Page 175 - spiritual_accompaniment_montreal_archdiocese

HOMILIES

Therefore, Jesus can cry out: “Let him come to me, let her come to me, he who thirsts, she
who thirsts, and I will give them rivers of living water, I will give them the Holy Spirit, I will
give them Love!” We are made for Love.

Meanwhile, a thirst for love will lead us forward, much like a river, by the force of the current!
We are swept by the river! But where will it bring us? To where will it lead?

In the first moment, God will respond to the deepest desires of our soul! That is the desire for
love that is true, authentic, all encompassing and free! But where does it lead us?

As the Holy Spirit is given to us, He comes with His fire, His power, His Love, because He is
Love! The Holy Spirit doesn’t love us. He is Love given to us! He is the Love of God given to
us! The Love of the Father and of the Son given to us. As He comes into our spirit, our heart,
our soul, our flesh, our bones, as He comes within us like a river. You cannot be in the river
and stay there! You’re caught up in the river and you move with the river! When we receive
the Holy Spirit, it’s not about staying there and receiving the Love of God! It’s about being
moved by the Holy Spirit! Moved by His Love, moved by His breath. And move to where? Well
He moves us! We cannot receive the Love of God without in the Holy Spirit, without being
moved by the Holy Spirit.

While tomorrow, Sunday, the Church celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit, today we await
this gift. In this Pentecost Vigil, we await the gift of the Holy Spirit, we wait to receive the
Holy Spirit in us. Today, we want to have our thirst quenched, we are in a state of waiting for
the Holy Spirit.

To be transparent, maybe we need to ask the question whether it is dangerous to receive the
Holy Spirit! We need to ask, because we cannot deny that receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit
is certainly risky. Something will happen to our lives.

A new thirst will emerge in us, a thirst we did not have before! So far, we had a thirst to receive
life and love! When we receive the Holy Spirit, a new thirst is created in us. What is this thirst?
It is the thirst to give ourselves, to respond by giving ourselves! It is the thirst to love freely,
totally without asking for anything, once and for all, with a thrust that brings forth all of our
being! When we receive the Holy Spirit, our need to be loved becomes a need to love!

What gift! What a magnificent gift! What incredible gift!

(cont’d)

Collection of texts by the Most Rev. Christian Lépine 175