[Salvation]

The Holy Spirit:

Coping With the Coronavirus

Pastor’s Column

Pentecost Sunday

May 31, 2020

In these days of the coronavirus, who in this world doesn’t have problems?  Who in the world has the answers to these problems?  The Holy Spirit will guide us to understanding God’s will and how we can cope and even use these challenging times as an opportunity to grow spiritually so we can use our brief sojourn on Earth to get ready for our lives in eternity. The Holy Spirit knows exactly what is best for us and why we sometimes have to suffer; which decisions we ought to make; how to handle even the gravest of difficulties in our lives. So how do we access this knowledge?

In this column, I want to share with you a bit of wisdom that my spiritual director shared with me a while back. I keep this quote in my prayer book and pray it daily. Being open to the Holy Spirit in our day to day living is not always easy! These words are easier to say than they are to do.  Pentecost Sunday is the perfect time to begin living a new life in the Holy Spirit. Here, in his own words, is the daily spiritual prayer recommended by Cardinal Desire-Joseph Mercier, who was the Archbishop of Malines, Belgium from 1906 until his death in 1926.

                                                           Father Gary

 

“I am going to reveal to you the secret of sanctity and happiness. Every day for five minutes control your imagination and close your eyes to the things of sense and your ears to all the noises of the world, in order to enter into yourself. Then, in the sanctity of your baptized soul (which is the temple of the Holy Spirit), speak to that Divine Spirit, saying to Him:

 'O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do. Give me your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your Will.'”

"If you do this, your life will flow along happily, serenely, and full of consolation, even in the midst of trials. Grace will be proportioned to the trial, giving you strength to carry it, and you will arrive at the Gate of Paradise laden with merit. This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret of sanctity."

                                                     Cardinal Mercier

[Salvation]

Reflections from Scott Hahn

A Mighty Wind: Scott Hahn Reflects on Pentecost Sunday

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Pentecost, Juan Bautista Maíno, between 1615-1620

Readings:
Acts 2:1–11
Psalm 104:1, 24, 29–31, 34
1 Corinthians 12:3–7, 12–13
John 20:19–23

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The giving of the Spirit to the new people of God crowns the mighty acts of the Father in salvation history.

The Jewish feast of Pentecost called all devout Jews to Jerusalem to celebrate their birth as God’s chosen people, in the covenant Law given to Moses at Sinai (see Leviticus 23:15–21; Deuteronomy 16:9–11).

In today’s First Reading the mysteries prefigured in that feast are fulfilled in the pouring out of the Spirit on Mary and the Apostles (see Acts 1:14).

The Spirit seals the new law and new covenant brought by Jesus, written not on stone tablets but on the hearts of believers, as the prophets promised (see 2 Corinthians 3:2–8; Romans 8:2).

The Spirit is revealed as the life-giving breath of the Father, the Wisdom by which He made all things, as we sing in today’s Psalm. In the beginning, the Spirit came as a “mighty wind” sweeping over the face of the earth (see Genesis 1:2). And in the new creation of Pentecost, the Spirit again comes as “a strong, driving wind” to renew the face of the earth.

As God fashioned the first man out of dust and filled him with His Spirit (see Genesis 2:7), in today’s Gospel we see the New Adam become a life-giving Spirit, breathing new life into the Apostles (see 1 Corinthians 15:45, 47).

Like a river of living water, for all ages He will pour out His Spirit on His body, the Church, as we hear in today’s Epistle (see also John 7:37–39).

We receive that Spirit in the sacraments, being made a “new creation” in Baptism (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). Drinking of the one Spirit in the Eucharist (see 1 Corinthians 10:4), we are the first fruits of a new humanity—fashioned from out of every nation under heaven, with no distinctions of wealth or language or race, a people born of the Spirit.