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Sunday, May 31, 1998

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Pentecost


Acts 2:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-35
John 20:19-23

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"come holy spirit, fill..."

"All were filled with the Holy Spirit." —Acts 2:4

When we were baptized and confirmed, we were given the Holy Spirit. But did we fully receive the Spirit? If so, are we presently filled with the Spirit, or are we leaking by quenching (1 Thes 5:19) or saddening the Spirit (Eph 4:30)?

Our speech comes not just from what is in our hearts but from what is filling our hearts to overflowing. We don't express everything that is in our hearts, but we do express what fills us. "Each man speaks from his heart's abundance" (Lk 6:45). When we are filled with fear, anger, or resentment, we express it. To express ourselves in foreign tongues and to make bold proclamations (Acts 2:4) "about the marvels God has accomplished" (Acts 2:11), we must be "filled with the Holy Spirit." Then we will be Jesus' witnesses (Acts 1:8), proclaim "Jesus is Lord" (1 Cor 12:3), and make disciples of all nations (Mt 28:19). Speaking, witnessing, evangelizing, praising, praying, preaching, and teaching depend on our hearts being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Empty your hearts of the flesh so they can be filled with the Spirit (see Gal 5:17). Come, Holy Spirit, in fullness!

Prayer:  Spirit of the Lord, Who "fills the world" and "is all-embracing" (Wis 1:7), fill me on this day of Pentecost!

Promise:  "It was in one Spirit that all of us, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, were baptized into one body. All of us have been given to drink of the one Spirit." —1 Cor 12:13

Praise:  Alleluia! "Come, Thou Holy Spirit, come! And from Thy celestial home shed a ray of light divine!" (Sequence for Pentecost)

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert L. Hagedorn, July 26, 1997


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 29, 1997