Pentecost-Inheritance of the Holy Spirit; For audio only PPN
Truth of the Spirit. Patti Brunner discusses Pentecost-Inheritance of the Holy Spirit. Do you ever wonder if it is even possible for the third person of the Holy Trinity to dwell within us? Jesus is our proof. The gifts of the Holy Spirit that manifested in Jesus prove the Holy Spirit in “man“. The Spirit makes sure the inheritance continues special gifts, those gifts of grace called charisms by the Church. They are to be requested, received and shared.
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The Spirit makes sure the inheritance continues—even when the hearts of men are black with self, the truth survives and revives. Truth survives on earth in the hearts of man by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not up to a particular time, place or person, yet each of these are used by the Spirit to expand the Kingdom of God. We are encouraged to reach out for all that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made possible for you.
Welcome to Truth of the Spirit. I am your host, Patti Brunner. In today’s episode we’ll discuss Pentecost-Inheritance of the Holy Spirit.
The Season of Easter tells the purpose for the coming of Christ to the earth: redemption, salvation, restoration of the people to God through grace and the result: Dwelling of the Holy Spirit within you. We mark the end of the Easter season with the celebration of the Ascension. The Ascension is important because unless Jesus leaves and sits at the Father’s right hand the Holy Spirit could not be sent. Without the Ascension there is no church. Instead we would be like the people who just sat on the hillside we would have relied on Jesus to do for us. With the absence of Jesus, in our need, we seek the Holy Spirit; through Jesus we are made worthy to be a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit and thus can become a part of the Body of Christ. We can thus become the Church.
Do you ever wonder if it is even possible for the third person of the Holy Trinity to dwell within us? Jesus is our proof. The gifts of the Holy Spirit that manifested in Jesus prove the holy Spirit in “man”. The manifestation of these gifts attracted people to Jesus and demonstrated the truth of his words as he proclaimed the kingdom of God in their midst. Paul shares lists of these gifts as signs of the Holy Spirit dwelling within the disciples of the early Church.
Through the Ascension of Jesus we inherit the treasures of Jesus. Our inheritance—only after the risen Lord had left us—is the greatest inheritance to us his adopted sons and daughters—the holy Spirit. Our inheritance is without measure: more than enough for all. The Holy Spirit himself reveals “how much” to us as we accept and grow. The Spirit even gave us ‘hints’ in the Old Testament. “Hints” to recognize these gifts given were promised in Isaiah chapter 11:2-3 “a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord and his delight shall be the fear of the Lord.” Our future inheritance was then witnessed by Jesus’ life: wisdom, healing, mighty deeds and then the proof explodes in the early church after Pentecost as the “understanding” gift manifests and releases various gifts within the Church.
How are we affected today by Easter, the Ascension & the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus to send to us the Holy Spirit? It is in these wonderful occurrences that we comprehend the total commitment of the Lord to his people. As the Trinity, each Person of the Trinity, adapts the needs of the people of God by showing us the way. God the Father gives us a Father to emulate, to provide for his children, the one who set the course for salvation by requiring the obedience of the Son. Jesus reveals the Son whose love for the Father can be imitated in word and deed. And then we are shown the most wonderful gift of The Spirit who provides the bond of man to God, the grace, the communication, the Relater who connects the spirit of man to the source of all life. In Trinity, the Father and Son and Holy Spirit combine to provide the food for life—the Body & Blood of the Christ. Man can survive but not flourish without the Bread come down from heaven. What a gift to the descendants of Adam and Eve! And it is given to those who need it so, even after they turn away from the God who has given them the path of Life.
The Ascension is also a gift of Glory for it is through the return of Christ to the Father that magnifies the kingdom to those who live in darkness. In the celebration of Pentecost the “Church” is born because the knowledge of God in the hearts of men opens the door to truth and understanding. Without this man would have turned in fear and would have “died out”.
The Spirit makes sure the inheritance continues—even when the hearts of men are black with self, the truth survives and revives. Truth survives on earth in the hearts of man by the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is not up to a particular time, place or person, yet each of these are used by the Spirit to expand the Kingdom of God. We are encouraged to reach out for all that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made possible for you.
Accept these glorious feasts of Easter, the Ascension and Pentecost into your lives. Use them to grow and expand the kingdom of God in your own life and in the world.
Even in your weakness you hold the power of the universe known as freewill. It is you who must choose the path of light or dark. By freewill it is you who controls your death or life. But it is through the power of the Holy Spirit that you are enriched in faith to Know Light, to Know Jesus, to Know Love.[Truth] You can still turn away, but if you ask for help—for grace—it is given, to strengthen you on your journey. Jesus the Anointed One became man to show evil what power freewill can give back to the Father who gives all gifts. When Satan turned away from the Father, his course brought death and destruction. But when the Son turned the world back to the Father he brought life and eternal happiness. Join with your brother, Jesus. Join into the river of life of grace returning to the Father.
