Spiritual Perspectives
Living in the Spirit

By Sister Mary Matthias Ward
Special to The Independent

"So when the day of Pentecost came it found them gathered in one place. Suddenly from up in the sky there came a noise like a strong, driving wind which was heard all through the house where they were seated. Tongues as of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make proclamation as the Spirit prompted them." (Acts 2:1-4)

We may never know precisely what took place on the Day of Pentecost. What we do know is that the disciples had an experience of the power of the Spirit flooding their beings as never before.

I have a friend who always explains the experience of Pentecost in this fashion. All these people had gathered together because basically they were now unemployed. The Spirit enters into them and they are ready to go out... they now have jobs... to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Most likely these 120 people were praying and remembering because it had been a strange few months for them. But now... the morning of Pentecost they are "on fire" with the Spirit and they can no longer contain the good news. An inner force moves them to tell about Jesus the Christ.

Pentecost wasn't the first nor the last time the Spirit enters full stage. The Spirit had worked perhaps as a gentle breeze among humans who listened guiding, teaching, prodding, shedding light on the mysteries of life. Certainly Jesus was a man filled with the Spirit and it showed in all he did... his teachings, healings, suffering and death... in his resurrection and ascending to the Father. Pentecost was the first time the Spirit grabbed the followers of Jesus as a group... and came to stay.

The disciples now had a mission statement, so to speak. They were now Church... the Spirit had united them. Where do you and I fit in? We may not be part of the 120; we may be more like the 3,000 to whom Peter preached.

We are called to be together to share Jesus' love. If we believe in Christ and are baptized, then we are a part of that group. It means that the Holy Spirit is working in us. It also means that we have tasks that Jesus Christ wants us to do and we've been given what it takes to do them. We are to listen for the Spirit leading through the Scripture, the Church and others. We must live in the Spirit.

Pentecost is a time for vigor, excitement, energy, movement, birth, fresh air and fresh commitment. Pentecost is a time to turn ourselves over to the Spirit. C. S. Lewis in his book "Christian Behavior" says, "If you have really handed yourself over to Him it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first gleam of Heaven is already inside you."

The experience of the Twelve Steps has a key lesson in living in the Spirit. Step three is about turning one's will and life over to God. I dare to say it is the hardest thing to do, not only for the alcoholic, but for us who claim a Christian spiritual rebirth. Usually, we say, "I've already done that." Turning things over to God is a continual, moment-by-moment, and a lifelong matter which often we do not know how to do. We continually need to uncover the matters of our lives we haven't turned over and turn them over. The Spirit will not override us. God seeks to create love rather than exercise control. The Spirit can work through only what we surrender.

We need to stay alert as to how the Spirit moves in our lives. The Pentecosts may be gentle breezes that change us little by little. We can and do dismiss them because we are too busy. We are too caught up with success, power and greed.

As Christians we know that the Spirit of God dwells in our hearts. We need to be aware of the Spirit active in us. May our prayer be that of Ephesians, "May the Spirit enable us to grow firm in power with regard to our inner self... Glory be to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine."

Sister Mary Matthias Ward is the director of the Sacred Heart Retreat Center for the Diocese of Gallup. She can be contacted at smmward@cnetco.com

This column is the result of a desire by community members, representing different faith communities, wishing to share their ideas about bringing a spiritual perspective into our daily lives and community issues.

For information about contributing a guest column, contact Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola at the Independent: (505) 863-8611, ext. 218 or lizreligion01@yahoo.com.