Most people understand that bars with live music often have a cover charge or a two-drink minimum. But when it comes to singing hymns, it seems that most Catholic parishes seem to have a two-verse maximum. Keeping songs to two verses isn't usually much of a problem. But when the hymn is devoted to the Holy Trinity (as quite a few are), the music almost always ends before we have a chance to sing to the Holy Spirit. The single exception is Pentecost, when "Come, Holy Ghost" has managed to maintain its position as the processional of choice.

I'd consider that one of the more visible indications that Catholics aren't quite sure who the Holy Spirit is, what role he plays in our lives, or why we should care. A more disturbing piece of evidence can be found in Google's AI Overview when I searched for a Catholic processional for Pentecost. "Catholic processionals for Pentecost involve a special flag procession, often before or during the Mass, with the congregation carrying banners and flags, sometimes in red, to symbolize the Holy Spirit's fire and the church's mission. Some parishes also use red fans or handkerchiefs, or even red balloons, to further emphasize the celebration." You can't make this stuff up, but evidently, AI can.

I've got nothing against banners and flags, and even less against thousands of red rose petals floating down from the ceiling of the Pantheon in Rome. But what I do struggle with is the distinct possibility that Catholics don't know what to do with the Holy Spirit because they don't know his presence and power in their own lives. For too many Catholics, the Holy Spirit isn't just missing in action; he's simply missing.

And yet, we all received the Holy Spirit at baptism and again at confirmation. We are all pilgrim souls moving toward heaven. Justified by the blood of Christ, we are being sanctified and brought to perfection by God's Holy Spirit. The Spirit of adoption makes us children of the Most High. This same Spirit reminds us of Jesus' words and teaches us everything. In the Spirit, we experience unity. By the Spirit, we are gifted and made fruitful, conformed more and more fully to the image of Christ.

But this is not what most of us experience in our parishes or in our lives. And that isn't just frustrating; it's tragic. The truth is that many aren't even aware that God wants to give us so much more than we have already received. He wants to make a spring of living water well up within us. He wants to heal us of our deepest hurts. And God wants to remain present with us, yes in the Holy Eucharist, but also by the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is God's transforming power divinely intended for each one of us. He prays, encourages, helps, and corrects us from the inside out. Without him, we can do nothing, but with him, we can do all things.

It's just that a lot of us have plugged our spiritual lives into the wrong outlet. That's why we fail to make progress in virtue. That's why we cannot shake the same old sins that dog us from one sacramental confession to the next. And that is also why so many of us are too exhausted to be joyful.

There's a serious lack of catechesis when it comes to the Holy Spirit, and an even more serious lack of people who have what we might call a personal relationship with the Spirit of the living God.

The whole church expresses these deficiencies -- and, more importantly, suffers from them -- in a hundred ways. But it's never too late. Pentecost comes every year, and each one of us has the power to take Pentecost both seriously -- and personally. All we need to do is ask. "Come, Holy Spirit, fill my heart and enkindle in me the fire of your love." This is a prayer God is happy to hear and one he always answers.



- Jaymie Stuart Wolfe is a Catholic convert, wife, and mother of eight. Inspired by the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, she is an author, speaker, and musician, and provides freelance editorial services to numerous publishers and authors as the principal of One More Basket. Find Jaymie on Facebook or follow her on Twitter @YouFeedThem.