“Get in, fill the tank, and start it. See what will happen!”
We are heading with anticipation towards Pentecost when the Holy Spirit first came on the apostles. This is the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. Even right up to Jesus’s ascension the disciples still thought that Jesus was going to usher in a worldly kingdom. But Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would give them supernatural power.
Many of us are witnesses to the power of Christ in our lives. However, if we have not experienced his power, how can we witness to it? But if we do know his power, we feel compelled to share it with others – we can’t shut up about it!
We all received that power in baptism and confirmation, but we didn’t have an open heart to receive it. We didn’t know we were supposed to experience his power. It is as if we are laboriously pushing a Porsche. The Lord is saying, “Get in, fill up the tank, and start it. See what will happen!”
Our sacraments are bound by our failure to believe or accept the power contained in them. Many of us don’t yet believe that he loves us, died for our sins, rose and ascended to give us the power of the Spirit. Many of us live lives of quiet desperation, this is why the parish is staging the Life in the Spirit Seminar, beginning on May 24.
Fr. Steve exhorts the men present to step up into the power of the Holy Spirit and take an active part in using the power of the Spirit to spread the kingdom of God, instead of wasting time playing video games and looking at internet images that make them feel desirable. Lastly, Fr. Steve encourages us to seize the power of our baptism and step out in faith.
At the end of Mass, Fr. Steve invited Tom Giles to invite parishioners to attend the Life in the Spirit Seminar that is beginning soon. Tom encouraged us to invite friends, neighbors and family to the seminar and accompany them to it. You can sign up for the seminar on THIS PAGE.
