Come, Holy Spirit: A Pentecost Reflection

Understanding God the Father has always been fairly easy for me. I have a father who loves me and guides me and who always had all the answers when I was a child. I can imagine God as Father.

Jesus is also easy to know and love. He was born in a stable—God and man. He walked the earth and lived as a person like us. He left us the gift of the Eucharist and created the first priests—and the first pope. Jesus feels accessible and present, loving friend and ever-present brother.

Then there’s the Holy Spirit. Maybe because the spirit is less tangible and harder to represent visually, it took me longer to learn to appreciate the Holy Spirit. But I also think maybe I didn’t need the Holy Spirit as much when I was younger—or I simply didn’t recognize when the Holy Spirit was at work in my life, in the Church, and in the world.

As an adult, though, I lean hard on the Holy Spirit for wisdom, for courage, and for inspiration. The more the years pass, the more I realize is out of my hands and in God’s. And whether I’m trying to figure out how to tackle a complicated question in parenting or navigate challenging relationships elsewhere in my life, I often find myself calling on the Holy Spirit to fill in the gaps.

None of us can do life on our own. That’s clear from the beginning, but it’s even clearer as time passes. It becomes crystal clear when you become a parent and you’re trying to nurture and guide others on their path to heaven. You need all the grace and patience and love that can flow from God into your words and actions. I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped and whispered, “Come, Holy Spirit,” because my own well might be running dry. Somehow, I find the words and the will to take the next step.

Of course, we can see the power and the work of the Holy Spirit in much bigger ways, too. We look at our Catholic Church, which even with the struggles and challenges and human failures along the way, is still such a force of good in the world 2000 years after its founding.

A few weeks ago, we marked the 1700^th anniversary of the writing of the Nicene Creed, which we say every Sunday at Mass. 1700 years. Isn’t that incredible? Only God could make that possible.

And not long ago, we saw the Holy Spirit at work in guiding the Cardinals to choose our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. He’s still just days into his role, but how beautiful to see him blessing a baby or greeting people or leading us in prayer and know that the Holy Spirit helped select this man as our shepherd.

As we mark the feast of Pentecost and celebrate the birth of the Church, there will be no flames of fire over our heads or the ability to speak in multiple tongues. But we still have the chance to pause and consider how God is at work in our lives. He gives us incredible gifts. He guides and inspires us. He calls us to greater service and leadership on his behalf, just as he called the apostles.

God has some task in mind for us on earth—something we can do that is unique to us. Whatever that calling might be, what a gift to know that the Holy Spirit is with us, filling us with all that we need to complete God’s work—our work with God—with grace, with courage, and with love.

Come, Holy Spirit.

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