A New Pentecost

Reading the Journals of Thomas Merton, I now know why God sent "A new Pentecost" on the church in the 1970's.  Although I was too young to see it at the time, the church of the 60's was a holy mess -- and, although all the theologians and spiritual leaders of the time knew it, no one had the slightest idea of how "reform" could possibly take place.  Thank God, He knew how! 

It was not to be through a new movement, or a new theology, or a new Roman Curia, but only through the new outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those "little ones" who had no learning or power to reform anything --- just as in the beginning, when the leaders of the church noted that Peter and John were "unlearned men who had been with Jesus." 

To believe in a new Pentecost is to believe in the silent, secret, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit in us as individuals, and in us as the Body of Christ, bringing about in us and for us the whole and perfect will of God for our lives and for the life of the church -- to trust Jesus to do in us the work we cannot do for ourselves, but that He has already begun in us.  This is the meaning of faith:  You will bring about in me Thy Kingdom, and through me, to the world around me.

The church is the vessel of the Holy Spirit in the same way, and to the same extent as, the individual person is -- to the extent that it cultivates and does not neglect the Presence of the Holy Spirit, no matter where it is or what it is doing.  God is the only One who can bring His Kingdom to earth; if His Spirit is not in us, we "build" in vain.

Within the church (any church) and outside of the church, there are those who live and walk with the Spirit of God, and those who live and work with human energy. It is not difficult to tell the difference, for we have been given a list in Galatians 5 of the "fruits" of the Holy Spirit:  love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, and self-control.  Where these are absent over the long run, the Spirit is not present.

The whole purpose of religion -- any religion, Christian or not -- is to provide an opening, an avenue, a highway, for man's encounter with God.  When it succeeds in its mission, people come to know the Living God in the way that Moses encountered Him in the desert, in the way that Hagar knew Him as the "One Who Sees Me," the "One Who Hears Me."  As Jesus Calling says today, "Your main responsibility is to remain attentive to Me, letting Me guide you through the many choices along your pathway."

I wonder how many faithful church-going Christians have never experienced an encounter with God.  I know they are good people, but as C. S. Lewis says, that is not the purpose of religion -- to make good people; there are many good people who never go to church and who claim no religion.  I think Msgr. Giordano said it best when he said, "Jesus did not come on earth to found another religion, but to bring us new life, the Life of God Himself, the Life lived by the Holy Trinity: the communion between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

If he is right, and I believe he is, then that Life can be communicated to us ONLY by the Presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The church is "church" only insofar as she welcomes that Presence and cultivates it among the believers.  Our need for a new Pentecost is new every generation:  Come, Holy Spirit!