As the days grow spiritually darker and people are losing faith in God and in His Son, Jesus, will each person in the Church turn to the Holy Spirit? It is a question I am asking myself as I look out into the country. There is so much division, confusion, and deception. 

My question is both generic and specific. I could easily put Jesus or God in the place of the Holy Spirit. However, in salvation history, we are in the “Post Ascension Period of the Holy Spirit.” Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father SO THAT the Father would send the Holy Spirit. 

Why would Jesus tell us in John 16:7 that it is better for us that the Spirit comes?

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” NRSV

The truth is that the Church could do nothing without the Holy Spirit. Yet there are so many in leadership, on all levels, that pay little to no attention to the vital role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. Even now, many are calling for a New Evangelization devoid of the Holy Spirit. Not overtly, but by leaving the Spirit out.

Look at our catechetical materials; most have very little substance on what to do with the Third Person of the Trinity. The Spirit is the best-kept secret of the Catholic Church.  We are calling for a New Evangelization, but only the Holy Spirit can change the hearts. He is the One who made the birth of the Church at Pentecost possible. 

I believe it is safe to say that there are many in the Church who are afraid of the Holy Spirit. People have told me they want nothing to do with the Spirit. But they want God? Many simply have no understanding of the Spirit because they never had any real catechesis.  

We need our leaders to remake the Holy Spirit a key focal point of our attention. The early Church made His presence essential to being a disciple of Jesus. Didn’t Peter and John go down to Samaria to lay hands on newly baptized believers? (Acts 8:14-17) Why? Because the early Church understood that our mission was to lead people to God and they hadn’t received the Spirit yet. Oh, they were baptized, but there was no evidence of God IN THEM yet.  It is clear from the text that Peter and John’s goal was for them to receive the Holy Spirit. 

All who believe in Jesus should dedicate a year of prayer to ask God corporately and privately to send the Holy Spirit again. 

We all need to learn how to live in the life and power of God, who has been sent to us for this very purpose, that we might be empowered with the gifts and fruits to bring the world to God. 

We need all those who have experienced this power and life to begin to mentor others who are young and immature in the ways of the Spirit. 

We need the young in faith, who are hungry for God, to seek out those who walk with the Spirit and glean as much as they can from them.  

We need to start instructing our children, while they are young, in the life of the Spirit so that they can grow up with a familiarity and confidence that the Spirit is not someone to fear, but is the Love that flows from the Father to the Son (Jesus) and through each heart that willingly invites Him to come. 

Come Holy Spirit!