Throughout Scripture, one way that God’s power is described is using the language of “wind” or “breath.” In the book of Genesis it is a mighty wind that separates the void into light and darkness. Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai in a mighty storm of wind. In the resurrection gospels of the past weeks, Jesus breathes on the apostles and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit. And in today’s Pentecost narrative, it was another mighty wind that signaled the arrival of God’s life-giving Spirit.
This gift of the Holy Spirit was not limited to the apostles on that first Pentecost. Each of us is given the opportunity to breathe in the new life of the Spirit in our daily lives. How can the fruits of the Spirit–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity–manifest themselves in your behavior today? How can they transform your relationships? How your words and actions, like the apostles at Pentecost, teach others about God?
—The Jesuit Prayer team