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SERMON FOR THE FEAST OF PENTECOST

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Sermon for Pentecost                                                                                                       Preston 2017

 

“The day of Pentecost had arrived; the disciples were all assembled in the cenacle. Suddenly a noise came from heaven, like that of a wind that blows with force. ”

The Holy Spirit today manifests Himself in various sensitive forms:

He manifested Himself in the form of fire

He manifested Himself in the form of language but also in the form of a strong wind.

We easily understand the first two symbols. But how can we understand the symbolism of the wind?

These three metaphors bear a great wealth of significance which must now be emphasized.

The reality of the wind can make us think of movement.

In fact, when the Holy Spirit comes, he sets in motion our spiritual faculties.

The idea of ​​movement is opposed to the idea of ​​immobility or slow and difficult mobility.

Faced with this opposition, the Gospel becomes clearer, and we understand better how important it is to receive the Holy Spirit.

Indeed, before he sets our spirits in motion, we can see with lucidity the unfortunate state of our soul.

My dear brothers and sisters, we usually suffer from a lack of spiritual breath, we often have a lack of spiritual mobility, we have a strong inertia, a lack of readiness to receive and follow the motions of the Holy Spirit.

We must briefly recall the causes of our spiritual gravity and thus understand the specific role that the Holy Spirit must play in this time of Pentecost;

The First cause of our lack of spiritual breath: we have the wounds of original sin. This one has deeply wounded our nature, it is infected with a congenital weakness; we have a spiritual laziness often very marked in front of the demands of holiness. Our soul is too easily moved towards sensible goods, and easily forgets the supernatural realities.

The Second cause: our will in the aftermath of original sin has lost much strength in its capacity for desire. We weakly desire God’s will and holiness. Our will is very often vague, terribly hesitant.

The Third cause of our lack of determined movement under the motions of the Spirit: Our heart is often immobilized by paralyzing fears.

We are often like the apostles before the gift of Pentecost; they were all locked up in the cenacle for fear of the Jews.

The Fourth cause: and this cause is more serious; we are sometimes in a state of discouragement.

Sometimes it is to such a point that the virtue of Hope is profoundly altered, diminished, and weakened. Here are four causes that show us the necessity today to be visited by the Holy Spirit.

My brothers, without the Spirit, we have our hearts riveted to material things; we have a disturbed love of our spiritual comfort. We have difficulty leaving our spiritual slippers when God asks us.

The fire of the Holy Ghost is therefore necessary to inflame our hearts; otherwise they remain incapable of great spiritual desires. We must receive the Holy Spirit so that our hearts may be cleansed of the disordered lust.

We need the Holy Spirit so that our desiring ability may be healed, strengthened. Our heart without the gift of the Spirit is incapable of burning with an ardent desire for Christian virtues and heavenly goods.

To move constantly in the constant and persevering effort towards heavenly goods, it is necessary to receive the strength of the Holy Spirit.

When our hearts are assailed by thoughts of discouragement, we must quickly invoke the Holy Spirit to exorcise the devil Discouragement is always his mark.

When despair seizes our heart, we must quickly react and shout:

“Vade retro satana, “Sunt mala quae libas; Ipse venena bibas »

Get behind me Satan. “What you offer is bad, a poisoned drink »

I hate your designs, your thoughts, your suggestions, your actions, your influences

Get Behind me Satan, I will never enter into your views, your plans.

Let us fervently invoke the finger of God so that with his divine touch we may be delivered from the temptations of the devil and again animated by holy love of God and holy resolutions.

My God, send me your Holy Spirit so that by his divine presence I am always freed from the presence of the devil who always seeks to make me fall to drag me to his own despair, his pride, his hatred of everything.

My God, have mercy on me, I resolutely and definitively renounce all friendship with sin and the one who inspires it.

May the very sweet fire of God’s love give me the powerful resolution to forever detest sin and mediocrity in my everyday actions.

Today,  Let us pray that the Spirit may renew our whole life with His seven gifts and thus I will be more loving, more virtuous, more fervent, More Christian simply, Amen