The spring of the Spirit: An eternal Pentecost

In the ever-changing climate of our region, we see colorful flowers blooming around us, a clear sign of the arrival of the yearned-for spring after long months of cold and rain. 

At Easter, we received with great joy hundreds of new members of our beautiful family of believers through baptism, confirmation and the participation in the eucharistic banquet. 

Like flowers, every one brings new colors of hope, joy, gratitude, forgiveness and growth to our church. This is the “spring of the Spirit,” an eternal Pentecost.  As in the first Christian communities, we can say: “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). 

Every baby that is baptized; everyone who receives for the first time the Body and Blood of Christ; every young person who asks aloud — standing before the community — to be confirmed; every couple who declares their eternal love in the name of Jesus; every man or woman who is at the end of his or her earthly walk and gives thanks to the Lord for having been invited to the feast of life; all those who smile and give thanks because someone called them “friend” — all these prove that the Spirit is always enlivening new hearts in an “eternal Pentecost.” 

There might be some who will say that we are naive dreamers, or maybe that we have lost contact with the reality of this fast-changing world. But, like many others, I know and feel how the Lord continues to pour down his Spirit over everyone, so that our youth can find a vision and our elderly can continue to dream, so that wonders may continue to work on earth and in heaven. Without any doubt, many will ridicule us, saying we are drunk (Acts 2:13) or that we have lost our sanity, but in the heart of the believers, the Holy Spirit continues to descend upon us, just like rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater (Isaiah 55:10). 

The “spring of the Spirit” transformed the existence of Mary forever, making her the most fruitful woman that ever existed, to the point that the whole of creation continues to flourish with new colors and aromas of solidarity in each human being born to this world.  

The global synod started by Pope Francis is a clear sign of that “spring of the Spirit.” Only that divine Spirit can make every believer follow the Spirit, like Mary, and announce to all the wonder of God’s wisdom.  

The Spirit that bore fruit in Mary wants to bear fruit in each one of us, the baptized, and make us speak the divine language of love, and live the joy of being the chosen ones to spread its voice until the end of time. Let the Spirit turn us into spring.