OFTEN I hear it said, especially by celebrities, that ‘I am a Catholic, but I do not practice’. Another expression used is that someone is a ‘baptised pagan’, which is surely a contradiction in terms.
In Acts 8:15-17 we read that Peter and John’ prayed for them (the Samaritans) that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not yet come down upon any of them, since they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
So they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit’. We have received the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, but we need to continually pray for the Holy Spirit to enliven and activate our faith.
Otherwise we are like a house that is all wired up, but the lights do not go on. As we approach Pentecost Sunday and the birthday of the Church we pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit for today.