Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep
my commandments. And I will ask the Father,
and he will
give you another Advocate to be with you always. . . .
(John 14:15
–
16a)
The Sunday Scripture readings now begin to direct our attention
to the Feast of Pentecost, when we will recall and celebrate the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles.
The great “gift” of the Spirit is that it transformed a group of
terrified disciples into bold “proclaimers” of the Good News. The
Apostles would leave the safety of confinement to go out to
speak publically of Jesus and continue his mission by becoming
builders of the Kingdom of God.
Pope Paul VI (1975) reminded us in his Apostolic Exhortation,
“Evangelii Nuntiandi”
(On Evangelization in the Modern World)
that the Church exists to evangelize.
It is the essential mission
of the Church.
That’s just not the work of ordained clergy but the
work of all of its members. To do this “work” we need the
assistance of the Holy Spirit, whom the world neither recognizes
nor accepts.
We were given the Holy Spirit at our baptism and then the
“sevenfold” gifts of the Holy Spirit were bestowed upon us at
Confirmation. It is only with the power of the Holy Spirit that we
can hope to make Jesus known and loved by others.
This Monday, Bishop Andrzej will confer the Holy Spirit upon our
eight graders who have undergone a two
–
year period of study,
prayer and service in preparation for the reception of this great
Sacrament. It is our hope that they will freely accept this gift and
join us in our common mission to bring the light of the Gospel to
others, especially, their peers.
They need our support and example. In addition, they serve as
a reminder to each of us of the call that we already received and
to which we are hopefully responding as “intentional disciples” of
Jesus today.
As we make our way towards Pentecost Sunday, which we will
celebrate on June 4
th
, let us join in earnest prayer for a new
release of the Holy Spirit upon us. This Spirit will transform us
so that we in turn can work towards the transformation of the
world.
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful ones!”