As the earth is restored in grace, the Kingdom will be a blessing upon all the people who love God. God always loves His creation. But creation does not always love the Father. Abide in Christ and accept God’s Love and grace. You will find that following His course is made simple if not easy. Follow the teaching God has laid out for you in scripture and by his Church. The point of light you seek is where the two meet for there He is. Jesus came to bring salvation, to set the captives free and to bring light to darkness and to restore love in the hearts of man.
The Holy Spirit is upon us. How do we take care of this great gift?
Without the Spirit there would be no church, nothing to steward. It is this tremendous Gift from the Father and the Son that we are to accept and share. In the Novena to the Holy Spirit, the first novena of the Church, we mark the days after the Ascension to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. We pray for the gifts promised in Isaiah and the fruits of the Spirit. Remember, with the Holy Spirit there’s always more!
Today I speak of special gifts, those gifts of grace called charisms by the Church. They are to be requested, received and shared. It is for the express use of strengthening and building the church that they are given. Without the charisms the Church would move very slowly in attaining wisdom, understanding, fortitude and faith. Charisms allow a “fast track” to receiving and sharing God’s love in “application” like an “I-Phone”; the usability is in the availability, and understanding using the “apps” makes all the difference.
Through Pentecost the Holy Spirit spread the Church to gentiles. When we look at the early church we find great need to establish churches from “ground zero” – no trust fund, no generational hand me down of church facilities, no drifting along in what someone else had provided. To build the Church—basically “from scratch” took a tremendous outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In the scripture of the Pentecost of the Coming of the Holy Spirit we see the manifestation of several gifts:
- Tongues of fire
- Tongues of language and understanding
- Boldness
- Preaching
- Faith
In the Acts of the Apostles the early church received and shared gifts of healing, knowledge, raising the dead (miracles), visitations by angels, wisdom, prophecy. These gifts of grace continue to be our inheritance today. And we need them! The Church needs them today! The world needs the Church to use these gifts today!
One of the signs, to Peter and the early Church, of the acceptance of non-Jews—a.k.a. gentiles—was the appearance of the Holy Spirit especially through the ecstatic praise of tongues.
Paul taught converts of the early Church about these gifts. We see this in Romans 8 (and 12) and 1 Corinthians 12. As we step outside the time zone of scripture we find that many saints also were given these gifts of grace and used them for the benefit of God’s kingdom on earth—the building and strengthening of the Church again and again.
This small group had good stewardship. They shared what they received. This charismatic renewal has spread throughout the modern church empowering priests, religious, and laity into strengthening the Church through healing, miracles, boldness, and tongues’ gifts. Charismatic not a “movement” but an intricate core of the Catholic Church. Yet many seem to fend off the charismatic aspect of the Church. They seem to shun this particular glorious inheritance. Why refusal of gifts? Why do we not know the Holy Spirit? Perhaps, we do not know the Father & Jesus, for once we are in relationship with Father and Son the Holy Spirit will dwell in us. So pray to surrender. There is a prayer spoken by Pope John Paul II when he commissioned the translation of the New American Bible “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of us your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.” Scripture says, “The Bride and the Spirit say “come.”” It is by the Holy Spirit that we truly come to know God.
I once heard Fr. Mathias Thelen, of Encounter Ministries, say that “Being filled with the Holy Spirit means being filled with God’s Love. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the overwhelming experience of being inundated by God’s love.” He then said, about evangelizing this fullness of the Holy Spirit, “We cannot be shy about telling others that there is more; if we do we are cheating them.”
We each are given the Spirit at our baptism and confirmation. This stirring up of the gifts of the Holy Spirit takes place by the Mercy of God on the Church. It is through this work of the Church that I stand here before you today. God is so Good! So good!
You’ve been listening to Truth of the Spirit. I’m your host, Patti Brunner. We invite you to visit some of the playlists of our earlier podcasts to learn more about the gifts, the charisms of the Holy Spirit. We’ll put them in the summary below. Check out our playlists and then ask the Lord to “enkindle the fire of the Holy Spirit” in your life. Then share with us in the comments what happened! Then come back for more, because with the Holy Spirit there’s always more! Amen.
Note: To learn more about inheriting the charisms see our menu Series & Playlists or our YouTube Channel Playlists: “Charisms of the Holy Spirit”, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgixdsnYKWlTJQfQVLzkYcfpfOFKCf5Ty And to learn more about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit see the playlist Life in the Spirit https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgixdsnYKWlROEPNpWyH7Qx-zALN_kSNK
