Fr. Amaro's Pentecost Page

We Are
a
Pentecostal People

If you were ever given a gift and put it away for safe keeping, you may have found that even years later you had forgotten about it. Did you ever look into a closet and say, "Gee, if I had know I had this, I would have used it!" It's amazing how people can remember their marriage vows because marriage is a sacrament. They can remember the words of institution of the Blessed Sacrament. But... they can't tell you the gifts of the Holy Spirit! Well, for those who have put these gifts in the closet, it's time to take them out! Here are the gifts that you may have forgotten to use:

Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?

OK! Every Pentecost I ask the same question. For those of you who cheat and read the bulletin during the homily (grin) you'll have these right at hand when I ask.
This is Pentecost! The Holy Spirit is just as much God as Jesus and the Father. Why is it that we don't pay that much attention. It is through the Holy Spirit that we have life in the first place. That is why the Holy Spirit is not only represented by fire, but by breath. God "breathed" life into His creation. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit should be as deep as it is with the Father and the Son.
Notice that all these gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit have nothing to do with emotion. They are directly related to "reasoned thought." How often have we heard that someone was "filled with the Spirit" when in fact they were expressing and emotional comfort or enthusiasm. That means that in the deepest experience of what St. John of the Cross calls the "dark night" of the would, we draw upon the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The dark night is an experience of abandonment. It's one when an individual "feels" abandoned by God. The limitation of using one's "feelings" limits one to human capability. To limit God by one's human limitation is to reduce Him to the individual's personality. What an error that is!
The mature Christian does not depend on such things. Even when there are no "feel good" emotions or experience, one who is really in communication with the Holy Spirit will act not on the confines of experience or emotion, but on the trust of God's Providence...what He has provided and continues to provide. That means using the choice of trust, which is the first sign of wisdom. Wisdom is the mother of all th other virtues.

The gifts of the Spirit or virtues are:
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel
Fortitude
Knowledge
Piety
Fear of the Lord.
The fruits of the Spirit;
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Trust-fullness
Gentleness
Self Control.

Again, these are choices and have little or nothing to do with emotion founded in a decided trust in God, even when "feelings" are dormant.
Challenge yourself this week to know these gifts so you can use them when they are warranted.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, before ascending into heaven, did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples - - - deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me, to perfect in my soul the work of Your grace and Your Love.
Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom - - that I may not be attached to the perishable things of this world, but aspire ONLY after the things that are eternal.
The Spirit of Understanding - - to enlighten my mind with the light of Your Divine Truth.
The Spirit of Counsel - - that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining Heaven.
The Spirit of Fortitude - - that I may bear my cross with You, and that I may overcome with courage ALL the obstacles that oppose my salvation.
The Spirit of Knowledge - - that I may KNOW God and know myself, and grow perfect in the science of the Saints.
The Spirit of Piety - - that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable.
The Spirit of Fear - - that I may be filled with a Loving reverence towards God and may avoid anything that may displease Him.
Mark me, Dear Lord, with the sign of Your True disciples, and animate me in ALL things with Your Spirit.

Amen.

Write them down. Memorize them. Use them! Fr. Amaro may test you on them some day!