Reflection
The Holy Spirit is at the center of the Christian way. It is the living element, the operative mechanism for relating to God. It is that part of ourselves that is related to the Divine. The person who develops a relation with the Holy Spirit, who lives a life open to it, is at the place that the Christian story, theology and practice want us all to be. The Holy Spirit is that part of the action of God that exists within each person’s subjective awareness. It is inspirer, guide, director, comforter, source of strength. It’s the source of all religious experience from mystical rapture to a simple sense of guidance or presence. It is the means by which people know and feel God.
Christopher Hill.
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts and kindle in us the fire of your love.
Action
Try to be aware of the presence of God’s energizing Spirit within all things.
Suggested Reading
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Acts 4:31
The Holy Spirit helps us to view others with fresh eyes, seeing them always as brothers and sisters in Jesus, to be respected and loved.
Pope Francis
Prayer is the breath of the Holy Spirit within us that opens our eyes to the divine good which saturates our world.
Ilia Delio
The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of God for His people.
W. Tozer
Without God’s Spirit, there is nothing we can do that will count for God’s kingdom. Without God’s Spirit, the church simply can’t be the church.
N.T. Wright.
Since the days of Pentecost, has the whole church ever put aside every other work and waited for ten days, that the Spirit’s power might be manifested? We give too much attention to method and machinery and resources, and too little to the source of power.
J. Hudson Taylor
Pentecost has not created an alternative mythology with which to secularize and commercialize it. It has not created a figure like a fat, jolly man in a red suit or a large bunny. Stores don’t stock special items for the Feast of Pentecost. In fact, the Feast of Pentecost comes and goes in the church year without the world even noticing.
Mark Surburg