Talk

BRO. BO SANCHEZ:

Let’s say our favorite prayer,
Novena To God’s Love.
Extend your hand towards The Word:

Thy Word is a Lamp unto myfeet
And a Light unto my path.

We’re in the fourth talk of our series, Do You Hear The Wind?

It’s a series on the Holy Spirit.

We’re now going to turn to the Book of Acts– about the Holy Spirit. There are two books about the Holy Spirit written by the same person, the Apostle Luke: Book of Acts and Gospel of Luke.

St. Luke mentions the Holy Spirit so many times in his two books. In the Gospel of Luke, he mentioned the Holy Spirit17 times. In the Book of Acts, he mentioned the Holy Spirit 57 times. A total of 74 times– more than any other Gospel or book in the entire New Testament. He really majored in the Holy Spirit.

So, if you want to know and understand the Third Person of the Trinity, then you’ve got to major in Acts of The Apostles.

St. Luke did not title his books Gospel of Luke” and Book of Acts. Those titles were used much later on in the Second Century. So, if I were to re-title the books, I would re-title the Gospel of Luke as Acts of the Spirit Through Jesus.

And then I will re-title Book of Acts as Acts of the Spirit Through the Church.”

To give you a little perspective of the Reading we are about to take up today:

In Acts 1: 8, the risen Jesus speaks to His apostles before ascending to Heaven…

After this, the Apostles prayed for several days, and then Pentecost came.

And the Holy Spirit came upon their lives.

Do you want to experience a Pentecost in your life? Do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

I want you to tap somebody beside you and tell that person: “You will receive power.”

Heavenly Father, Thank You so much that this day is Your day and our hearts are opening wide because we want You to do something in us. You know what we’re facing, you know what we’re going through, and so, You know the antidote. You know exactly how to fill our needs. Come, Lord, give us Your spirit. Fill our hearts with Your Spirit. Give us Your power. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

A Balloon Story

One day, there was a little boy named Benny. It was his birthday.

He was 7 years old.

He woke up in the morning and he asked his father, “Daddy, will my birthday party later on have balloons?”

The father said, “Of course–100 balloons for your birthday party later.

I’m going out and I’m buying balloons.”

By 3:00 p.m., Benny looked around the house but there were no balloons.

He went to his dad and asked, “Dad, where are the balloons?”

The father then brought out a plastic bag filled with uninflated balloons.

The father said, “You asked for only 100 balloons. You never said balloons with air.”

Of course, the father was just trying to make excuses.

So, the father said, “No problem. I’m going to blow air in these balloons.” He blew one and he gave it to Benny.

Benny said, “Dad, I think there’s something wrong with the balloon. It doesn’t go up. It goes down.”

The father said, “Don’t be choosy.

A balloon is a balloon.”

So, the father started blowing and blowing the 99 balloons. Once done, he put the balloons on the floor. They were beautiful. In today’s language, they call it “instagrammable.”

Did the children play with the balloons? No, they did not. They kicked it around for a while. After that, they lost interest.

Do you have the right air inside of you? Are you like this balloon that falls to the ground? A balloon is not like that.

A balloon is like this…

When filled with the right air, a balloon will rise.

What kind of air do you have? Are you self-filled or are you Spirit-filled? How many of you want to be Spirit-filled?

It is a decision that you have to make. All of us can be self-filled as a church, or we can be Spirit-filled as a Church. That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

I’m going to answer three questions today.

I lead pilgrimages every year.

I remember in one of those pilgrimages, I went into an 800-year-old church. It was jaw-dropping.

It was breathtaking– and also heartbreaking. The interiors were magnificent but no one was praying. I was looking for people of faith.

By the way, art has a way of manifesting God’s greatness. Art communicates truth and beauty. That’s why I love going to those churches.

But was that the original design of God for church? No. No matter how beautiful the church is, it’s not a church if there are no Jesus followers inside. It’s not a church but a museum, yes. I’m not discouraging you to go there.

I love going there. I love praying there. It’s amazing. It has a beautiful legacy in history.

A church is supposed to look like this: The Feast. It doesn’t look like a church traditionally but this is Church. The Church is us. Jesus did not die for a building. He died for you and me.

