RECOGNIZING the voice of God, and RESPONDING to that voice.

RECOGNIZING the voice of God, and RESPONDING to that voice.

After the Ascension where did Our Blessed Mother and the Apostles go?  They went back to Jerusalem to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  In the next nine days they were wrapt in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to come down upon them.  Jesus had told them the Holy Spirit would comfort and befriend them.  He would recall to their minds everything Jesus had tried to teach them in the last three years.  Among His last instructions Jesus said, “And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised.  Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the Power from on high”.  (Lk. 24:49)  It was important that they should prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit would have a greater effect on their lives if they longed for His Coming.

Since the feast of the Ascension how well have we prepared for His Coming?  Have we come to Church today and been told it is the feast of the Holy Spirit and we have not looked forward to it or prepared for it?  If that is the case our response to His Coming to us today will have less effect than if we had prayed to Him several times a day since Ascension Thursday and longed for His Coming.  Isn’t this true if we are going on a holiday?  Looking forward to it and planning for it helps us to enjoy the holiday even more.

Let me tell you a story.  At a military base the following words  appeared on a notice board, “A telegraph specialist - someone specialized in Morse Code is needed.  Those interested in the job report to the Captain’s office tomorrow at 09 hours.”

At 9 a.m. the next day, soldiers had already filled the Captain’s waiting room.  There were so many that the room was filled to capacity.  The job they were all seeking was a very desirable one.  They all wanted it!  They waited.  Some of them read magazines.  Some listened to music through their headsets.  Some carried on conversations among themselves.  There was a cough here, a laugh there, the deep sighs of boredom, the low steady hum of voices.  Just the quiet buzz of cooped-up humanity.  Then suddenly there was also the sound of dots and dashes coming from a telegraph machine somewhere.  As a result a soldier stood up, walked across the room, opened the door to the Captain’s office, and disappeared behind the closed door.

The Captain welcomed the soldier, and said, “Sit down, soldier.  What made you come in here?"

The soldier replied, “Sir, I heard a Morse Coded message that said ‘This is your Captain. If you’re reading this message, come into my office immediately.’”

“That’s exactly right,” said the Captain.  “You were listening, you heard, you knew the message was for you and you responded.  Excellent, soldier. The job is yours.”

That story has a good message for us today.  If we aren’t careful, we can get caught up in the noise of the world all around us - like the soldiers waiting to enter the Captain’s office.  If that happens we will completely miss the fact that the "Captain" who is the Holy Spirit is speaking to us.  God is speaking to us all the time and how many of us are listening?

All of us through our Baptism and Confirmation are temples of the Holy Spirit, but is He lying dormant within us?  The Holy Spirit wants to make us more like Christ, but it is up to us to activate Him.  Today He wants to inspire, guide and teach us, but like that soldier are we listening?  Or are we like the other soldiers who were wrapped up in themselves and their own world?

Today calls us to a new beginning – the day when our Blessed Lady and the first disciples were given the spectacular gift of the indwelling of the Spirit of God.  The Holy Spirit changed the disciples from being weaklings into brave witnesses for Christ.  He fired them to bring people to Christ.

It is no less spectacular for us – we have been given the same gift and we are called to LISTEN, to hear, to know the message and it is for us TO RESPOND in obedience to what we hear.

A day should never go by without us praying to the Holy Spirit in our morning and evening prayers.  Every morning we could say a prayer like this, “Give me the strength Holy Spirit to do the work of this day and at its close may I be worthy of the trust You placed in me.”  At night we could say, “Holy Spirit, how did we get on?”  Not just, “How did I get on?”  We should be constantly thanking the Holy Spirit for any good we do for we cannot even take the first small step towards Heaven without His Help, as St Paul says, “You cannot say the name of Jesus without the help of the Holy Spirit”.

Today, how important it is that we should spend some time in quiet prayer, thinking and loving the Holy Spirit for He is the God of Love.  If we want to know how to love, the Holy Spirit is the one to teach us.  Such quiet reflection is time well spent and not a waste of time.

Heavenly Father and Jesus Your Son we thank for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  May we listen to His still small voice within us -- and respond to what we hear.

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