Lifting the Lid: Letting the Holy Spirit In More Deeply

As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, we’re reminded that Holy Spirit is a person who is alive, active, and always inviting us into something more. Not to do more, but to become more—more peace, more joy, more transformation. Yet for many of us—myself included—faith can easily settle into routine. Week in and week out, we go through familiar motions, and while there’s beauty in that rhythm, Pentecost calls us to a renewed openness. The Spirit wants to stretch our hearts, awaken our desire, and lift the lids we may not even know we’ve closed.

Think of a lid on a container. Sometimes it’s shut so tight that nothing can get in—or out. Spiritually, that can happen when we close ourselves off to Holy Spirit’s movement. But when we allow that lid to lift, even just a little, something beautiful begins to happen: we create space for God to expand our capacity to love, to listen, and to live in the fullness of who we’re created to be. Lifting the lid begins with daring to dream and imagine the more that God, through Holy Spirit, desires for us. Not just in what we do for others or how we serve in the parish, but in how we live from a deeper sense of identity: as beloved daughters and sons of God. Holy Spirit doesn’t just anoint us for action—but transforms us from within. The fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—are signs that our hearts are being made more like Jesus’ own heart.

When we give Holy Spirit permission to move, we begin to see our lives differently. We start to imagine not just doing more for God, but becoming more like God. Picture waking up each morning and having Jesus be the first name on your lips. “My Lord and my God”—a simple prayer from the lips of St. Thomas when he recognized the Risen Christ—can become our own declaration of trust and love at the start of each day.

Some lids don’t lift so easily though. Sometimes, they’re stuck. That’s when the witness of others—how they speak about God, how they live their faith—can loosen what’s sealed tight in us. One of the ways Holy Spirit moves is through the stories of those around us. That’s why your story matters. The Spirit who lives in you has done things in your life—small and great—that deserve to be noticed, named, and shared. The story of your faith is not just for you. It is a gift to others. It may be the very thing that sparks curiosity, openness, or even conversion in someone else. Think of the people who’ve shaped your own faith. Most likely, they weren’t perfect theologians. More likely, they were simply honest and open about what God had done in their lives. Their stories moved you because they carried the presence and power of the Spirit. You can do the same. You already are. In recent months, I’ve found myself returning often to the Psalms. They’re full of stories—prayers that recount what God has done and how the heart responds. Even if you’re not a poet or a composer, you have your own psalm to offer. You, too, can glorify God through your life and your words. You, too, can make His love known.

Of course, for any of this to happen, we need space to listen. We can’t speak about the Spirit if we haven’t first heard the Spirit. And listening isn’t always easy. It requires both ability and capacity. We grow in the ability to discern God’s voice through stillness, silence and solitude—through creating quiet corners in our lives where Holy Spirit can whisper to our hearts. But we also need the capacity to listen. That means making room. If our days are full of noise, constant activity, and distraction, we’re likely to miss the Spirit’s nudge. Bishop Greg Homeming, a Carmelite monk and current Bishop of Lismore, once shared that he didn’t teach his novices how to pray—he sent them into silence, trusting that God would meet them there. The Spirit speaks in stillness, silence and solitude.

As we celebrate Pentecost, the feast of Holy Spirit’s continual outpouring, let this be an invitation to lift the lid in your own life. Let Holy Spirit fill you—perhaps for the first time ever. Imagine God’s more for you. Reflect on what the Lord has already done and be ready to share it. Make space to listen because when we open ourselves to the Spirit’s movement, everything changes—not just what we do, but who we are. This Pentecost, may our lids be lifted. May our hearts be expanded. And may Holy Spirit find in us a place to dwell, to speak, and to send.

Pentecost Blessings, Fr Josh.