Renew Us Lord With Your Holy Spirit: John 20:19-23

Dear friends,

The season of Easter concludes with today’s celebration, the Feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church. Pentecost day is a day of renewal and empowerment.

Today we celebrate a great feast, when Christ fulfilled his promise to us. As Christ’s disciples, every true believer has been empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the mutual love of the Father and the Son. He empowers us to go into our world to bring peace, unity, joy, love and salvation to nations.

In the gospel, Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit upon his disciples in order to restore their peace and to free them from the slavery of fear. Christ knew that the Holy Spirit empowers and liberates.

The Spirit we have received, “is not the spirit of fear and timidity, but the Spirit of power, love, and self-discipline.”
(2 Tim 1:7).

Only the Holy Ghost can help us navigate the rough waters of this world. Only the Holy Spirit can calm our fears and restore order to our lives. He alone can empower us to face the daily challenges of our lives, families, communities, and our world at large. He alone can give us the right insight we need to navigate through the complex moments of this life.

According to our Catechism, the Holy Spirit empowers us, makes us strong Christians and soldiers of Christ (CCC 1302).

This empowerment comes through the different gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit. Through them, we become bold to call God our Father (Rom 8:15), and above all, to proclaim to our world that, Jesus Christ is Lord.



Also, the Holy Spirit helps us to bear good fruits in Christ (Gal 5, 22). He leads us into the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy. 

The Spirit also gives us the strength and courage to bear witness to Christ in the world and to proclaim the good news of salvation. This was what happened to early Christians by which after they had received the Holy Spirit, they went out of the room and began preaching boldly, “Jesus Christ is Lord.”  

The late Pope John Paul II told the youth of Scotland in 1982: “There is no place in your lives for apathy or indifference to the world around you. Christ counts on you, so that the effects of His Holy Spirit may radiate from you to others and in that way permeate every aspect of the public and private sector of life.” 

Today is a great day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the spirit of a new life and enthusiasm, the fire of God’s love.

Let us be reminded of our Christian mandate during the first Pentecost to be courageous as Christ was and a commitment to serve all people without condition regardless of who he/she is. It is because this is our mission in this world to love and serve one another.

FR. FRANK KYAZZE LWANGA