The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
From the time I was 6 months old until I graduated high school, I spent my summers camping with my family. This means I spent many evenings around a campfire. I used to love to watch the fire grow. My dad would send us around camp gathering whatever kindling we could find. We’d blow on the base of the logs to encourage its growth until it went from a flicker to a steady flame, bright in the night withstanding hours of roasting and stories.
Can I confess something to you? After all of those years of watching my dad build us a fire, I’m not confident I have the skills to build one myself- one that will last more than a flicker, that is. It takes the right kind of foundation, kindling, and gust of air to breathe life into and sustain the flames.
Each Pentecost, with talk of tongues of fire and gusting winds, my mind paints a picture of the crackling flames of my childhood- and therefore the lack of confidence I feel at a skill you’d think I would have nailed by now. If I’m honest, it’s because I know I share that same lack of confidence in my spiritual life, particularly in the gifts given by the Spirit to spread the Gospel.
Today’s Gospel acclamation reads “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.” That acclamation brings two questions to mind:
What is that kindling? And what suffocates the flames?
What are the pieces of rotted wood and wet leaves that dampen the logs, refusing to let the fire burn brightly in my soul? In other words: do I spend time cultivating those spiritual gifts and my relationship with the Holy Spirit? Or do I fill that time with other things? In the second reading, we hear “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” At Baptism we too were given the Spirit, given our own unique gifts, and made full in our Confirmation. I know Jesus has breathed life into my heart…but do I tend to that flame daily? Do I actively restore that fire by frequenting the sacraments, maintaining a habit of personal prayer, and confidently using the gifts the Spirit has given me?
As we move forward in this celebration of Pentecost, let us invite the Holy Spirit to help us remove that rotted wood to make more room for the Spirit to be alive and well in us, and fulfill our commission to spread Christ’s unifying love.
Viva Crouse is a wife, mother, and Catholic fitness and nutrition coach. She's an advocate for women to become strong physically and spiritually so when God calls them to act, they can say "yes, Lord, I'm ready." When she's not chasing toddlers or changing diapers you can find her reheating creamy coffee, reading her latest book club novel, or dreaming of a salty margarita by the beach.