You Will Be Baptized with the Holy Spirit

How can we receive the Holy Spirit

We have seen the wonderful working of the Holy Spirit in Jesus, in the Apostles, in the life of the early Church, and what he wills to do in the life of every Christian.

The practical question now is: What do we do to receive the Holy Spirit, so that we too can experience Pentecost in our lives too?

Some might object to this: did we not already receive the Holy Spirit when we were baptized? and more especially when we were confirmed? Yes, indeed. But it doesn't seem anything happened in our life that looks like Pentecost, does it? Why?

The answer, I think, is simple enough: at Baptism, we were just infants, incapable of responding to the gift of God; even at Confirmation, most of us were not mature enough in our faith to be deeply transformed by the Holy Spirit.

I might add that we did not expect much to happen and, as a result, nothing much actually happened. The Holy Spirit came, but we were not properly prepared to receive him and cooperate with him.

Baptism in the Spirit

What kind of preparation is best suited to receive the Holy Spirit with power.

• We need to know what he comes to do in us. He teaches us, leads us, gives us power to heal, prophecy, to witness to Jesus; he helps us to pray; gives us words of wisdom, especially when we face difficult situations.
• We expect he will give us himself and his precious gifts; then we are ready to cooperate with him in using them. We desire and expect all the gifts he wants us to have, to grow in holiness and to witness and build the Church.
• We surrender ourself to the Holy Spirit, ready to let him lead us. This is very important. Children of God are people who are "led by the Spirit" not by their personal wisdom or desires.
• Finally, once properly disposed, the only thing we have to do to receive the Holy Spirit is to ask for it. That's what Jesus said: "If earthly fathers give good things to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father give good things to those who ask for it" (Lk 11:13).

The Father wants to give the Holy Spirit to all his children. So we know that if we only ask for it he will give it to us. But we must ask. The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He doesn't force himself on us, he doesn't come uninvited. All we have to do is invite him with a sincere heart, with an ardent desire.

The Charismatics have devised a special program, something like a retreat and a series of teachings on the Holy Spirit, and to surrender themselves to his action. It's an eight session program known as the Life in the Spirit Seminars. The high point of this program is known as the Baptism in the Spirit.

The name may sound strange to many Catholics. But it's very biblical. Jesus himself, referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost said, "Within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:5; Cf. Acts 11:16). Baptized in the Holy Spirit means very simply immersed, plunged, filled with the Holy Spirit. That's all we mean by being baptized in the Spirit.

This Baptism in the Spirit, as practiced by the Charismatics, is not another sacrament. It is just praying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus was praying by the Jordan when the Holy Spirit came down upon him. The Apostles were in prayer for nine days in the Cenacle, waiting and expecting, when the Holy Spirit came upon them on Pentecost.

Of course, before receiving the Holy Spirit, we must become Christians, receive salvation. That's what Peter said on Pentecost Day: "You must reform (turn away from sin), be baptized (with water; a sign that we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior); then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

Ask and, if you are properly disposed, the Holy Spirit will come and your life will be renewed, will never be the same. It's just as simple as that.

I have known Christians who were baptized in the Spirit while they were praying, or reading the Bible, or listening to tapes, all by themselves. Their hearts were hungering, thirsting for God. And the Holy Spirit swooped down upon them. Others were filled with the Holy Spirit, as they listened to a TV evangelist, inviting people, wherever they were, to open their hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to come. And they suddenly experienced a great joy, a great love of God, the working of the Holy Spirit with power, like what happened to the Apostles on Pentecost Day.

In Charismatic Prayer Groups, we generally have a few team people who lay hands on the candidate and pray for the release of the Holy Spirit and his gifts. The laying on of hands is a beautiful gesture of calling God's blessings upon people. We read in the Book of Acts that Peter and John went to Samaria, imposed hands and prayed upon people that they might receive the Holy Spirit (Cf. Acts 8:14-17). Likewise, Paul at Ephesus, baptized believers then laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came down and they began to speak in tongues and to utter prophecies (Cf. Acts 19:5-6).

What happens when Christians are baptized in the Spirit?

Something changes in us that all can see. Like the Apostles at Pentecost, they were so filled with joy, bystanders thought they were drunk! Peter speaks with such conviction that 3000 Jews were converted, and miracles and healings began to happen. Even Jesus, after his baptism, was a changed man. He began to do things he had never done before. What are we to expect when we are baptized in the Spirit?

• Love, peace, joy: the fruit of the Spirit, radiate in those who have been baptized in the Spirit.
• An eagerness to witness to Jesus, to share the Good News. We feel so great, we would like to see everybody share our joy, our new life, the wonderful relationship we now have with Jesus.
• Our prayer life is renewed. We like to praise God. We experience God as a loving Father with tender love, one close to us. The Spirit gives us a deep conviction that we are children of God, and we want to cry out: Abba, Father!
• We suddenly love the Scriptures, the Word of God, and begin to read it avidly.
• The Mass and the sacraments also become more meaningful.
• In a word, our lives are changed profoundly. Maybe we were very good Catholics before. But now, we have come alive in a new way… God has come alive in us; he seems more real, closer. We are more and more led by the Spirit. Instead of making our plans and asking God to bless them, we first pray, asking the Holy Spirit to show us his will and help us to do it. We then are sure it will be blessed. Because it's God's will, not ours, wonderful things begin to happen.

All those wonderful workings of the Spirit in us don't mean that once baptized in the Spirit, we are perfect. Far from it! We are still beginners in a new journey in a closer walk with God.

But we are alive spiritually, in a wonderful way, and we are now truly "led by the Holy Spirit" as befits children of God. And it's a wonderful experience.

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