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On the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out, in a powerful way, onto the disciples, who were gathered together in the same room where the Last Supper occurred, in Jerusalem. The New Testament describes an incredible scene, with tongues of fire appearing over people’s heads and everyone speaking in foreign languages. Did it happen exactly that way? Who knows? It also may be true that this was the only way that writer of the Acts of the Apostles could describe such a profound experience of the Holy Spirit. As was the case with Easter, Pentecost was something that had never happened before and so was probably impossible to describe. One of the lessons of Pentecost, though, is that the Holy Spirit gives us the graces we need to spread the Good News that God loves us and that God is with us.
Now, the Holy Spirit, I think, might be the forgotten person of the Holy Trinity. We tend to think a lot about God the Father and a lot about Jesus. But, in fact, it’s through the Spirit that we encounter both the Father and Son today. The Spirit also encourages us, consoles us, urges us on, and literally “in-spires” us. So this week, as you look back over your daily life, you might pay special attention to those times when you really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.
