We all have experienced the power of hurricane force winds. We see the trees shake and bend and objects flying through the air. And the aftermath can be seen everywhere they blew.
On the other hand we also know the soft breezes that can bring refreshment and cooling on a hot summer’s day. Likewise the aftermath leaves its effects upon us.
Both experiences are very real and yet none of us has ever seen the wind…only how it affects us.
And for this reason I think the image of the wind is such an appropriate image to describe God’s Holy Spirit which we celebrate on this Pentecost Sunday. None of us has seen that Spirit as such yet we know its effects upon our lives.
In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles the Spirit of God sweeps into that upper room and enflames the hearts of the Apostles. It is more like a hurricane wind that takes them off their feet and sends them forth to proclaim the message of the gospel in languages they never knew before. A powerful effect of something they could not see!
In today’s Gospel reading, we hear about that same Spirit being infused into the apostles but in a very different intensity. Jesus simply says: receive the Holy Spirit, in the context of his offering them peace .He goes on to give them the power of forgiveness. More like the refreshing breezes of summer.
Both examples are very real experiences of the Holy Spirit; the effects are profound but the intensities are different.
We read both today because the Holy Spirit comes to us innumerable times, but in different ways. When the gale force winds descend upon us we find it easy to identify. But when the whispering breezes of the Spirit come our way we need more discernment than ever.
A message for us today is that God’s Spirit of Pentecost continues to touch us and transform us and to continue to form us onto God’s people. But the bottom line is that that Spirit blows wherever and whenever it will!