Wednesday, May 23, 2018

A Word from Your Pastor May 20 - Pentecost


Pentecost is the Birthday of the Church and the grand close to the Season of Easter.  We pray for the fulfillment of the Promise of the Father to send us an Advocate, the One Who will lead us to all Truth, the Truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This Feast is a reminder to us that we are called to share the very Life of God.  God the Father so loved the world that He sent His Son to be our Savior.  Jesus, the Son of God, returned to the Father in the fullness of Risen Glory, taking our human nature into the very heart of the Trinity, and the firstfruits of the Spirit came from the Father and the Son to form the Church.  We now live in time the Promise of Eternity.  The Presence and action of the Holy Spirit is the sign that all God has planned for us will reach its fulfillment.

Come, Holy Spirit!” is the prayer of the day.  We pray to receive anew the Gifts of the Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, Piety and Fear of the Lord.  We seek to live more truly the Theological Gifts of Faith, Hope and Love. 

We also look for the “fruits of the Holy Spirit” as signs of the work of the Spirit in us in practical ways.  The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: ‘charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.’ (Galatians 5:22-23 Vulgate version) [Catechism of the Catholic Church #1832]

Joy is the infallible sign of the Presence of God.  We know that the Spirit of God is within us when joy overtakes us and keeps us faithful to our calling.  We ask today that we may continue to be “overcome with Paschal Joy,” as we move from the Season of Easter into Ordinary Time.  As our children learn in the CGS Atrium: Ordinary Time is the time of growth.  The green of the season reminds us of the growth of life in in us in the brightness of the sun.  Let us open our hearts to the Spirit.

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