If someone whispered the name "Jesus" to you, would that trigger a movement of the Holy Spirit in your life? Cornelius and his family were so open to the Holy Spirit that, when Peter merely began to talk about Jesus, they were baptized in the Spirit, spoke in tongues, and glorified God (Acts 10:44-46). Few of us are as open to the Spirit as Cornelius. However, we can become more open to the Spirit by praying, hearing God's word, and repenting of our sin. In these ways, the Lord opened His disciples to the Spirit at the first Pentecost. He will open us to the Spirit in the same ways.

However, most of us have made good resolutions before. Maybe before last Pentecost we resolved to pray as never before, but we didn't persevere. Some of us have been putting off going to Confession. To many of us, the Bible is still a closed book, although we tried several times to get into God's word. How can we expect to prepare for Pentecost this year after having failed so many other years?

This year, ask the Lord to open your eyes to recognize those people for whom He has given you a special grace to love. Ask the Lord to help you realize that you will never be able to love these people as you want unless you let the Holy Spirit be much more active in your life. Motivated by love (2 Cor 5:14), you will do what God wants you to do in preparing for Pentecost.

Rescript:  †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, October 3, 2008

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