On Pentecost Sunday, the Holy Spirit worked a miracle in each of the apostles. As the apostles were huddled together around Mary in the Upper Room 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, suddenly from heaven there was the sound like the rush of a driving wind that filled the entire upper room. Tongues of fire came down and rested upon each of them and all were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit came down upon them as tongues of fire — tongues because they were to speak, fire because they were to speak with the passion of burning love. Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit he would send would help them in many ways. In fact, the closer we draw to him and better we listen to his word, the more we grow in the knowledge of him and of his great love and wisdom for us.We experience his great love and wisdom for us in a special way the more we become aware of the fact that we live surrounded by God’s gifts. Everything we have that is good, all our spiritual and bodily qualities, and countless other gifts, all of them are God’s gifts to make us happy in this life and for all eternity in heaven.But it was first and foremost in baptism that God the Father filled us with His innumerable gifts. He erased the stain of original sin from our souls. He enriched us with the gift of sanctifying grace, by which he made us sharers in his own divine life, and he made us his sons and daughters. He also made as members of the Church.Along with sanctifying grace, God adorned our soul with the supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In brief, let me say that the virtues give us the power or capacity of acting in a supernatural way, of judging the world and events from a higher point of view–that of faith–and of behaving as true children of God. They give us the power of knowledge of knowing God intimately, of loving him as he loves himself and of performing actions which are meritorious for eternal life.The following example shows how the Holy Spirit would like to work in our souls: Our bodies are like a perfectly tuned piano. Our Soul is the pianist; now, before baptism, the soul is barely able to play an elementary tune.After the Sacraments of Initiation of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Most Holy Eucharist, the soul full of sanctifying grace…, is assisted by the Holy Spirit our interior teacher and guide. He enables the soul to play a tune never before heard…, music so beautiful as to make God smile… So does the Holy Spirit want to do in each of our actions… at work, school, when shopping…The same Holy Spirit who filled the apostles on Pentecost is about to come down here in this Church. We are in the midst of the Upper Room, where Jesus gives himself to us in Holy Communion, where the Holy Spirit himself comes down. If we wish to leave this Upper Room and carry out our mission as the Apostles of our own day, let us beg the Holy Spirit to fill us with tongues of fire, so that with passion, love and great courage, we might bring the Gospel out to our world which so desperately needs to embrace it.Come, Holy Spirit, Fill the Hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love! Amen.
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El domingo de Pentecostés, el Espíritu Santo realizó un milagro en cada uno de los apóstoles. Mientras los apóstoles estaban apiñados alrededor de María en el aposento alto 50 días después de que Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos, repentinamente del cielo se escuchó un sonido como el de un viento fuerte que llenó todo el aposento. Lenguas de fuego descendieron y se posaron sobre cada uno de ellos y todos fueron llenados del Espíritu Santo. El Espíritu Santo descendió sobre ellos como lenguas de fuego: lenguas porque debían hablar, fuego porque debían hablar con la pasión del amor ardiente. Jesús había prometido que el Espíritu Santo que enviaría los ayudaría de muchas maneras. De hecho, cuanto más nos acercamos a él y mejor escuchamos su palabra, más crecemos en el conocimiento de él, de su gran amor y sabiduría por nosotros. Experimentamos su gran amor y sabiduría por nosotros de una manera especial cuanto más nos damos cuenta del hecho de que vivimos rodeados de los dones de Dios. Todo lo que tenemos que es bueno, todas nuestras cualidades espirituales y corporales, y otros innumerables dones, todos son dones de Dios para hacernos felices en esta vida y por toda la eternidad en el cielo. Pero fue ante todo en el bautismo que Dios Padre nos llenó con sus dones innumerables. El borró la mancha del pecado original de nuestras almas. Nos enriqueció con el don de la gracia santificante, mediante el cual nos hizo partícipes de su vida propia divina, y nos hizo sus hijos e hijas y miembros de la Iglesia. Junto con la gracia santificante, Dios adornó nuestra alma con las virtudes sobrenaturales y los dones del Espíritu Santo. En resumen, permítanme decirles que las virtudes nos dan el poder o la capacidad de actuar de manera sobrenatural, de juzgar el mundo y los acontecimientos desde un punto de vista superior, el de la fe, y de comportarnos como verdaderos hijos de Dios. Nos dan el poder de conocer a Dios íntimamente, de amarlo como él se ama a sí mismo y de realizar acciones meritorias para la vida eterna.