Today we celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost – the gift of God’s Spirit to us.
 
 In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul reminds us that with the gift of God’s Spirit we have received a “Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” All of us are sons and daughters of God who are called to live in a rich relationship of intimacy with God. It is the Spirit who stirs our hearts to seek this relationship with God. It is the Spirit who guides us in prayer as we seek to realize our relationship with God. And it is the Spirit who guides us as we try to remain faithful to God in our daily lives. Do we accept our need for a loving parent who, through his only Son Jesus Christ, shows us the way of life that leads to our participation in God’s life now and the fullness of God’s life after death? Do we want a rich, deep intimacy with God even if that intimacy with God reveals to us the need for significant changes in how we live our lives? Are we open to God’s Spirit as God’s Spirit draws us into a deeper intimacy with God that is reflected in how we live our lives?
 
            In his letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul reminds us: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons…” At a time when there are many public voices that seek to divide us (citizens versus immigrants, men versus women, rich versus poor), we have to remember that we are one body in Christ, equal in dignity to each other. When any member of the body suffers, we all suffer. When the dignity of any member of the body is compromised, the dignity of all of us is compromised. Do we accept our fundamental unity and dignity in Christ or do we have to uproot persistent prejudice or bias from our hearts? Are our hearts open to the conversion that we need and that the Spirit can effect?
 
            Our celebration of God’s gift of God’s Spirit to us challenges us to deepen our relationship with God so that we can see all persons as equal in dignity to us.
 
 
                               Fr.  Mark Hallinan, S.J.