What Fear Is Keeping You from Saying Yes?
- Fr. Pawel Szymanowski, CR
- John 20:19-23
A Resurrectionist Vocation Minute for May 24, Pentecost Sunday
What Fear Is Keeping You from Saying Yes?
The disciples in the Upper Room were paralyzed by fear. It was the presence of the Risen Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit that transformed them.
Pentecost announces that the Spirit does the same today. Many people hesitate to respond to a call to religious life because of fear: fear of the unknown, fear of sacrifice, fear of what others will think. But the Spirit was given precisely for this – to replace fear with the peace and courage of Christ. What fear is the Spirit asking you to surrender today?
“The model of every Christian community is the Trinity, where the Holy Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. It is the Spirit who enabled the early Christians to form a community where they were of “one heart and mind” (Acts 4:32). Local communities will give witness to the presence of the Spirit, as the bond of love among the religious. For this love to be present, relationships will be based upon openness, trust, understanding and acceptance. Through the power of the Spirit, the religious can become visible signs that it is possible to live together in love, guided by Gospel principles.