The Holy Spirit is the incarnation agent of the Word and is revealed with the anointing of Christ in his baptism. The Holy Spirit is the agent of the Good News through Christ, with signs, wonders and miracles.
Promoting the Culture of Pentecost means allowing the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, who is the witness of Christ, to remind us of everything that Jesus has taught us and, in a special way, to make us aware of our sins, truth and justice. He is in charge of continuing the mission of God, because he penetrates, at the same time, the Trinity’s heart and man’s heart. He seeks the depths of the human heart and God’s heart.
Only through the action of the Holy Spirit of God there may be hope, fraternity and charity (see Rm 5:5). The Holy Spirit is the teacher of souls, the sanctifier, and the witness of Jesus in our hearts. If we allow the Spirit to teach our souls, then through his anointing, we can say we are true temples of the Holy Spirit, where he freely dwells and prompts us to a life of testimony and conversion. Thus, we can do “greater things than Jesus did” (see Jn 14:12).
The Holy Spirit of God has worked restlessly, especially in those who open themselves to his action, in a way that everyone encounters Jesus and falls in love with him.
Promoting the Culture of Pentecost is announcing that there is a solution for all the challenges that the human race faces. And the solution is to allow that the only and true God, the only Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, guides every part of people’s lives, as well as the whole society. Every human being has the right to have a personal encounter with Jesus. However, there are a great number of people who still do not know him.
From the moment one has a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and experiences God’s love, one’s heart opens and the Holy Spirit, which is power and strength from God, is accepted. In fact, the Holy Spirit, which is also fire, burns in the person’s life, changing him completely.
So, the mission of every baptized person who receives the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as a new Pentecost, is to proclaim the gospel to every creature. “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mk 16:15). That’s why evangelization is an urgent need today. The world is crying out for faith, encouragement, and strength. The Pentecost of yesterday becomes present today by the rediscovery of the power of the Holy Spirit’s experience. And the Catholic Charismatic Renewal has been an efficient instrument for the Holy Spirit’s action in the Church. It really is a current of grace by the action of the Holy Spirit.
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal is present in many parts of the world by means of prayer groups, covenant communities, and ministries. Prayer groups are an effective way to promote the Culture of Pentecost. Indeed, they are “open doors” where anyone can enter and meet Jesus, as they promote prayer, worship, sharing, and all the other aspects of living the gospel, through baptism in the Holy Spirit. For the goal of the prayer group is to lead its participants to experience a personal Pentecost, in order to grow and to reach the maturity of a full life in the Spirit according to Jesus’ willing: “I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10b).
Another way to promote the culture of Pentecost is the Life in the Spirit Seminar or its equivalent. The seminar aims to provide its participants with a personal encounter with Jesus Christ by means of a sequence of talks and prayers whose center is the first announcement (Kerygma). In Brazil, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal has more than 20,000 Prayer Groups. They all start their formation process with the Life in the Spirit Seminars – there are countless testimonies about changed lives from those experiences. At the Third Worldwide Priest’s Retreat, June 2015, in Rome, Pope Francis requested: “I ask each and all of you that as part of the current of grace of Charismatic Renewal you organize seminars of life in the Spirit in your parishes and seminaries, schools, in neighborhoods, to share baptism in the Spirit.”
The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has been an instrument for spreading and promoting the Culture of Pentecost all over the world. It has been a confirmation of the presence of the Holy Spirit, so that we can all live the Gospel and become witnesses of Jesus Christ – “the same yesterday, today and forever” (see Hb 13:8).
Katia Roldi Zavaris, Brazil
Katia Roldi Zavaris is President of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Brazil and a member of the CCR Latin America Council.
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