Mission And The Holy Spirit

INTRODUCTION

The coming of the Holy Spirit upon Mary, Mother of Jesus, and upon the disciples of our Lord marked the birth of the Missionary Church. Something extraordinarily beautiful and important happened: Mary became Queen of the universe; Peter, from being timid and weak, became a courageous witness of the Risen Lord, and all those who were baptized became living stones of the Church. Calling to mind this great event leads us into prayer:

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“O God, continue Your action for the sanctification of Your Church in every people and nation. Pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth, and with the divine grace that was at work when the Gospel was first proclaimed, fill now once more the hearts of believers.”

For Mission to be a strong passion in our hearts, it is always necessary for us to welcome the Holy Spirit in our inner selves, as the leading protagonist in the history of salvation. Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit is unknown or little known by many followers of Christ, even those involved in the field of Mission. I met many who told me: “Father, we have tried our best to succeed in our endeavors, but have not succeeded. Why?” The answer I have always given, with a little smile, is this: “You have not succeeded because you have tried too hard trusting in your own human strength.” We often forget that when it is a matter of life, of salvation, of mission, our human strength reveals itself always as weakness. We must always remember that the only creative thing we can do is to cooperate with the Spirit. His action always comes first, then our action follows. With the event of Pentecost, the Spirit acted, the apostles opened themselves to Him, and were transformed. They were weak, fearful and uncertain, but after the coming of the Holy Spirit, they became courageous witnesses of the Risen Lord. Let us ask ourselves: Are we aware of the Spirit’s presence in our life and in our missionary action? Have we ever asked Him: “Please, take us the way we are and make us the way you want us to be?”

When in our missionary journey we open ourselves to the Spirit, then He gives us His great gifts which make us effective: love, joy, peace, magnanimity, benevolence bounty, fidelity, meekness and self-control. These gifts enable us to attract people to Jesus, open our hearts and minds to all, and enable us to transform situations of selfishness, of pride, and of pain. A mother wrote an article in which she said: “When I kiss the wound of my little child, he smiles at me and his pain disappears, because love is stronger than pain.” Something similar happens when we allow the Spirit to act in us and through us.  

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