“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” – Matthew 3:11
“I have baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” – Mark 1:8
“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” – Luke 3:16
“He on Whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is He Who baptized with the Holy Spirit” – John 1:33
“And when He said this, He breathed on them and said, “receive the Holy Spirit” – John 20:22
“Sound came from Heaven like the rush of a mighty wind…tongues as of fire resting on each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit” – Acts 2:2,3,4
Have you been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Through each Gospel and in Acts of the Apostles, we read of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I might be wrong, but I believe this is the only thing spoken of in each Gospel and in Acts. Throughout Acts, we see the stories of the Holy Spirit baptizing with fire. Not just a water baptism but one in which the Holy Spirit descends.
You may be thinking, “oh that sounds Charismatic.” And you’re right. I am a wannabe Charismatic. I know many who have the powerful gifts of the Holy Spirit and are truly Charismatic – displaying the gifts of tongues, healing, prophecy and more. Amazing!
Ask yourself for a moment: What do you know about baptism in the Holy Spirit? Is that something you’ve talked about, you’ve prayed about, you’ve experienced? It seems to me this is something vitally important because we hear about it in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and multiple places in the Acts of the Apostles.
But what does it mean?
A distinctive action that all Catholic Charismatics experience is being prayed over to receive the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.” This term can cause confusion, because it is not a sacrament, and one undoubtedly receives the Holy Spirit at baptism. But Catholic Charismatics describe the experience as stirring up the gifts one has received at baptism and confirmation and thus an increased experience of the Spirit in their lives and thus a fuller activation of the aforementioned gifts.
This is what the Holy Spirit does in this baptism – He stirs up the water.
The Sacrament of Baptism washed us and gives us the Holy Spirit. Confirmation renews the Holy Spirit, making us warriors. This Baptism of the Holy Spirit stirs up these Sacramental gifts and brings them to life.
The late Cardinal Suenens, one of the fathers of the Second Vatican Council, said the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is not a “movement” in the usual sense of the word, but it is a “current of grace.” Cardinal Suenens saw the Charismatic Renewal as a rekindling of the Holy Spirit for all members of the Church. In his view, it wasn’t so much that people become a part of the ‘Renewal’ movement, as much as that renewal becomes a part of them, if they accept the grace it offers them.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit is not a sacrament but is believed to be related to the sacraments. It is a sovereign action of God, which usually occurs when someone with a disposition of surrender and docility, prays for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit in his or her life.
Many Catholic scholars have attempted to explain the baptism in the Holy Spirit and have come up with different theological interpretations. The predominant one is that a baptism in the Holy Spirit unleashes the Holy Spirit that is already present within us, by revitalizing the graces we received in the sacrament of Baptism.
And Christian lives are indeed being renewed by giving the Holy Spirit permission to flow freely. Following a baptism in the Holy Spirit, people are moved from just knowing about Jesus, to actually knowing Him more personally and intimately. All who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit testify that the experience brought them to a new awareness of the reality and presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. They felt a new hunger for the Word of God, the Sacraments and were filled with a renewed desire for holiness.
So, if you’re looking to recharge your spiritual batteries, don’t be afraid to open your mind and heart to being baptized in the Holy Spirit.
And that is perhaps the key to overcoming any doubts or obstacles one may feel towards asking for a baptism in the Holy Spirit. Let it happen.
In the words of Fr. Cantalamessa, “I had two lives; one before the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and one after.”