When Jesus was human, he could only interact with so many people. His ministry centered in Galilee, and he had hundreds of disciples, but he intentionally selected 12 apostles, apostle meaning someone who is sent, to follow him and learn from him so that he could form them into the future leaders of the Church when he was gone. To follow a rabbi in 1st century Israel meant to leave your life and live with the teacher – eating together, sleeping together, following him wherever he went. This was training for them to become like their teacher. These 12 apostles are the foundation of the Church, and it is the Church that continues Jesus’ mission today. Jesus’ death was necessary not only to usher in the new covenant, but for the Paraclete, or Holy Spirit, to come.
Wind and fire – two elements from nature that often go hand in hand. During times of drought, lighting a fire during high winds can cause forest fires. Throughout the Old Testament, fire was a symbol of God’s presence, like the pillar of fire in Exodus (the Israelites followed the pillar of fire out from Egypt) or the burning bush. The pillar of fire also showed God’s presence on Mt. Sinai and in the tabernacle. Wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. It is likely that when people of the New Testament saw wind and fire together, they would think of God, the Holy Spirit, being present.
Jesus’ ascension triggered the next phase of God’s plan for salvation - The Holy Spirit. Ten days after Jesus’ ascension, the disciples were gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem during the Jewish religious holiday of Pentecost. Pentecost takes place 49 days after Passover. It is a festival celebrating the completion of the grain harvest. That day, hearing a loud noise like a violent wind blowing and seeing what Luke described as tongues of fire settling on them, the promised Holy Spirit came down and filled the disciples. At the time, great numbers of Jews were gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost. The believers went outside, and the Spirit empowered them to speak in unknown tongues to the multitudes of foreign travelers there, letting them hear the message of Christ in their own language. Typology teaches that this is also a reversal of the Tower of Babel. In that Old Testament story, the people wanted to be like God and attempted to build the tallest tower to reach into the heavens. God threw the people into disarray by confusing their languages so they could not understand each other and work together to thwart God. Pentecost reverses this by giving the followers a common language by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter then stands before a crowd of people who were in town for their Festival of Pentecost and announces the “Good news about Jesus.” St. Luke says 3000 were baptized that day. It’s the Holy Spirit that enabled the disciples to become “like Christ” imbuing them with courage, faith, hope, and love; and it’s this same Holy Spirit that enables you to also become “like Christ” with your cooperation of course. Jesus was one person who converted thousands; after his Ascension the church grew and expanded to the ends of the earth. Today there are estimated to be 1.3 billion Christ’s in the world and growing – Africa and Asia are the fastest growing populations of new Catholics. How is this possible? The Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit plays a critical role in the Church. The Church continues Christ’s visible mission acting in the world and throughout history. However, it is the Spirit that is the invisible heart and soul of the Church. It is through the Church that the deposit of faith, which is Scripture and Tradition, are formed and handed down through the centuries. The Church guards the truth and responds to theological challenges and heresies (people who teach contrary to the Church). The breadth and depth of the Church’s teaching is immense – and we have treasures from the early Church down through the ages handed to us to help mold us and deepen our understanding. Just like our parents teach us how to walk, talk, and read, the Church is teaching us how to pray, grow in holiness, and become like Christ so we can be the light of the world – continuing His mission.
Confirmation
There are three sacraments of initiation into the Church: Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation. You first receive the Holy Spirit at your baptism and you become a new creation. It’s not until Confirmation that you receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Confirmation is a beautiful sacrament that can only be conferred by the bishop. In Confirmation, you receive an outpouring of the Holy Spirit making you a fully initiated member of the Church and witness of faith.
It’s important to remember the Church is holy because Jesus is holy, and it is guided by the Holy Spirit. The Church is made up with Saints and Sinners; we each have a choice – to live a life in Christ that he lays out in the Gospels or choose our own way. You have a choice to access this power of the Holy Spirit by accessing the sacraments frequently, praying, reading the Bible, and engaging your mind in what the Church teaches – most importantly, living what Jesus taught. The Holy Spirit isn’t magic; we must humble ourselves to allow the spirit to work through us. That is how we spread Christ’s light in the world. This always goes back to Jesus’ question: Who do you say that I am? If you say he is Jesus, the Christ, then this is the roadmap on how to live your life – becoming like Christ – this is how you change the world.