Holy Spirit Testimony – Pentecost Mission – Rangiora – May 21st – 2024
The Fruits of the Holy Spirit
In early March, Fr Chris Ryan MGL came to Christchurch from Sydney. He spoke to our priests, at an evening gathering at the Pro – Cathedral and he gave a leadership workshop for parish leaders. During this session he said that the one mission of the Catholic Church is to evangelise and make disciples. He defined what a disciple is and said a disciple is “someone who has encountered Jesus deeply and been transformed WHICH IS EVIDENT IN THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MAINFESTING IN THEIR LIVES”. That really stopped me in my tracks – and has been the cause of a lot of reflection over the past months since.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that “The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: “charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.”112
The more I reflected on these fruits – the more I saw that I am not sure that I am growing / manifesting these fruits in my life. Over the last year, I asked myself, have I become more charitable, joyful, peaceful, patience, kind, generous, gentle, faithful, modest, self-controlled and chaste – I am not sure that I have – especially if you ask my wife and children.
In our journey it is easy for us to do all the externals – go to Mass, say our prayers – but are our hearts and lives being transformed from within? Jesus asks us to remain connected to him – “He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear “the fruit of the Spirit” but also it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that “God’s children (us) can bear much fruit”.
Probably the great battle of my spiritual life – of all our spiritual lives is that of pride – in thinking that we have to fix ourselves – that we have to do this work, that we have to make these fruits manifest in our lives – it is such a trap – it is through the power of the Holy Spirit, at work in us, that does this work.
We might recall the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation – she askes the angel how this is possible – the angel replied “the power of the most High will cover you with its shadow” – Mary didn’t have to do anything, she just had to say yes and trust. There is a quote from Venerable Mary Potter that I have reflected on for years – “Very few people trust God in the way that he wishes”. When I fail to trust God in the way he wishes “I block the action of the Holy Spirit in my life” – and mostly out of fear.
As I have been praying about this testimony, I have found myself thinking back to 2008 and World Youth Day in Sydney with Pope Benedict XVI. The theme was “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you …”. At one point in the final homily at Mass he said
“Yet this power, the grace of the Spirit, is not something we can merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift. God’s love can only unleash its power when it is allowed to change us from within. We have to let it break through the hard crust of our indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind conformity to the spirit of this age”.
A few months later he answered a question from a Seminarian who had been in Sydney and asked how, how can he remain close to the Holy Spirit, how can the Holy Spirit guide me in my life? Pope Benedict answered …
“it is the Lord who helps us but we must be available as instruments … This is why I think that the most important thing is that we ourselves remain, so to speak, within the radius of the Holy Spirit’s breath, in contact with him”.
Pope Benedict said that the Holy Spirit is the breath of Jesus Christ. This means that we must keep close to Christ. Through deep prayer, by meditating on his Word, in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Penance. And of course – much more.
Pope Benedict also said it was important to ‘structure our days’, so that God has access to us all the time, “in which we are in continuous contact with Christ and in which, for this very reason, we are continuously receiving the breath of the Holy Spirit”.
So this is a challenge for us all as we start this week of deep prayer and reflection on the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives. A priest I really admire (Fr Roger Landry) says that a parish mission / a parish retreat, which this time really is,
“succeeds or fails on the basis of whether it changes us, whether we leave this time with plans to live a more ardent discipleship”. A retreat is only as good as the resolutions made and kept. Our resolutions will be what allows the seeds God has planted in us through Mary to grow. Our resolutions will determine whether we’re just fans of Jesus or true disciples, who are constantly in the search of learning and growing in imitation of Christ”.
As you enter the time of praise and worship and the following days I encourage you to reflect on these questions:
- In my discipleship journey are the fruits of the Holy Spirit manifesting in my life? Have I grown since Pentecost last year?
- How am I going to remain close to the Holy Spirit – within the radius of the Holy Spirit in my daily life?
- What resolutions am I going to make this Pentecost season that will allow the Holy Spirit to transform me so we may manifest the fruits on the spirit in our lives?
- If you, like me, find yourself challenged by your reflection – pray for the grace to trust more deeply, and to allow the Holy Spirit to work more deeply in you.
This testimony was given at a parish mission on May 21st, 2024 – it has been slightly edited.
