What is a new Pentecost? Before the Second Vatican Council, John XXIII invited the entire Church to pray for a new Pentecost, which was a dramatic thing to do, because he was noticing something in the Church where the structure, the “bones” of the Church were there and there was life in different pockets and in different movements, but what the pope was identifying was that this “beating heart,” this life source that provides movement to the institution was either lacking or needed to be rediscovered. And boy, did that prayer get answered over the last 100 years, over the last 50 years. We have seen the Holy Spirit just infuse the Church with what the Holy Spirit loves to infuse the Church with, which is movement, passion, fire, insight, conviction.
And so what is a new Pentecost? Well, it ties into this call that we’ve heard over and over again for the New Evangelization. It only makes sense that if the Lord is calling us to renew our commitment to his commission to “go make disciples of all nations,” then He would [also] renew the power source necessary to see that accomplished. And so at a fundamental level what a new Pentecost is, is each individual Catholic laying ‘hold of and — maybe better put — releasing the power that is within us by nature of our Baptism and Confirmation. Because of our Baptism and because of our Confirmation, the Holy Spirit, the Divine third person of the Trinity, is in US, is infused in our life. But we often live kind of in a dormant state with the Spirit, where the Spirit is there but we are not cooperating with the power that is ours because of this reality.
And so a new Pentecost is being like the first apostles, being in a posture of being open.and saying, Holy Spirit, whatever you want to do with me, I’m open to it, even if it’s a little strange, even if it’s a little bizarre, even if I’m a little uncomfortable, even if it gets me moving, even if it means that I actually start to engage in the New Evangelization. It’s a simple thing to do, but one of my favorite prayers is just, “Come, Holy Spirit.” It’s three words. It’s like a text message to Jesus. Just “Come, Holy Spirit! Come, Holy Spirit! Come, Holy Spirit!” And it’s a prayer that He loves to answer.
And the thing is, you’ll know when the Holy Spirit is becoming more active in your life by some markers that the Scriptures lay out for us. One of them is, you will have a renewed conviction about the lordship of Christ. You will recognize who He is and who you are in relation to that. You will have a deeper understanding and experience of the Father’s Love. Whatever your relationship is like with your earthly father, whether you believe you’re loved, whether you feel like you’re too dirty or not, or whatever it is that you come to the Father with, the Holy Spirit is the one who transforms our hearts and softens our hearts. He gives us a new heart to receive the Father’s Love.
Another thing is, the Scriptures are going to come alive. The Scriptures are “the sword of the Spirit.” When we read the Scriptures [while we are] infused with “Pentecost,” all of a sudden two words that we maybe have read many, many times will become new and fresh and life-giving. Another thing that’s it is going to do is, you’re going to develop a heart for the lost. The Spirit has launched out onto the Earth to bring all men back to to the Father through Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the one who bears witness to who Jesus is, and so when we are living with that Spirit released and unleashed in us, we want to look for opportunities. We want to talk about Jesus. We want to celebrate Him and we want to invite others into that.
So a new Pentecost is essential for a New Evangelization, because it is just like the first one: the first evangelization required the first Pentecost. And the beautiful thing is, I heard — I can’t remember where I got this quote from, but somebody said — “the seeds of revival are planted in every baptized heart.” The power source we need to not only live a life of holiness, but to live a life that makes disciples, is already within us if we cooperate with it. So my invitation to you today would be, let’s not try to “drum up” the Spirit or kind of “manufacture” passion. Let’s just be like the Apostles: enter into an upper room, be open, be praying, and receive and cooperate with whatever the power source, the Lord, wants to give us.