In the Holy Spirit, we encounter the active presence of God within us that moves us to change our lives so that we might be instruments of change in our world.
In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us that the Spirit is given to each of us for the benefit of our Church and our world. In baptism, each of us receives the same Spirit of God which Jesus received when he was baptized in the Jordan. Those who are confirmed are renewed in the gift of the Holy Spirit with the intention that, like Jesus, they will allow the Spirit of God to guide their lives. The challenge for all of us is to open our hearts to the power of God’s Spirit so that the Spirit will enliven us and make us more powerful witnesses to Christ and to his Gospel in our world.
When we cultivate the presence of the Spirit within us through a life of prayer and active participation in the sacraments, the Spirit opens our eyes to see the areas in our lives that must change in order for us to live in greater conformity to Christ and to his Gospel. The Spirit gives us the desire and the courage to make those changes so that we are more faithful disciples of Christ, active instruments of his presence within our world. The Spirit also opens our eyes to see what needs to change in our world in order for our world to be in greater conformity with what God intended this world to be – a place in which all share equitably in the gifts with which God gifted this world, a place in which reconciliation and peace prevail over conflict and division, a place in which we live as the one family that we truly are, united in our common origin in God. The Spirit also opens our eyes to see what our Church should be – a place in which the diversity of humanity finds unity in our commitment to Christ and in which the laity and the clergy work together in common purpose for the transformation of individuals and of our world.
Do we dare to really pray, “Come, O Holy Spirit!” knowing the force for change that the Spirit truly is?

Fr. Mark Hallinan, S.J.