Many years ago my grandparents bought a new car. The salesman started the car and they drove it home and parked it in the garage. The next day when they went to start it they could not. My grandfather, being mechanical, checked the battery which seemed fine but they still couldn’t start the car. For six months the new car sat in the garage. When my brother stopped by, they asked him if he could start it. He got in and started it no problem. The problem was they hadn’t pressed the brake, which this car required in order to start it.
The Holy Spirit came and enlighten and enlivened the Apostles. Consider this: before Pentecost, the Church huddled in an upper room, they prayed, they worshiped but they did not bring more souls to Christ. Then the day of Pentecost came and the Holy Spirit rushed upon the Church and they went out and excitedly and boldly proclaimed the message of salvation to the people with power and signs. They spoke the languages of the people, and not only their languages but in a way that people could understand them. Peter handles the heckler with no problem: what should we do? They were cut to the heart. Repent and be baptized. Seems simple but it was not. The people were really changed, they gave up everything and followed. Three thousand from one homily!
What about our little community? Are we huddled here in our little upper room and afraid to go out and preach the message of salvation to others so that they may not perish? Most of us here have received the Holy Spirit through Confirmation. The same Spirit that rushed upon the Apostles on Pentecost came upon you and I at Confirmation. So why is little happening here? Why is there no or little deeds of power? Has the Holy Spirit abandoned our Church for another?
No, it cannot be true. God never abandons His Bride, so where is this Holy Spirit? Where are the great deeds of power? They are in you waiting to come out. I remember parts of my Confirmation, such as my sponsor. I don’t remember the part when we were confirmed and I don’t remember any preparation for Confirmation. It was simply a rite of passage. We did it, now we were done the Sacraments of Initiation. Not that I even knew that was completed. However, the gifts were given and I was confirmed. So what next? They stayed there sleeping hidden for seven years until someone explained to me what had happened to me, and what the gifts were that I received and how to use them. Then I was excited for them and I started trying them out. It was very exciting to see the promises fulfilled, that when I asked to use them they were there like treasure in the bank.
Last Sunday, I invited you to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now I ask you, where is the Spirit calling you? Has He called you to huddle here, to bury your treasure and the treasure of salvation so that others might not find them?
We need the Holy Spirit more than ever now to unravel the attacks that are leveled against the truth and the Church, the confusion. Look at Jesus. They tried and tried to attack him, to discredit Him and they failed until it was time for Him to suffer. Look at the attack we are under: we are the homophobic, child molesting Church, stuck in the past of male domination and oppressing woman. We are woman haters because we won’t say yes to abortion or contraception. We hate people with AIDS because we won’t let them use condoms. We are backed into a corner that we cannot humanly get out of. Do you think that we are going to move ahead with a slick media campaign? Do you think that all we need to do is to know more about these things so we can scientifically prove that these charges are false?
This will not work. We need the Holy Spirit to turn the tide, to speak their language, to know what they need to hear. To not merely defend ourselves and our way of life but to go forward with boldness and joyfully proclaim the message of salvation. To show a broken world full of broken people that there is hope, that their problems are not too big. Why? Because we know through the Holy Spirit that our problems aren’t bigger than God. We, too, struggle with the same infirmities and it doesn’t have to stop us because we know that God has a plan and it will be revealed to us when we need to know. But, through the Holy Spirit, if we ask we will daily get our bread and the means to thrive in the world. We will not know what is coming next but that God will be there to set us ablaze with power and love to win and thrive as sons and daughters of God. We are not orphans who have to make these things work. God is here and giving us the means.
When was the last time you asked to use a gift of the Holy Spirit? I am guessing mostly the answer is, “I haven’t,” or, “It was a long time ago.” This is insane when we think of it. God has given us power to be different in our lives and we are not using it and people aren’t being saved, maybe we aren’t being saved. Recently I was in a bad mood and everything was making me mad, silly things. I asked the Holy Spirit to change my heart and He did. I profited from the things that were happening, one after another. When I was sliding backwards, I asked again and surprise surprise it changed again. The Holy Spirit is the yeast in our bread. We cannot rise to be what we are called to be if we do not use the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I have put a paper on Confirmation in your pews to help you use the Holy Spirit better in your life. This is our power. This makes the challenges of the world nothing to be feared. We, like the Apostles, can bring the message without fear.