Fr. Pullis and Beth unpack Guidepost 1 of Unleash the Gospel, and dive into markers 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3, which invite the faithful to recognize and lean on the power of the Holy Spirit. They speak from their personal experiences, share insights on how the Holy Spirit empowers us to share the Gospel in our current age, and offer practical advice on praying for the power of the Holy Spirit.
(03:20) Fr. Pullis and Beth open up the episode with some small talk about baseball season and they introduce the topic for today’s episode, which is focusing on the guideposts outlined by Archbishop Vigneron in Unleash the Gospel.
(06:50) Fr. Pullis highlights the first guidepost they’ll unpack on the podcast, “A New Pentecost.” Beth shares that the original Pentecost didn’t expire, but that we continually need to receive a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. They discuss how central this idea is to the Synod, and note how the outpouring of the Spirit empowers us to be witnesses.
(13:06) They discuss the importance of inviting the Holy Spirit into our plans, and even entrusting our plans to him, and share how they have personally seen the Holy Spirit work in ministry. They talk about how even our best plans can be fruitless when we don’t pair them with a docility to the Spirit and highlight the counterintuitive ways in which God often works.
(16:04) Fr. Pullis prayer for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit over him, Beth and listeners. He shares a quote from St. Bonaventure about how we can dispose ourselves to inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives. They talk about the ministry Acts XXIX, and the idea it is based upon: that the apostolic age is not over, the Body of Christ is still alive, and we are living in that next chapter of Acts.
(19:38) Looking to marker 1.2 of Unleash the Gospel, they discuss what repentance means and emphasize the need to allow Jesus to transform us and for us to be willing to turn away from sin. They note how repentance and believing in the Gospel go hand in hand.
(27:57) They note how the new evangelization requires a renewal of the mind and how, in this age, we have to be clear and bold in our proclamation of the Gospel to the secular world. They note how oftentimes this message can sound old fashioned or be painted as bigoted, but how that doesn’t diminish the need for people to hear it.
(30:12) They break open marker 1.3, “signs and wonders,” and talk about the personal manifestation of miracles, healings, prophetic words, etc. — things characteristic of charismatic renewal. They talk about how Catholics sometimes have a discomfort with the Holy Spirit, but emphasize that the Holy Spirit can do big things in and through us. They share their own experiences in this and emphasize that, while it’s important to pray for the Holy Spirit to work in big ways, that we can trust the Spirit is moving, whether we see it or not, when we entrust others to the Lord.
(36:46) They talk about the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress and the anticipation of that event being a real new Pentecost moment for the Church in the United States.
(37:37) They close by offering encouragement to those working in mission direct areas of ministry to remember that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization, and to have confidence in the work that they do, when they approach it with a disposition of docility, expectancy, and confidence.