As we celebrate the birth of the Church at Pentecost (confer the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2 ff), we should be filled with an urgent need to obtain and, most importantly, use the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit that are available to us.
Our Scriptures tells us that the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit are: fear of the Lord (which means that we desire not to offend God in any way), understanding, counsel (which is supernatural prudence), fortitude, knowledge, piety, and wisdom. These Seven Gifts are received as a grace of God at the moment of our Baptism; and they are strengthened and completed at the moment of our Confirmation.
In our Gospels, Jesus explains these Gifts by using the two analogies of breath and water. Jesus tells His disci- ples: “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me” – and – “the water that I shall give will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life.”
Jesus explains that this new water, “the living water” of the Holy Spirit, is a new kind of water because it is given to those who are worthy to receive it.
Christ uses the analogy of living water to express the grace of the Spirit, because all things are fundamentally dependent on water, and all plants and animals have their origins in water.
One of the early Fathers of the Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, tells us: “When water comes down from the heavens as rain, it is always the same in itself, yet, it produces different effects – one in a flower, another in a tree, and yet a third and fourth in an animal or person. So the grace of the Holy Spirit, like water, adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it. In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple, and indivisible, gives grace to each man [or woman] as He, [the Holy Spirit] wills.” (St Cyril of Jerusalem)
We have all received the saving grace, and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit at Baptism, but there comes a moment, usually around the age of our Confirmation, in which we are asked to recognize, develop, and use those seven Gifts.
But there is a condition, my brothers and sisters for this to happen: like a dry plant in your garden, the soul is able to produce the many flowers of holiness only when the soil of the soul has been raked and fertilized through repentance, and Sacramental reconciliation. This act of repentance is both an intellectual and spiritual action. Repentance has made your soul ready to effectively use the water, the grace, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul and St. Cyril remind us that “the Holy Spirit makes one person a teacher, another a healer, a third a prophet, and a fourth a pastor. Scripture tells us that in each person [who is free from serious sin] the Spirit reveals His presence in a particular way for the common good.” (St. Cyril of Jerusalem)
Ultimately, if we actively apply these truths we are able to impact the spiritual life of those around us. How does this happen? It happens by virtue of our own dedication to holiness as we live out the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost Sunday reminds us that we were Sacramen- tally Baptized and Confirmed to be apostles – to go forth and use these Seven Gifts that God has given us – to work on behalf of the family of God.
Let us be joyous on this Pentecost Sunday; let us rejoice in the truth that the Holy Spirit will always remain with our Church and sanctify us with His many graces; and let us recommit ourselves to allowing the Holy Spirit, through the graces of all the Sacraments, to energize us, and if necessary, change our natures for the better – so that we, too, may be fruitful apostles for Christ.
Copyright © 2011- 2013 Deacon Paul O. Iacono All Rights Reserved This essay was delivered as a homily by Deacon Iacono at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Wakefield, RI USA on Pentecost Sunday May 19, 2013. Notes on painting: Jan Joest van Kalkar (c. 1450 – 1519). Pentecost (Pfingsten) 1505 – 1508, Oil on wood, 41 x 28 1/4 inches, location: St. Nicholai’s Church (Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Nikolai), Kalkar Kreis Kleve. Link to the source of this information: http://idlespeculations-terryprest.blogspot.com/2011/06/pentecost.html Thanks to Terry Prest for providing the image and its source.
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The Fra Angelico Institute for Sacred Art 
Beautiful art and post! God Bless.
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