A BLESSED PENTECOST
By Sr. Mary John Mananzan, OSB
I really love this feast! It is so full of life, of energy, of light, of power, of joy! It is also full of mystery because as the first converts said: “We don’t even know that there is a Holy Spirit!” And yet although a tremendous Mystery, the Holy spirit plays a great role in our lives. When we ponder on the roles of the Holy Spirit, it is best to go back to the words of the Scripture and of Jesus Himself:
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” (John 16:7-11)
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever” (John 14:16)
“When He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13).
“And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.”(Luke 12, 11-12)
“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14-26)
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. (1 cor.10)
Let us ponder on some of the roles of the Holy Spirit in our lives: The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener and Teacher.
1. As Comforter– In household language the word “comforter” is used to name that gadget given to a baby who is crying. It is also the light quilted blanket people use when it is cold. The word connotes with regards to persons—a sympathizer: commiserates with someone who has had misfortune. It also means reliever: a person who reduces the intensity (e.g., of fears) and calms and pacifies; “a reliever of anxiety”; “an allayer of fears”. Anyone of us who have been in a situation of misery, of fear, of anxiety know how grateful we are when someone comforts us, sympathizes with us , calms our fears. The Holy Spirit does that for us if we only call upon her.
3. As Advocate – This is different from a counsellor in that this role is a more active one. An advocate is one who pleads our cases in court. An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person, a person who argues the case of another, a person who speaks in support of something, a person who supports someone or a cause. We are clear about this role because we all have experiences of advocacy, being voice for the voiceless as in the case of the farmers, urban poor and the workers in the early days of Martial Law. Of course later on we went on to help empower them so they could speak for themselves. But there are times when it seems people are in a situation when they are at a loss what to say, how to defend themselves, how to present their case. It is so concrete when Jesus said that when we face a judge or an authority, we should not be afraid because the Holy Spirit herself will put words into our mouth. I remember when Jun Lozada was so nervous before his first appearance in the Senate hearing, this was what I told him and we are all witnesses to the fact how the Holy Spirit spoke through him.
4. As Helper – This is quite an interesting role of the Holy Spirit because a helper is an assistant, one who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose, but not the main actor. It connotes a subordinate position. But actually I think this attribute of the Holy Spirit emphasizes the fact that we remain the main actor . We are still the one mainly responsible for our decision. The Holy Spirit does not coerce us or takes away our free will. She is more like a midwife . This is the model for us when it is our turn to be a helper for others. We don’t decide for them. We help them to decide by clarifying things for them and encouraging them or challenging them.
5. As Intercessor – This means a mediator: a negotiator who acts as a link between parties. “Paraclete” is used to describe the intercessory role of Jesus Christ who pleads to The Father on our behalf. And in John 14:16 Jesus says “another Paraclete” will come to help his disciples, implying Jesus is the first and primary Paraclete. This is very understandable in our Filipino culture when we have a “go-between” . It is gratifying to realize that people in the world consider us, Sisters, as “intercessors”, they entrust their problems to us, they ask us to pray for them and they take comfort when they know we are supporting them. I know this from my experiences with Jun, with Rabusa and with Heidi. Maybe this is because we have the model of the Holy Spirit as our intercessor.
6. As Strengthener – The Holy Spirit does not just help, comfort, intercede, advise. She actually energizes us. We all know how it feels to be de-energized, especially when we fail, when we are depressed. Our term for that in this technological world is: “ being lowbat.” One can be physically, psychologically and spiritually feeling “ lowbat” and the energizer par excellence is the Holy Spirit. Recall only how the frightened disciples cowering in fear, not daring to open their windows, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost day, opened all the windows, went on the roof of the house and proclaimed their faith with such exuberance that people thought they were drunk at nine o’clock in the morning. When we are in a state of lethargy, of acedia, of discouragement do we remember to implore the Holy Spirit to energize us and bring us back to life?
7. As Teacher – Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes she will teach all Truth and will make the disciples understand what he had taught them, because very often in the Gospels we see Jesus almost exasperatingly asking his disciples: “Am I already so long with you and still you do not understand?” There are really factors that make us morally blind, unable to see the difference between the kernel and the chaff. But the Holy Spirit “searches the deep things of God” as the Scripture expresses it. And so in time of our own self-deceptions, of our moral blindness, when we fail to appreciate the depth of the teachings of the Gospel, let us not hesitate to beg the Holy Spirit to grant us wisdom, clarity of vision and the gift of understanding.
On this beautiful feast of the Pentecost, let us open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and claim the gifts we are heirs to as children of God.