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Vocation Meditation -
Pentecost Sunday 2009
Jesus spoke to the disciples: "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, He will testify on My behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning."
"I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Sprit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own, but will speak whatever He hears, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is Mine and declare it to you."
"All that the Father has is Mine. For this reason I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you."
Jesus' promise of the Advocate reveals to us who the Holy Spirit is and what He can make each one of us: a witness of Jesus to the world. Everyone born of the Spirit becomes a Christian witness. We need to understand what makes up a Christian witness.
Christian witness flows from having fellowship and intimacy with Christ in His Word and in His actions. The disciples were His true witnesses because they had been with Him from the beginning of His ministry until His Resurrection and Ascension. There can be no witness without personal experience.
Christian witness comes from inner convictions. There can be no effective Christian witness without faith and trust in Jesus. Jesus confirmed His apostles in His love and commissioned them with a task. To carry this huge mandate necessitated convictions that proved stronger than death.
Christian witness is proven in outward testimony of coherent actions. A witness is one who not only knows that something is true. He/She is prepared to say so. A Christian not only knows who Christ is. He/She wants others to know, love and serve Him, too.
The Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son into the world to make the truth of God's love accessible to everyone. The Holy Spirit stamps God's revelation with unfailing truth, mercy and power that can withstand the test of time and the snares of the enemy. He poured forth on the Church and the world His 7-fold gifts. The 7 gifts of the Spirit are for us to accept, treasure and bring to fruition as did Christ's first disciples, His faithful witnesses to the world.
Vocation Challenge:
"You will be My witnesses".
How do the 7 gifts of the Spirit shape me daily as a Christian witness?
Dear God,
You sent Your Spirit with His 7-fold gifts to us. With Him we will be constantly empowered to live as a Christian witness. Shape my vocation as I open myself each day to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
For the full Gospel reading for this Sunday, visit the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops site.