THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Her Doctrine and Morals

Pentecost Sunday

28 May 2023

[Image]

The Sunday

Sermon

Click the button on the right to be told about updates. Your address will be kept strictly private.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Ghost. The Apostles received visible signs of the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost works mainly unseen in His Church. The Holy Ghost is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the Person of the love between the Father and the Son. Time and space do not allow us to focus individually on each of the many gifts (graces) that we receive from the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost does not teach us a new doctrine but instead opens our eyes to see and understand the teachings that Jesus gave us. As we saw last week, God is taking us by the hand and leading us from the physical, natural, and worldly to the spiritual, supernatural, and heavenly. Jesus became a man to lead us in this direction. But He needed to distance His physical Body from us so that we could advance to the spiritual life. The Holy Ghost is taking up where Jesus left us.

If we have followed Jesus as we ought, we have denied ourselves and died to ourselves and this world. The void created by this self-sacrifice needs to be filled, not with material things, but rather spiritual ones. This is where the Holy Ghost fits in. Our spiritual immaturity and weakness did not allow us to truly understand and follow Jesus, but with the grace of the Holy Ghost, our eyes are opened, and our minds are cleared so that all that Jesus said and did are now made clear. We find the strength and courage to deny ourselves and rise spiritually above this world.

Jesus leaves us His Peace. The Holy Ghost allows us to receive the Peace that Jesus gave us. It is one thing to be given a gift and another to willingly accept the gift given to us with open hearts and minds.

The peace of Jesus comes from His innocence and unity with the Will of God. There is no doubt or fear in the heart of Jesus. Jesus showed us many times that when we truly love God, conform our wills to His, and trust that everything will turn out well for those who love God, we will have peace in our hearts and minds. The salient point for most of us is that we must deny ourselves and overcome our disordered self-will. When we love God and empty ourselves for Him to enter us, we find and experience the Peace Jesus gave us.

The Holy Ghost showers us constantly with life and grace. As we receive and cooperate with the many and varied gifts that He gives us, we grow in virtue and holiness. The Holy Ghost principally brings a love of God to us. With that love, all the other graces and virtues are connected. When we love God, we actively seek ways to serve Him and do what He wants rather than what may appeal to our childish whims. This is self-denial. When Justice demands that we suffer and die because of our sins, we can willingly deny ourselves and take up our cross to follow Jesus. And we can do this without fear or worry. There was complete peace, trust, and confidence in the saints as they did this because the Holy Ghost filled their hearts and souls.

It is not merely resignation to the Will of God that the Holy Ghost gives us; it is a wholehearted embracing of God's Will. His Will becomes our will. There is no oppressive feeling but rather freedom, delight, and comfort. This is the Peace that Jesus gave us.

As we cooperate with the Holy Ghost in receiving the Peace of Jesus into our lives, we find true joy and happiness in everything. The material world we thought would bring us happiness has left us empty because our hearts were not made for it. But, once we enter into God's Will, we find true joy in all that God has made. Happiness is ours as we innocently enjoy the material things God has given us. And this same joy is ours when our bodies suffer because of material things. Everything is good for those who genuinely love God. Pleasure and pain, health and sickness, riches and poverty; are all the same for those who love and live for God. Whatever God Wills or permits is good because God is good; the Peace that Jesus leaves us and the Holy Ghost fortifies in us makes all the saints rise above the mere physical experiences of this life.

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary inspire, guide, and protect us!