đđ«đ€ Christâs peace and presence be with you. A few weeks ago, a good friend asked me if I would consider being her daughterâs Confirmation sponsor. I felt honored and humbled by her request. This was a first for me. Before giving an answer, I took a couple days to pray about what the responsibilities and obligations of this decision would have on my life and also Josieâs. This would be a commitment to both Josie and her parents. From this day forward, I would be making a commitment to guiding Josie along her faith journey, sharing my journey with her, and committing time to the development of this relationship. I wouldnât want to be a sponsor in name alone. I told myself, if I accept this, I have to be all in. Two days after the request, I contact my friend to let her know that I cleared my calendar for 03/27/2022 and I would be honored to be Josieâs sponsor.
Over the past two weeks Josie and I met for dinner a couple times to get to know each other better, before her big day. After all, she needed to be comfortable with me being her sponsor also. Last Sunday, before the Confirmation Mass, the Confirmandi and their sponsors gathered for a meal and time of prayer. A reading that we reflected upon was Acts 2: 1-13, The Coming of the Spirit.
âWhen 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 and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, âAre not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.â They were all astounded and bewildered, and said to one another, âWhat does this mean?â But others said, scoffing, âThey have had too much new wine.ââ
There were two parts of this reading that spoke to me in that moment.
- The Spirit speaks to us through others, in the words and language we need to hear, so that we truly hear the message that is being spoken to us. How many of you have told your spouse, significant other, or friend something that they totally dismissed or became defensive about. Then a few days or weeks later someone else tells them the exact same thing and all of the sudden itâs a fantastic idea and they want to do whatever that discussion was about. Iâve experienced this multiple times. In the beginning it kind of hurt and I took offense to the fact that it wasnât a good idea when I suggested it, but when someone else did, it was a great idea. It took years, but I finally realized that I may have had the same/similar idea, but I just wasnât speaking that personâs language. It could be a team effort. The introduction to the idea in the first hearing of it, plants the seed. Contemplating the idea, whether consciously or unconsciously, germinates it. Then in the subsequent hearing of the idea, it brings it to life. I also believe that is why there are multiple denominations of the Christian faith. God figured out a long time ago, to use Biblical terminology, that we are a stiff-necked people. One language will not capture everyoneâs ear. We need to hear His message in a language that is pleasing and acceptable to our ears.
- There was a noise like a strong driving wind that filled the houseâŠthen there appeared tongues of fire that parted and came to rest of each of them. Of the One Spirit, individually we each have been gifted a unique portion of the Spirit, to use and share. But they are not meant to be buried or hidden under a basket. These gifts have been stitched into our beings so that they will shine forth from the inside out. A gift isnât fully given, until itâs fully received. Until you use and squeeze every last drop of these gifts out, you will not know the full extent of this gift of the Spirit. That one drop youâre holding onto may be the very drop thatâs needed to fill anotherâs cup to overfull, so that they can then pour out to fill anotherâs cups.
Bless others and be blessed.
If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others. Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.
#TobyMac â Feel It
Third Day Devotions 