Scripture Reflection for Sunday
December 7, 2014
by Dave O’Donnell
In Sunday’s Gospel (MK 1:1-8) we are introduced to John the Baptist and his mission. At the reading’s end, John says: “I have baptized you with water; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
In Sunday’s epistle Peter describes what sounds like the end of the world and in a sense it is. What he is describing is being born again of the Holy Spirit, a spiritual baptism and how it impacts an individual.
“…but that all should come to repentance (to see anew) a day of the Lord, then the heavens will pass away, the elements will dissolve and the earth will be found out. But according to His promise we await new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 PT 3:8-9)
I believe when we are born again in the spirit a vision of a new world, a vision of the new reality replaces our former understanding; we join the collective consciousness of the saved. Our ego is dissolved and we can see the radical interdependences and joy in “The All”. One may not be fully conscious of this but they have experienced a powerful spiritual awakening that will redefine their meaning of life, changing their life forever.
This experience of being born again of the Hold Spirit is the foundation of the Pentecostal movement in the Christian church. It started happening in several places spontaneously in the early 1900’s. Today there are more Pentecostal or Charismatic Christians in the U.S. than there are mainline Protestants.
I was a member of a Catholic Charismatic Community in the 1970’s when I was baptized in the Spirit. For me the experience was pleasant but not drastic. It was explained to me that as a committed follower of Christ already, no strong readjustment to my life was needed. But I heard testimony of others that describes a drastic change of heart—their experience was earth-shaking.
We are a community of laymen and laywomen who, with vowed Passionists, seek to share in the charism of St. Paul of the Cross through prayer, ongoing spiritual formation, and proclamation of the message of Christ Crucified.
Thanks for sharing Dave. The Charismatic Renewal certainly made many more Catholics aware of the Holy Spirit and certainly changed one’s life from that point on.