Being filled with the Holy Spirit

May 17, 2024

Informed opinion - Prof Xavier V. Pereira
Pentecost, as per the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2: 1- 12) was an event that occurred about 2000 years ago. It was on this day of Pentecost that the Apostles and some disciples of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit.

More recently, Christians, including Catholics, have experienced a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the Neo- Pentecostal and Charismatic movements. Interestingly, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal emerged in the 1960s soon after Vatican Council II. For many this was a Born- Again experience (John 3:3). This outpouring of the Holy Spirit also brought renewal to the Catholic Church in many parts of the world.

In this article I will share my experience and the shared experience of others, of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Many of these experiences are similar to that of the early Christians as revealed in the Acts of the Apostles.

Being predisposed to the infilling of the Holy Spirit
Before being filled with the Holy Spirit we are instilled with an awareness of God’s great love for us, with the insight that we need to repent for our sins and with the desire to receive forgiveness from God and to forgive others. This predisposition, that is created by preaching and teaching of the Word of God, creates in us a hunger or desire for God (Acts 2: 14 - 41).

I was predisposed to the infilling of the Holy Spirit as a second-year medical student, at a charismatic retreat in Bangalore, India, preached by the lay evangelist Fritz Mascarenhas and his team, during the first week of November, 1982. On the sixth day of the retreat a priest prayed over me and I received the Holy Spirit in a new way and broke into tongues. Other than a charismatic retreat, a common strategy to predispose a person to this experience is a Life in the Spirit seminar.

Positive Transformative Change
The most striking immediate change that occurs with the infilling of the Holy Spirit is spiritual – that is becoming theocentric (God centred). There is an encounter with and an experience of God. God suddenly becomes real and the outcome is a relationship with God.

There are also psychological and behavioural changes, social changes, and other spiritual changes, that ensue being filled with the Holy Spirit.

One becomes passionately in love with God. There are constant thoughts about God and feelings of love for God. Energy and passion to share God with others also emerges.

My personal experience was that prayer became easy for me, and I spent an hour or two in prayer daily. I was drawn to read the Bible daily too, spending several hours reading and reflecting on the words from the Bible that had become alive to me. The Eucharist also became alive to me, and as I lived on the St John’s Medical College campus, I was able to participate in the celebration of the Eucharist almost every day.

Other than personal prayer, group prayer too became a norm. I, like many others all over the world, attended weekly prayer meetings. In St John’s Medical College, some of us were able to form a prayer group with the support of our chaplain, Fr Harry Byvoet, a dedicated and caring Mill Hill missionary. The St John’s Medical College Prayer Group also became a community of medical students and young doctors. This is a natural outcome of being filled with the Holy Spirit – forming close knit communities (Acts 3: 42 - 47). Some of the relationships that developed within the Charismatic Renewal in India, and in the St John’s Medical College prayer group remain to this day. These people are like brothers and sisters to me.

Empowered to reach out to others
In the Acts of the Apostles, those who were filled with the Holy Spirit reached out to others in love. The Greek word Caritas, which is often used to describe acts of love in the Bible, can be translated into English as love in action.

This love in action is also visible in currentday churches. Many who have received the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit reach out to help others.

I have witnessed people, including my friends who are from other religious and nonreligious backgrounds, give of themselves generously to others and manifest the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22, 23). Could they too be empowered by the same spirit?

The fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit
We are familiar with the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22, 23). We are also able to identify the manifestation of these fruits in our lives. I believe that this list of the fruits of the spirit is non exhaustive. Everything good can be attributed to the working of the Holy Spirit. The Gifts of the Holy Spirit though were consigned to the Bible as historical facts for a long period of time until the emergence of the Neo-Pentecostal and Charismatic movements.

The gifts of healing, prophecy, knowledge and speaking in tongues are the most witnessed at prayer gatherings. The gifts of the Spirit play an important role in the continuous encounter and experience of God.

One can discuss, debate, and dismiss the intellectual characteristics of religious beliefs but we cannot deny encounters and experiences of God. Experiential knowledge of God triumphs over intellectual faith.

(Xavier V. Pereira is a medical doctor, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and an adjunct professor at Taylor’s University School of Medicine. In the Catholic Church, he serves as the chair of the Catholic Counsellors and Therapists of Malaysia.)