretching of their capacities they will never achieve their full potential.

This nine day period leading up to Pentecost is also that for us Christians. We limber up our spiritual muscles, preparing for the great life-giving Event.

On your mark, get set, go.

Here's a link to a Pentecost Novena.

http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/pentecost/seven123.htm

Cenacle: Church in the Birth Canal

Cenacle...... it's the place where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper, First Eucharist and commissioned his disciples as Apostles/ Bishops.

Cenacle.... it's the place where the Twelve gathered with Mother Mary and where the Spirit borned them again on Pentecost. "You must be born again!" said Jesus to Nicodemus and through him to all disciples, and, sure enough, they were, and we are.

Cenacle... it's the place in the Book of Acts that was shaken again in today's First Reading ( Acts 4:23-31), the place to which the Apostles retreated to lick their wounds and be encouraged following the first persecution of their fledgling Jewish sect.

Cenacle... it's the place in both space and time where disciples gather during the 50 days of Easter and await the Spirit's outpouring. It's the place in our hearts and lives where God is birthed when we finally learn to trust Him because of the grace of faith, bestowed by the same Holy Spirit in Whom we are baptized.

It's a wet place, because we arrive there out of the waters of baptism.

It's a warm place, because the fire of tongues hovers over us as we are formed in God's womb.

It's an, inviting, home-like place, because we know the warmth of fellowship with the Divine Trinity there, and we are one with them in our very being.

Being in the Cenacle is so personal it may feel like it's just us and God, but it's not, and it's not private either, because we journey through Easter, through Church, through life to God with many others.

There is an intensely personal side to this birthing process, but that in turn does not make it private.

I like these words of reassurance and warning from Henri Nouwen (or as close to warning as this gentle prophet ever got):

"We like to make a distinction between our private and public lives and say, "Whatever I do in my private life is nobody else's business." But anyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal.

What we live in the most intimate places of our beings is not just for us but for all people. That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why our solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life.Jesus says, "No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house" (Matthew 5:14-15).

The most inner light is a light for the world. Let's not have "double lives"; let us allow what we live in private to be known in public."