God’s Core Plan

The Church is God’s core plan to bring Heaven down on Earth. It is very disturbing– especially if you’ve been hurt by your church or if you’ve read about the scandals of sex and of money by Church leaders.

I remember talking to a young man, around 26-27 years of age.

He told me, “Bro. Bo, never forget this. I love God but I hate church. I pray alone in my house.”

I found out that when he was a young kid, he grew up in a Catholic community like The Feast. He loved it. All his friends were there serving God.

But one day, the top leaders fought each other. They were best friends.

They became mortal enemies. A huge split from top to bottom happened in their community. Due to that split, families and friends had to choose sides. They could not talk to each other. It was very awkward. This young man was so traumatized that he just dropped out of church.

I want you to know that despite all the craziness of our history, God still believes in Church and in us.

Because the Church is not an NGO, nor a self-help program.

The Church is the body of Christ. If it were not the body of Christ, I resign.

I’ve been serving in this Church for 45 years now. if it is just a human organization, I can not bear being here. I am here because it is the Body of Christ.

Who said that? St. Paul said that:

I told that young man: “I understand how you feel and I agree with you that it is much easier to pray alone in your room than go to church.

In church, you will see and you’ll have to talk with “Mr. Know-It-All.” In church, you will have to meet this gossipmonger. In church, you have to deal with that other person who is annoying and that other person who is irritable.

It is more difficult to be here. You have to wake up in the morning and go through traffic.

I’m an old guy and I’ve learned one thing: Difficult is good. Why avoid it? It’s good for the soul. It will train you. It will stretch you. It will make you better.

I asked him, “Young man, do you belong to Jesus?” He answered, “Yes,”

I said, “Then, you have to belong to His Body.

There’s no other choice.

The Church is not anyone’s idea. The Church is God’s idea. The Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church.

The Risen Jesus was talking to His apostles, and He said this:

Some of us pray the Novena to the Sacred Heart, some of us pray the Novena to Our Lady of the Perpetual Help. The Apostles prayed for nine days. This prayer was the first-ever Novena.

Why do we know nine days? Even if it wasn’t written in the Gospel? We know because of the Jewish feasts.

Jesus died during the Feast of the Passover. The Holy Spirit came during the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. Pentecost was not a Christian feast. Originally, it was a Jewish feast. It was celebrating harvest.

Between Passover and Pentecost, there were 50 days. The Gospel said that the Risen Jesus appeared to His Apostles for 40 days– 50 minus 40 is equal to 10. Pentecost happened on the 10th day. So, the Apostles prayed in the Upper Room for the Holy Spirit for nine days– the first Novena.

The Pentecost: The Birth of the Church

So, we are so grateful. We are ending the series of the Holy Spirit now because on Sunday, we are celebrating, as a Catholic Church all over the world, the Feast of the Pentecost.

Pente in Pentecost means 50 days from Passover.

Are you getting what I’m saying: How rich our Scripture is and our Liturgy is as well.

Then Jesus said:

Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. This is when the Church was born.

After the Apostles prayed for 9 days, this is what happened:

Remember that in Hebrew, ruach means breath, it means spirit, but it also means wind.

All through Scripture, you find the image of fire in the Presence of God.

Remember the Burning Bush (when God Gave to Moses the Ten Commandments). Remember the Pillar of Fire, when the Israelites, escaping from slavery in Egypt, where walking through the desert. Remember the Prophet Isaiah whose tongue

was touched and cleansed by an ember… fire.

All through Scripture, you have fire as a symbol of the Presence of God.

This is New Testament. This is Acts of the Apostles.

Question: Is there another story in the Bible about languages?

In the book of Genesis, there is the story of the Tower of Babel.

Let’s read about it:

This is not just a skyscraper project. In symbolic biblical language, the people in Babel were saying to God: “We are invading your territory: heaven.” (Which in Hebrew, sky.

The Babylonians were saying: “We don’t need you anymore, God.

We’re taking over.”

It was really a rebellion. This is what happened:

In writing the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke was making it very clear. He was contrasting Babel with Pentecost– that they are polar opposites.

This is what God is asking you right now. Is your life Babel? Or is your life Pentecost? Are you self-filled or are you Spirit-filled?

A church is just composed of people.

So, how does a Spirit-filled person look like?

