Pentecost – Year B

 

Receiving the Holy Spirit

# Paraclete, from the Latin paracletus, is a neologism coined by Jerome of Stridon in his Latin translation of the Gospel of John. Applied to the Holy Spirit, this word has the meaning of ‘defender’, ‘intercessor’, ‘comforter’. To sin against God’s roiling presence deprives us of God’s mercy. Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come. « He who consoles » also exists in the Jewish tradition and is equated with the Messiah.

‘Paraclete’ is a title given by some Muslims to Muhammad. It refers to the text of the Gospel according to John, following the Qur’anic principle of announcing the coming of Muhammad in Christian texts. This principle of announcing in Christian texts is, among other things, expressed in Sura VII, verse 157 : « Those who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, they find mentioned among them in the Torah and the Gospel ». This association with the evangelical Paraclete appears before the middle of the second century of the Hegira. The question of Muhammad’s assimilation with the Paraclete is present and was refuted in the ‘dialogue’ between Timothy I and the Caliph al-Mahdi.

According to the authorised exegesis of the Baha’i sacred scriptures by the Guardian of the Cause of God, the biblical allusions to Mount Paran and the Paraclete refer to the revelation of the prophet of Islam. In spiritualism The Paraclete is one of the spirits whose declarations received during séances are signed: The Spirit of Truth. Several of these declarations are recorded in the Gospel according to Spiritism Montano (c. 173) claimed to be the organ of the Paraclete in ecstasy. According to him, the Paraclete was different from the Holy Spirit who descended upon the apostles.

From the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to John

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. And you also shall be witnesses, for you have been with me from the beginning. I still have many things to say to you, but for the moment you cannot bear them. When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will lead you into the truth. For what he will say will not come of itself, but what he will hear he will say; and what will come to pass he will make known to you. He will glorify me, for he will receive what comes from me to make it known to you. All that the Father has is moi; therefore I have said to you, ‘The Spirit receives what comes from me and makes it known to you’’. (Jn 15:26-27 ; 16:12-15) 

Receiving the Holy Spirit

Today, on the day of Pentecost, the promise made by Christ to the Apostles is fulfilled. On the very evening of Easter Day, he breathed upon them and said : ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ (Jn 20:22). The coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost renews and brings to fullness this gift in a solemn way and with external manifestations. It is the culmination of the paschal mystery. The Spirit that Jesus transmits creates in the disciple a new human condition and a sense of unity. When man’s pride rises up against God and wants to build the Tower of Babel, God confuses the langages and they can no longer understand each other.

At Pentecost, just the opposite happens: by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles are understood by people of very different origins and languages. The Holy Spirit is the indwelling Master who leads the disciple to the truth, urges him to do good, consoles him in sorrow, transforms him inwardly and gives him new strength and ability. On the first day of Pentecost of the Christian era, the Apostles were gathered with Mary and prayed. Recollection, an attitude of prayer, is absolutely essential to receive the Holy Spirit.‘Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like a violent gust of wind, and the whole house where they were was filled with it. And they saw a kind of fire breaking forth in tongues and resting on each one of them’ (Acts 2:2-3).

Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to preach with courage. These frightened men had been transformed into courageous preachers who feared neither prison, nor torture, nor martyrdom. It is normal: the power of the Holy Spirit was with them. The Holy Spirit, third Person of the Holy Trinity, is the soul of my soul, the life of my life, the being of my being; he is my sanctifier, the host of my deepest interiority.Lord, Jesus Christ, you have come to reconcile us with the Father, to make us adopted children, and then, united with him, we will be able to cry out with him: ‘Abba, Father’.Let us take the time to come to Jesus and ask him, in prayer, to make us receive the Holy Spirit he has promised us.

Links to Christian websites

◊ ChurchofJesusCrhist.org : click here → How to Receive the Holy Ghost

◊ Desiring God : click here → – Receive the Holy Spirit

Video  Derek Prince : click here → https://youtu.be/2ldJNZ1HGWc?t=6