“The scripture says,’a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.’
How do we talk about the Holy Spirit? Well, I’ve been here for 28 years. You know, I like to make movie references, so, I hope many of you have seen the Russell Crowe movie, which I think is a classic, called Master and Commander.
Russell Crowe plays the captain of a British man-of-warship during the Napoleonic Wars, around 1800 or so. At the beginning of the movie, it’s a foggy day or foggy evening, and out of the fog, a French ship attacks his ship, damages it, and gets away. This infuriates Russell Crowe. He becomes a man on a mission to find and capture that French ship.
Of course, he has to get the damage repaired first, and then he sails all the way around South America to find it. During this trip, he reaches an area sailors know as the doldrums. This is a place where the wind stops. If you’re on a sailing ship without a motor, when the wind stops, you stop. So, his ship is just sitting in the water, not going anywhere, and he’s not happy because he was chasing that French ship.
So, what does he do?
He does what a lot of captains would do at that time: they lowered the longboats, put the sailors in them, tied big ropes from the main ship to the longboats, and had the sailors row to tow the big ship. It’s a marvelous scene in the movie. These sailors are working harder than they ever have, rowing and rowing under the hot sun, barely making any progress, just creeping along. Finally, the wind starts to fill the sails, and soon the ship is really moving because the wind is pushing it. The sailors are back on board, still working, but not as hard as before.
I think that’s a good way to understand the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is a power and a force. The Bible begins with the Spirit of the Lord moving upon the waters. Creation begins with the Holy Spirit. It moves; it’s always in action. Depicting it as wind because it gives us energy and moves us. If we close ourselves off to the Spirit, we’re like those guys in the longboats, trying to make progress one row at a time, which is slow and arduous. But if you open yourself up to the Holy Spirit, you’ll be surprised by how much more you can do. You’ll be lifted up and have energy you didn’t know you had. I truly believe this because I’ve experienced it a few times; it had to be the Holy Spirit.
The last time I experienced this was during this past Midnight Mass, when Christmas came on a Monday.
I’ve been blessed in my 28 years here with priests like Father Keller, Father Sheru, and Father Bill Sinatra, who have helped me out. But now, I’m alone and have to do all the Masses. That Sunday, I did the 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am, 4pm, 6pm, and then came back for the Midnight Mass. I’m someone who goes to bed at nine, so it was rough.
I was greeting everyone before each Mass, but I was so tired. Everyone was happy to come to Midnight Mass, and I was sitting there smiling, trying to keep a good spirit. I prayed, ‘Dear Lord, this is up to You. I’m going to go down that aisle, and I hope I can get it done.’
When the caroling music started, I began walking down the aisle and felt a rush of energy. By the time I reached the altar, I said, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, the Lord be with you!!!” It lifted me up, and I was able to sing the Mass and play my cello. I don’t know where that energy came from; it had to be the Spirit.
So, open yourself up to the Spirit of the Lord. You would be astounded at how many good works you’ll be able to do.
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