Let the Holy Spirit in — or else the unholy enter

O most blessed Light divine, Shine within these hearts of yours, And our inmost being fill! Where you are not, we have naught, Nothing good in deed or thought, Nothing free from taint of ill. Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away: Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray.

– Come, Holy Spirit Pentecost Mass Sequence

WHAT’s often inadvertently forgotten or willfully missed in homilies on the Solemnity of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, celebrated on Pentecost Sunday, May 28, is what slips in if we don’t open our hearts, minds and souls to the Third Person of God.

Indeed, as spelled out in the above-quoted “Come, Holy Spirit” verses read ahead of the Acclamation and the Gospel, before the Holy Ghost takes his rightful place in us, there’s already ungodliness or unholiness festering within:

“Where you are not, we have naught, Nothing good in deed or thought, Nothing free from taint of ill.”

We need him to “wash the stains of guilt away, bend the stubborn heart and will [and] guide the steps that go astray.” After all, if the Apostles needed the Spirit’s flame to preach and live the Gospel, even more do we.

So, why is unholiness within and around us not mentioned much in sermons? Probably for the same reason sin, hell and Satan aren’t.

One prominent priest urged preachers to avoid scaring people. He fears warnings of eternal punishment make many tune out, just as smokers stop reading articles about cigarettes causing cancer.

Thankfully, Our Lady of Fatima did not spare us from fearsome warnings in six apparitions from May to October 1917, celebrated on May 13. She even showed the blazing Inferno to the child visionaries, aged 6, 8 and 9.

Plainly, moderating messages about hell, sin and Satan does not mean zeroing them. Silencing straight talk about ungodly acts and actors luring us from God only helps devils damn the children God loves and waste His Son’s sacrifice for our salvation.

Get real about devils, damnation and sins bringing souls to hell. If it’s scary, that’s what it should be, even as we hope in God’s grace and mercy.

At Pentecost, remember: To drive evil away, let the Spirit in.

Get ready for renewal and rebirth

Harnessing the Spirit against sin also comes through in the Mass Gospel from Saint John (Jn 20:19-23). The Risen Jesus breathed on his Apostles, saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

The Responsorial Psalm 104 (Ps 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34) also extolled the Spirit as God’s instrument in recasting the world toward His goodness and perfection: “How manifold are your works, O Lord! The earth is full of your creatures. … When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.”

Of course, the Holy Ghost is most instrumental in God’s saving plan to send His Son to earth as one of us. Mary conceived our Lord by the power of the Spirit, who was also at her Immaculate Concepcion, sparing her from original sin at her first moment of life.

The Third Person of the Blessed Trinity also touched the Messiah’s herald and cousin John in the womb of Elizabeth, who was “filled with the Holy Spirit” when visited by her cousin Mary, pregnant with our Lord (The Gospel of St. Luke, 1:41).

That fulfilled the Angel’s prophecy to John’s father Zechariah — “even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:15) — and, saints and theologians believed, that removed original sin from him.

The same sanctification before birth is said to have been done to Joseph as future husband of Mary and foster father of Jesus. The formation module of the Men of St. Joseph (MoSJ), mandated nationwide by Philippine bishops, quotes eminent 19thcentury theologian and educator St. John Henry Newman:

“He is Holy Joseph, because in the opinion of a great many doctors (leading doctrinal writ

ers of the Church), he, as well as St. John the Baptist, was sanctified even before he was born … because his office, of being spouse and protector of Mary, specially demanded sanctity.”

If it isn’t clear yet, among the Spirit’s paramount roles is sanctifying or making holy what is or would have been tainted, from the future Mother of God, her Most Chaste Spouse, and our Lord’s cousin and precursor to countless prelates, priests, penitents and other souls, structures, objects and activities of the Church across earth for all time.

Besides sanctifying grace, the Spirit brings seven gifts imparting divine truth and holiness: Wisdom to center our lives on God, Understanding of His great truths, Counsel to know His will, Knowledge of the world based on His will and law, Fortitude to persevere in goodness, Piety to find joy in worship and service to God, and Holy Fear to feel His presence and power everywhere always.

MoSJ talks recount the Spirit in Angel Gabriel’s messages to Mary about conceiving the Son of God by the action of the Holy Ghost, and to Joseph recounting the Lord’s Incarnation and instructing him to marry Mary rather than quietly divorcing her.

Turning to the first Mass reading, the Pentecost story (Acts of the Apostles, 2:1-11) also shows the Spirit enlightening the Apostles and their audience, whatever their languages.

But immensely more important than learning, of course, is believing and living in Christ, inspired by the Spirit.

Thus, we are reborn as children of God with His Spirit in our hearts and His Son as our Way, our Truth and our Life.

What began with the Holy Ghost sanctifying Mary at conception and Joseph before birth, then imparting God’s saving plan to them, now flourishes across earth and millennia, renewing the world, establishing God’s Kingdom and lifting His children to Him in faith, hope and love. Amen.