Pentecost

 One of the most memorable homilies I heard when I was studying in Rome was a priest who made the point that without the Holy Spirit the Church is just like any other institution. So many of our activities, regardless of how worthy they may seem to the world, are simply pretexts for social or economic advancement. It is so easy, on account of Original Sin, for human activities to be tainted by self interest but cloaked with virtue. In fact, the nauseating virtue signaling that we are bombarded with each day on the media and government propaganda is something that, without the Holy Spirit, we can be complicit in. No wonder, when Catholics lose sight of the Holy Spirit, they get a negative reaction. St Paul tells us in the second reading, for today: "Those who in the flesh cannot please God." (Rm 8: 8) When we shut out the Holy Spirit from our discernment of what and how we practice our faith we end up "in the flesh." We end up peddling an ideology, that is, Catholicism rather than the person and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ who guides us through the gift that is the Holy Spirit which, in turn, takes us to the Father. Our sights need to be set on the things of heaven and the glory that awaits us there rather than worldly prosperity or approval. To this end, especially at this time in history when the forces of atheistic propaganda are so powerful, we need to heed the counsel of St Paul: "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs of Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may be glorified with him." (Rm 8: 14-17)