The Married Life
Recently my husband and I had the opportunity to travel to Europe. A highlight of the trip was going to the Vatican, where we attended Mass twice and saw Pope Francis at the Sunday noon Angelus.
Although the pope was speaking Italian, I looked up the English translation later and listened to every word he said. I wanted to incorporate his words into my life.
The Gospel reading that day was about the two disciples who had met the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus, and now were back in Jerusalem sharing about their experience. Pope Francis said, “They are telling of their encounter with Jesus. And as they are expressing the joy of their experience, the Risen One appears to the entire community. Jesus arrives precisely while they are sharing the story of the encounter with him.”
From this story Pope Francis encouraged us to share with one another our own encounters with Jesus. “Let us try, then, to remember, now, a powerful moment in our life, a decisive encounter with Jesus.”
A decisive moment for me was when I was a freshman in college. Since high school I had a close friend who talked about Jesus like he was her best friend. Although I was a practicing Catholic, I didn’t think about Jesus that way, and I wanted to know what the difference was. I went seeking.
My mother took me to some adult education classes at our local parish, and on the last night of the session I met a priest who talked about his experience of being “baptized in the Holy Spirit.”
“That’s it!” I thought. “My missing link is the power of the Holy Spirit.”
The priest encouraged me to go to charismatic prayer meetings at the Newman Center, where they were just starting a Life in the Spirit seminar. I watched others go through the seminar and witnessed the changes it made in their lives. I decided I wanted to attend the next seminar.
The seminar lasted about seven weeks, and included a time of repentance and a time to commit your life to the Lord. On the fifth week we were to ask for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. Although I had been confirmed, I wanted a greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit within me. Four adults I knew prayed over me, and immediately afterward I felt the peace and love of God.
From that point on my life began to change. I started reading Scripture more and attending daily Mass. Fellowship with other Christians was essential. Other changes were more subtle, but real. For the first time in my life I finally knew what it meant to be a friend of Jesus.
In hindsight I see that my life took different paths from what I would have chosen on my own at that time. That encounter with Jesus, which was over 50 years ago, was the beginning of the Holy Spirit working more fully in my life, which is still ongoing.
Pope Francis said, “There is something we often struggle to talk about. What do we struggle to talk about? The most beautiful thing we have to tell: our encounter with Jesus.” Yes, for many reasons, we often don’t share what God has done for us. But we all need to share our stories to encourage others that anyone can have personal encounters with Jesus, no matter where we are in life.
While we were at the Vatican we saw people from all over the world. One time, as I was praying in the Eucharistic Chapel at St. Peter’s Basilica, I could hear the organ playing in the background, people singing and praying and many languages spoken, accompanied by the sound of a strong wind blowing throughout. I thought that must be how heaven is — the Holy Spirit blowing, with waves of adoration from people of all nations.
As my grandson said when I shared this experience, “Now we just need tongues of fire over each of us.” Indeed. Come Holy Spirit!
