Dear friends in Christ
Today the Church was born in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit filled the hearts and minds of the Apostles with the fire they needed to begin the work of spreading the life-giving Word of God: Go and make disciples of all nations! The task was a daunting one. They were eleven in number, the first Bishops of the Church. They had no deacons, no trained theologians, no seminaries, no church buildings, schools or universities, there were no written Gospels and very little money and just a few believers. But they were not discouraged, they were filled with joy and hope. They had great confidence in the Lord, in the message, and in the creativity and fertility of the Church. They knew that their task was to be used by the Holy Spirit to increase the Church, and they knew the graced means by which it was to grow. And grow it did. From those humble, hidden and inauspicious beginnings, they were able to bring the Gospel of Christ to every corner of the known world at that time. And so it continued in every generation that followed so that now the Gospel is known on every continent and in every country. That was the result of the power of faith and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We might compare that with the situation today when we have every possible means at our disposal! The power of the Holy Spirit is not lacking, nor the grace available for the mission.
The Holy Spirit is at work in every age, ours included. If it is true, as Saint Paul assures us, that grace is more present, the more evil abounds, we might expect an especially powerful action of the Holy Spirit in our own time. Our task since Pentecost is to understand the times that God has put us in, to trace how the Holy Spirit is still working, and therefore seize the opportunity and the adventure of cooperating with Him. As we celebrate Pentecost, may we be given the wisdom, and the courage to rise to the monumental challenges that have come upon us, and prove faithful stewards, in our generation, of the saving message and the liberating life that Jesus has left us, and which we are living at this moment.
For those young adults of the Parish Family who are being Confirmed this Sunday, may this grace-filled moment strengthen them to take their places fully in the life of the Church and be the new witnesses of Jesus to the people of our generation. May God bless you all and fill you with a new experience of the Holy Spirit on this great Feast!
Msgr Kevin Hale