When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (ACTS 2:1-4)
A promise is a verbal commitment by one person to another consenting and agreeing to do or not to do something either in the moment or in the future or forever. A promise requires a faithful adherence to the terms and conditions of the agreement. A promise made in God, with God and through God becomes a solemn agreement, a holy vow, a sacred gift, a faithful commitment which unites individuals or groups of individuals into a sacred agreement, into an unbreakable bond with God. From the beginning, God enters into a loving covenant with creation and humanity. This covenant is meant to be forever as God says, “I will be your God and you shall be my people.” To prove his love, God promised to send his Son to save us from our sins. And after his death and resurrection, Jesus promised to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit to teach us all that he said and did and to make us holy as God has created and called us to his holiness. The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. The wind that breathed new life into humanity. The fresh breeze that breathed new life into us. Saint Basil the Great said the Holy Spirit restores paradise to us. Just as God breathed life into Adam, he breathes new life into us making us a new creation through the waters of baptism, the fresh water made holy by the Spirit then poured into our hearts bringing about newness, holiness, freshness. The Holy Spirit is given to all who are baptized into Jesus Christ. He fills our hearts with the love of God then sets us aflame with the light and fire of his holy love. We tend to think of fire as something destructive. A deadly force that consumes everything in its path. The fire of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is something good and necessary for our spiritual life. Saint John of the Cross compares God’s love to burning a log. He says, little by little the fire makes its way into the heart of the log, penetrating its very existence. It goes deep into the crevices of the log, burning away all its impurities. The fire eventually overtakes the log, consuming it until the log becomes the fire. It becomes something that warms and gives light. It becomes the thing that set it aflame. Like a fire to a log, the Holy Spirit consumes and purifies us and helps us to experience God’s love. Helping us to become the fire of God’s love. Helping us to become the One who has set us ablaze.