While meeting with them he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father, about which you have heard me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit”
Acts 1:4-5
Toward the end of Luke’s Gospel (the passage last Monday) Jesus had talked to them about “the promise of my Father.” He repeats that now and explicitly says that this “promise” is the Holy Spirit.
Luke’s Gospel has the earthly Jesus at center stage. In Acts we will see how the risen Jesus continues his work on earth through the Holy Spirit.
One wonders if we pay enough attention to this in the Church – the whole Church – or in dioceses, or in parishes, or in our individual lives.
• Prayers to begin meetings can be simply routine.
• I need to think of the Holy Spirit not as an abstraction, but as the risen Christ present and acting through the Spirit.
• It would help to begin each day with an “attitude” – where will the Spirit lead me today?
• It would help to tune in to the Spirit repeatedly during the day.
When I think that too much depends on me, an awareness of the Spirit can bring about a big sigh of relief.
It’s worth some thought. (And prayer!)
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