“Lord send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.”(Ps104)

In St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians we hear, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.” I Cor. 12:6

This is one of my favorite scriptures. It fills me with hope and a sense of unity.  What are the gifts of the Spirit?  The gifts of the Spirit include: joy, wisdom understanding fortitude, fear of the Lord (a since of awe and wonder), counsel, compassion, peace, love, prophecy, the gift of tongues.  All gifts that encourage harmony, cooperation and interdependence on God and one another.

The challenge for me is to listen to the Spirit and discover what my spiritual gift(s) is/are. Then it is my responsibility to develop and use the gift(s) to serve others.  Remember Jesus promised each of us that we have received the Spirit in our Baptism and Confirmation.  We have these gifts already.  The beauty of our diversity is that we have differing amounts of these gifts.  God wants us to share our gifts to work for the greater good of everyone.

Jesus told the disciples and us, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”   If we each develop our particular gifts and share them generously we would be able to experience Christ’s peace.  It doesn’t matter how young or old, how educated, professional, or what my gender, religion, race, talent or anything else I am.  I just have to be my best possible self at this moment.  Each moment of each day can be my personal Pentecost!

Lord send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth. Let it begin with me now.

Sister Jan Ginzkey, OSB