Come, Holy Spirit, fill the Hearts of Your faithful
and kindle in us the Fire of Your love.
Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be recreated
- And You will renew the face of the earth
(Ps 104:30)

            O God, Who did instruct the hearts of Your faithful people by the Light of Your Holy Spirit, grant that by the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
            I was first introduced to this prayer almost thirty years ago. I must confess that at the time I was so wrapped up in being a new mother that I missed how powerful this prayer could be. In the years that followed, I would return to this prayer - sometimes wistfully as I remembered the circumstances in which I learned it, sometimes with a bit of foreboding as I wondered if I really wanted the Holy Spirit to fill me that much.
            But as he often does, God settled the questions in my heart by reminding me that the Fire of His Love is really what it is all about, and that more times then we might care to admit, we need to have that fire rekindled.
            Pentecost is the time of year that we look very closely at the Holy Spirit, and the power that the Spirit has in our lives. Such power in fact, that if we allow it, even today, the Spirit will take the sparks of faith within us and make it a roaring fire.
            But, if we look at that roaring fire as the same experience the disciples had at the first Pentecost, we might just want to wait a bit. Who really wants tongues of fire on their heads, wind rushing through the building and a multitude of different languages all around us? Perhaps it would be better to wait, to remember the nice quiet, well-ordered Church we are used to. If the Holy Spirit came today, then our world would be turned upside down, and who knows what would happen. More people may come to know Jesus, and understand the love of God, neighbors may really come to love each other in the power of the Spirit, and peace may even break out. It isn’t that we don’t want these things to happen, we pray earnestly for them to happen.
            We look at the world around us and ask God to set things right, but we wonder if we are ready for this radical change, especially if it begins in the dramatic way it did in that upper room. It is still a scary world out there, and we find safety in not trying to make waves ourselves and live a good faithful life.
            The feast of Pentecost reminds us again not just of the Church’s birthday, but of the power that the Holy Spirit has - especially if we, like those first disciples, allow it to enter into our lives and recreate us as it kindles in us the fire of God’s Love.
            Oh Holy Spirit, soul of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten, guide, strengthen, and console me. Tell me what I ought to do, and command me to do it. I promise to be submissive in everything that You permit to happen to me, only show me what is Your will.