The "baptism with the Holy Spirit"
The baptism with the Holy Spirit for you!
There are two kinds:
1- The one mentioned in 4 verses of Acts 2:4,6,8,11: "They begun to speak other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak", "and the crowd was exited because each heard them speaking in his own native language", and the disciples were all Galilean!… this great miracle of Pentecost has never happened again in the Church… or has it?… the language of "joy" is understood by anybody… if you love someone, he will understand you, no matter if he only speaks German or Russian or Chinese or Japanese… the languages of "joy", and "love", and "peace", are understood by everybody, and they are probably the greatest miracles of the Christians of all times.
2- The other kind, "speak in tongues", is one of the 9 gifts of the Spirit mentioned three times in 1Cor.12:10,28,30, and explained again in 1Cor.14:1-33, where the gift to "speak in tongues" or "praying in tongues" is mentioned 12 times… and it is the only one of the 9 gifts of the Spirit given "to strengthen yourself", and we all need to strengthen ourselves at all times! (1Cor.14:4)… all the other 8 charismatic gifts are for service, to strengthen the Church (1Cor.12:7).
This "speaking in tongues" is also called "glossolalia" or "baby talk" that nobody can understand. It looks apparently opposite to the one that happens at Pentecost… but it is actually the same… because it is the language of joy and of love and of peace that anybody can understand. I had a patient who hit the lotto and earned $15 million. At home everything was shouts of joy, without any specific words, but a language that anybody could understand, and that's a little of speaking in tongues… the day you live a little more the fact that you are a child of God, that day you hit the lotto with $1,000 million, because your Father is the multimillionaire, and he has all those thousands of millions of dollars for you, and you will shout with joy, without words, but with a language that anybody can understand…
St. Paul talks about the Charismatic gifts in the First Letter to the Corinthians chapters 12 and 14… but in between them, in chapter 13, he proclaims "love" as the greatest gift, a language that anybody can understand, and without it, all the other gifts are worthless.
See Charisms of the Holy Spirit
This is another great issue of Pentecost, controversial, very much misunderstood, and it has nothing to do with the Sacrament of Baptism.
The Sacrament of Baptism is the initiation into the life of Christ, the only way to be born again, only once in a lifetime, never repeated… it is the work of the Holy Spirit, and on it, all along the Bible, "water" is involved…
At Pentecost, there is no "water", but "fire", and it can be repeated many times in your life…
… Pentecost is the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus of Acts 1:5 "you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit within a few days"… and in ten days, in Acts 2:4, they were "filled with the Holy Spirit", among tongues of fire in the heads of each one… so, "baptism with the Holy Spirit" is the same as "filled with the Holy Spirit".
This is the promise of John the Baptist, "Jesus will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Lk.3:16)… John the Baptist himself was "filled with the Holy Spirit before birth" (Lk.1:15).
This "baptism with the Holy
Spirit" or "filled with the Holy Spirit", is the action of the Holy Spirit
on any person, before or after he is a Christian:
- To the Apostles, it was after they were Baptized.
- To St. Paul, it was before he was Baptized in Acts 9, he was
"filled with the Holy Spirit", received his sight, and afterwards he was
Baptized (9:17-18).
- In Acts 10, the Roman gentile Cornelius and all of his family were
filled with the Holy Spirit like in Pentecost, and because of that, Peter could not refuse
to Baptize them. So, they were Baptized after the baptism of the Holy Spirit or the
pouring of the Holy Spirit on them (Act.10:44-48, 11:15-18).
- And of course, we already mentioned that John the Baptist was filled
with the Holy Spirit, or baptized with the Holy Spirit, even before he was born.
- In Acts 8, the Samaritans were filled with the Holy Spirit after they
were already Baptized, just as the Apostles in Pentecost, and the same it happened in the
Pentecost of Acts 19.
And at Pentecost, not only the Apostles, but all the 120 Christians present were filled with the Holy Spirit or baptized with the Holy Spirit, all who were praying together on one accord (Act.1:15, 2:1,4).
This expression "baptism with, or in,
the Holy Spirit" is mentioned only 7 times in the NT:
- By John the Baptist, 4 times: Mat.3:11, Mk.1:8, Lk.3:16, Jn.1:33.
- By Jesus in Act.1:5.
-By Peter in Act.11:15-17.
- By Paul in 1Cor.12:13…
Paul here is clearly talking about the Sacrament of Baptism
"in" the Holy Spirit.
Jesus and Peter are talking about the baptism "with" the Holy
Spirit, as in Pentecost of Acts 2.
John the Baptist mentions twice "in" (Mt. and Mk.), and twice
"with" the Holy Spirit (Lk. and Jn.).
There may be a solution to the misunderstandings and controversy:
"In the Spirit" is the Sacrament of Baptism, and "with the Spirit" the
experience of Pentecost.
The Pentecost for you!… the "baptism with the Holy Spirit" for you!:
For the Catholics, the Sacrament of Confirmation is the experience of Pentecost.
But this is the great thing of Pentecost for you and me: It can be repeated many times in our lives!… When several people are praying together with one accord, in love, there is a new Pentecost with the pouring of the Holy Spirit in each one of them, to grow in faith and love and hope… from grace to grace says John, from faith to faith tells Paul to the Romans, from glory to glory tells to the Corinthians (Jn.1:16, Rom.1:17, 2Cor.3:18).
When a person is praying with humility, always the Holy Spirit fills him, like to Virgin Mary, and brings in him a little more the glorious awareness of Jesus Christ in Him… and that's Pentecost, the baptism or filling with the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus dwells is us, there is always Pentecost… when there is love and hope, there is Pentecost… when we pray and sing and make feasts of joy in the Lord, there is always Pentecost… when we feed the hungry, and visit the sick, and cloth the needy, there is another Pentecost… when we bring the child to Baptism or to the Church, there is another Pentecost… when the occult power of the Divine Dove removes our fear and selfishness, there is a great Pentecost… when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, it is the most glorious Pentecost, the greatest filling of the Spirit, the most joyous baptism with the Holy Ghost…
… I don't know about you, but I feel myself Pentecost from my head to my toes… we are in the glorious Era of the Church, the Era of the last times, the Era of Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit is always there with us, like the air we breath in and out, illuminating us, cleaning us, sanctifying us…
Without the Holy Spirit no one can even say "Jesus is the Lord" (1Cor.12:3)… and I don't know about you, but I feel myself Pentecost from my head to my toes, praise the Lord!.