A Pentecost Sunday Thought To Push Away Those Distractions We Talked About This Week
Last year we had no Mass, no Sacraments on Pentecost. Things have changed. Not that everything's hunky-dory, but it's better.
Despite the improvements, if you read this week's posts, you know that we've been struggling with two distinct but related distractions during our work time. We concluded with a determination to push those distractions away by focusing on doing God's Will as we gave our full attention to our daily tasks. But perhaps some additional ideas to fend off those surprisingly powerful distractions might add another layer of defense.
Last year on Pentecost we quoted The Inner Life of the Soul in an attempt to help us deal with the Mess that eliminated Mass and the Sacraments for what was then going on two months. It began with a comparison of the Upper Room of that first Pentecost Sunday and our own "little room" - the sanctuary of our Interior Life:
Each soul of man is a little room where God the Holy Ghost has come.
We heard no sound that thrilled the whole house of our being, we saw no
light of burning flame, we felt nothing; yet God, the Spirit of light
and love, was truly there...
May God teach us indeed to know and love the Guest within our souls!
We can turn to God Himself, within us. He will give us the relief from distraction we seek. We don't need to find our way on our own. We could try to stumble about using the resources of our darkened intellect or our fallen human nature. Or we can go straight to the Light. Isn't the choice a simple one?
We seek for comfort, hither and thither, we seek for light; yet
comfort and light are within us, all the time. We live in great anxiety,
troubling ourselves about our future, or our friends, or our vocation,
and grieving lest we shall some time offend our Blessed Lord Who died to
save us from our sin...
How often have I forgotten and ignored this awesome, wondrous reality of
the Holy Spirit living within my soul! Surrounded as we are by a world
that does all it can to distract us from the Spirit dwelling within us,
it's no wonder.
But today, Pentecost Sunday, we can tell
the Holy Spirit that we know He has come, that He lives within us. We can thank Him for His Holy Presence. Rather than listen to
ourselves, we can listen to Him.
Deferring to the power of the Holy Spirit isn't a matter of being lazy or irresponsible. We continue to conscientiously apply ourselves to meet our obligations at work and in the home. We exercise the self-control that allows us to, over time, master our sensual appetites, our mental flights of fancy, the swings of emotion that can cause us to be impatient, even uncharitable to those we love. But in all our efforts, we turn to God; we seek the enlightenment and guidance of His Holy Spirit.
Simply saying we'll do God's Will runs the risk of putting the whole burden on ourselves. And doing so runs the even greater risk of possibly taking credit for our efforts. We don't want self to be our focus. Pentecost Sunday provides us the perfect opportunity to, yet again, push self away and turn completely to God. His Holy Spirit will do a much better job than we can ever hope to do.
Doing so, we live with the knowledge and understanding that all that is good comes from Him, from the assistance He provides with His grace. We
abandon ourselves to His mercy and His Love. Doing so, we cooperate
with the graces He provides to free us from our pride and selfishness.
We conclude this Pentecost Sunday thought with our traditional prayer to the Holy Spirit:
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