There was this one person I invited to The Feast. He wasn’t aware of The Feast.

I told him that he could choose between two sessions: 8:00 a.m. or 10:45 a.m.

He asked, “How long does it last?” I said, “Two hours.”

His reaction was: “Oh my, it’s long. Do you have a shorter session?”

Church is not for your convenience. It’s for the Lord. Church is not for your entertainment. Church is to worship God. We’re so self-filled. We always reference ourselves on what’s convenient. Church is not for you. It’s for God.

May I brag a little? Do you know what time the Feast servants come?

Some of them are here as early as 5:00 a.m. But in our case, we usually come in late.

What does that mean? St. Luke says:

Self-filled Babel seeks uniformity but then it leads to disunity.

A Spirit-filled church seeks unity even if we’re different from each other. How many of you love Korean drama? How many of you don’t like it?

You think it’s a waste of time. But you’re together here. How many of you love milk tea? How many of you don’t? Yet, you’re together here.

I’ll go deeper. In the last national election, did you vote for BBM or for Leni? Yet, you’re together because this is what Church is: Even if we’re different from each other, we’re one.

Pope Leo XIV recently talked to leaders of different churches, even those that are non-Catholics.

He said: “Once and for all, may we just work together?”

You’ve not been to church for 50 years? Come in. Something’s wrong with your relationship? Come in. We welcome everyone.

Even if you do not believe in God, you’re still welcome because you belong before you believe. You don’t agree with certain teachings of the church? That’s fine. Come in. We’re family. We love you.

The Lord Himself will be the One to change if there’s something to change in you.

That’s why– and we go back to our key verse for today–Jesus said to His disciples:

St. Luke uses this as His table of contents for the Book of Acts.

Number one is Jerusalem. Next is Judea and Samaria. Then, next is farthest ends of the earth.

Acts 1-7 contains all the events that happened in Jerusalem. Acts 9-12 include events that happened in Judea and Samaria. Acts 13-28 cover everything that happened in Greece, Rome, and Asia Minor which are the farthest ends of the Earth from that ancient perspective. This only means that we cannot be exclusive like the Tower of Babel. We need to expand.

What We Do Right

It is here where I really, really want to brag about how selfless our leaders are. Our Community has many faults, weaknesses, and imperfections. But if there’s one thing that we do right is that our leaders and our servants are so selfless.

Zach, a Feast servant, was here as early as 5:00 a.m.

May I share with you a Feast in Ireland. There are four Feasts in Ireland: Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, and Derry. This is just one of them.

The leader of Ireland’s Feast is Lando Patolilic. He’s a simple guy. I like talking with him. He’s not a bombastic preacher but someone who really loves the Lord.

One freezing January night, Carmen, a Feaster from Spain, called Lando because they have this online intercession thing. Carmen was part of a Feast on a tiny island in Spain which was not part of the main island in Spain.

Carmen told Lando: “Our Feast is disbanding. Nobody wants to lead it.

I, myself, don’t want to lead it.”

Lando was just listening to her. The wife of Lando, Fenny, overheard the conversation.

Fenny then said to Lando: “It’s my birthday month. Let’s go on a vacation to Spain. Let’s help The Feast there.”

The very next morning– I kid you not–Lando and Fenny flew to Spain and went to that island. They spoke with Carmen and 11 other Feasters.

Lando simply said: “Is this the work of God or is this the work of man? If it is the work of God, how can you stop it? Let God work through you.”

The people there cried and hugged each other. After one year, The Feast on that little island of Spain is still alive and is still led by Carmen.

Lando, crazy. Fenny, his wife, crazy. Carmen, crazy. The Apostles during Pentecost, the people around them said the Apostles were crazy.

During my time, we would have called them crazy people. “May tililing.

Lacking screws to put their brain together.”

Today, we are more respectful. We just call them, “May something.” We are no longer specific about what’s wrong with them.

My Friends, all The Feast servants here have something. They are not logical. But that’s what Church is– because we’re filled with the Spirit.

I’ll lead you into a prayer. Lift your hands and say this:

Lord, fill me with Your Spirit. Help me to be filled with the Spirit. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

This story was first published in the Feast Family Online News Magazine
Published by THE FEAST (June 8, 2025)