By Rev Fr Giles Ngwa Forteh
Before ascending into heaven, Jesus consoled and strengthened his disciples by renewing the hope-inspiring and zeal-imparting promise of the Coming of the Advocate.
"You will receive the power of the Holy Spirit which will come on you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to earth's remotest end." (Acts 1:8)
The Master was reminding his followers about the assurances of divine aid and of his abiding presence which he had given them before his glorious passion, death and resurrection.
"I will ask the Father and he will give another Advocate to be with you forever"
(Jn 14:16)
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The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you" (Jn 14:26). " When the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth since he will not be speaking of his own accord" (Jn 16:13).
From what is cited above, Jesus clearly states the mission of the Holy Spirit and what the apostles had to expect from him. The Holy Spirit would abide with the community of believers (the Church) for ever, directing and effectively aiding its leaders to preserve, explain, live and spread the Gospel of hope and love which Christ had brought on earth. He would animate, in all generations, all the members of the Church and would help them to live a life of holiness by following the teaching of Christ and helping his fellowmen to do likewise.
The Spirit did not come to teach a new doctrine, as some of the erring preachers, who falsely claim to be under his influence, seem to suggest. No. Jesus, the Word made flesh, the definitive revelation of the Father, had taught everything that is necessary for salvation. The Spirit came to open and enlighten the minds and hearts of the apostles and those who listened to their preaching, so that they may fully understand and wholeheartedly accept what the Master had taught (Acts 16:14).
The Holy Spirit did not come to create another Church, apart from the one that Jesus had established and endowed with the grace of expansion, under the leadership of Peter, with the powers to bind and loose and to forgive and retain sins in his name (cf. Mt 16:18; Jn 20:19-23).
The Spirit came to transform the followers of Jesus into courageous witnesses of the Gospel, for as St Paul tells Timothy, "the Spirit which you have received, is not the Spirit of timidity, but of courage, love and self-control" (2 Tim 1:7). In the Spirit the followers of Jesus will be able to cry aloud "Abba Father" and to declare that Jesus is Lord. (Gal 4:6-7).
On the great day of Pentecost, this promise was fulfilled. The timid band of apostles was radically transformed into a team of fearless preachers who spoke of the marvels of God on a high-pitch. From that day onward they were men dedicated to one purpose- to bring the Good News, the Gospel of Christ, to the world. Nothing could stop them. It was not only on that first Pentecost day that the Holy Spirit made his presence felt by the external exercise of his powers.
He continued to do so in the life of the Church, guiding, instructing and animating it, through its early stages down to our time. The gifts of the Spirit that were foretold in the Old Testament as signs of the Messiah's arrival (cf Joel 3:1ff; Acts 2:16 ff); were manifested in the early Church in Jerusalem (Acts 2:4), Samaria (8:17), Ephesus (19:6); Rome (Rom 12:6), Galatia (Gal 3:5), and in Corinth ( 1 Cor 12:4-13) Today, God continues to endow his Church with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen Gentium, the Second Vatican Council teaches that "It is not only through the sacraments and the ministrations of the Church that the Holy Spirit makes holy the People, leads them and enriches them with his virtues.
Allotting his gifts according as he wills (cf 1 Cor 12:7), he also distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts he makes them fit and ready to undertake various tasks and offices for the renewal and building up of the Church, as it is written 'the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone for profit' (I Cor 12:7). Whether these charisms be very remarkable or more simple and widely diffused, they are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation since they are fitting and useful for the needs of the Church.
Extraordinary gifts are not to be rashly desired, nor is it from them that the fruits of apostolic labours are to be presumptuously expected. Those who have charge of the Church should judge the genuineness and proper use of these gifts, through their office not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good (cf. The 5:12, 19-20)." (n.12)
The presence and exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, whether considered in the setting of the early Church or in the circumstances of current religious experience, present a subject which has known a big number of abuses and dissensions. Religious history documents many cases of people who lied that they were under divine illumination and propounded doctrines that are not in harmony with divine revelation.
Many Christian communities have been torn into factions by individuals who, while claiming to be receptacles of the power of the Spirit, disdain any form of constituted authority and set themselves up as "messiahs". There are also cases in which the fruitful exercise of genuine gifts is derailed through pride and the greed of those who seek to make a boon of them. Sheer denial of the existence of the gifts and outright rejection on the part of pastors, has also been part of the history of the pilgrim Church.
All who preach the Gospel and set out to work for God, whatever their rank, must pray unceasingly to the divine Spirit with faith and ardour and submit themselves prudently to his guidance as the principal author of their plans, initiatives and work in the field of evangelisation.
May the divine Spirit abide with us always. Amen.
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