Dear Friends in christ

Pentecost is the Day on which the Church came into existence. From the Mount of the Ascension, the Apostles with Mary, gathered in prayer so that the Holy Spirit would fill them with the courage and fortitude needed to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ. What is this Good News? It is the Gospel which gives meaning, direction and purpose to life on earth; it is the Good News that proclaims Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and wants us to be with Him in Heaven. So the Apostles go out and tell the world about the Jesus whom they have known and loved and believed in. They went to every corner of the earth; they spent themselves totally; they suffered martyrdom. They did all of this for the Truth of what God revealed about Himself, about life, death and eternal life. Pentecost empowers us to do the same. As we hear in one of the dismissals at the end of Mass: Go and announce the Gospel of The Lord! Each of us who have been Baptised and Confirmed have received this mission and exhortation; we have this power given to us; we simply have to use it, draw upon it and be courageous soldiers of Christ. Over the period of Lent and Eastertide, forty young people in our area have been undergoing a spiritual and doctrinal preparation for this moment. They have reflected on the Faith over these weeks, asked questions, discussed and above all, prayed together, each week before the Blessed Sacrament. Now they will receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. Pray for them, that we may continue to be proud of them in the way they will carry their Faith into the world as fully adult-initiated members of the Holy Church. May God bless us all abundantly with a renewed bestowal of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit this Pentecost!

God bless you.

Msgr Kevin Hale

Priest@LourdesLeigh.org ✚ 01702 478078
Homily available at LourdesLeigh.org