One of the firmest convictions of the early Christian community was that as a result of the death and resurrection of Jesus they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the living God. There are 2 main traditions concerning the initial bestowing of that gift. These we find in our first reading today, from Luke's Acts, and in the Gospel extract from John.

I'm not sure whether this is an either/or or a both/and situation. My tendency is usually to opt for both/and. Perhaps there was an initial giving of the Spirit to the apostles when the Risen Jesus first appeared to them. The evangelist John situates this in the Jerusalem room on Easter day. And then there occurred a kind of charismatic experience weeks later for a wider group of disciples at the Jewish feast of Weeks or Pentecost.

The imagery in today's readings is rich. There is the breathing of Jesus on the apostles, recalling the Genesis creation story (Gen 2:7). There is the wind and fire on Pentecost Day, recalling the imagery of Sinai and Covenant. And there is the image of water, hinted at in Paul, but strong with Spirit connotations throughout the Gospel of John.

After that initial outpouring, the gift of the Spirit for the individual Christian was understood in connection with the water of baptism: "in the one Spirit we were all baptised", as Paul writes in today's second reading. In John's Gospel Jesus tells Nicodemus about our being born again, born in a new way through "water and Spirit" (3:5). And that has happened to each one of us. And through the gift of the Spirit, we have become daughters and sons of God, able to address God familiarly as Abba, Father, 'dad' even. And we have become sisters and brothers of Jesus, as he tells Magdalene in the garden appearance; we share his life; he abides in us and we abide in him.

Now, in the present, we are caught up in the life of God, in the mystery of the love which sustains the universe. In God we live and move and have our very being (Acts 17:28). Through the gift of the Spirit we become united in the depth of our being with one another, as different branches belonging to the one vine, as different limbs belonging to the one body. We are family, community, members of God's household. And through the Spirit-gift we are drawn into the mission of Jesus, sent by him as he was sent by the Father. Part of our new identity is that we are sent ones.

The gift of the Spirit gives our lives a whole new dimension, a new depth of meaning. As St Paul suggests in writing to the Corinthians, there are other gifts too, as the Spirit works in different ways in different people.

I'd like to highlight three gifts which are found in that beautiful Pentecost hymn, the sequence of today's Mass, which I learned many, many years ago as a student in the dayswhen we sang Gregorian Chant in Latin. One stanza runs: lava quod est sordidum, riga quod est aridum, sana quod est saucium. Cleanse what is soiled, bring freshness and life to what is dried up, heal what is hurt and wounded. ('Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour thy dew; wash the stains of guilt away'). It is a powerful expression of the Spirit's action.

There is something wonderful about a warm shower after a long walk or energetic exercise. It both cleanses and invigorates. In my photography I love being near waterfalls, longing for the powerful floodtide to sweep away my selfishness and half-heartedness and sin, and to hear the words which Jesus spoke to his disciples at the Supper: 'You are clean all over.'

The Spirit is the great healer, continuing the healing ministry of Jesus described so beautifully in the Gospel stories. Even if we may not all have physical infirmities, we are all in need of healing. We are aware of inner hurts, hurts which perhaps are vestiges of our own sinfulness, and hurts inflicted on us by others, knowingly or unawares. There are fears and anxieties and guilt. We can be frustrated and disillusioned and a bit cynical. We can feel bruised and even crushed by the unfairness and injustices of life. We can be lonely and burdened, and suffer from what one writer calls 'smiling depression'. Painful memories can sometimes surprise us. We pray that the Spirit of Jesus may bring us healing.

Cleansing, healing – but the Spirit is above all the Spirit of life. Jesus speaks of providing us with living water (John 4:10). Through the Spirit he refreshes the dryness of our hearts and lives, perhaps the aridity of ideas and creativity, the sterility of relationships, the unfruitfulness of ministry. When life seems flat and dull, the Spirit lights a spark, brings a smile, gives us a lift. And we all need that.

At the Eucharist today we gather as people who have born again through water and Spirit; we are caught up in the 'hour' of Jesus, the hour of God's immense love. Let us thank the Lord for this wonderful Spirit gift which we have received, and pray that the Lord Jesus will renew that gift today in our hearts and minds, and bring us ongoing cleansing, healing and fuller life, as individuals and as communities, and may pour out that gift once more on our struggling world.

Reflection and Image courtesy of Fr Michael Winstanley SDB