Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of your faithful!

 When we turn on a tap, we expect the water to flow, when we turn on a switch, we expect the light to shine, we tap a card and we expect the transaction to be paid. Yet what happens when the water does not flow, when the light does not shine or the payment is declined. We can be left feeling thirsty, in the dark and penniless. The loss can be felt more acutely not just in not being able to rely on utilities that we can take for granted but it can also be internalized into a sense of being alone, afraid and worthless.

As we join the Apostles in the Upper Room, we notice how they closed the doors and locked themselves in for fear of what may happen next. They were all too aware of the death of Jesus and the hostility that surrounded his arrest, trial and execution. They shut themselves in for fear that they could be next and that they did not have the physical resources to sustain themselves. They felt alone, isolated and besieged. Yet into this reality Jesus comes and stands in their midst. The first words he says are peace be with you. These words are not just a throwaway line but an invitation to enter a living relationship with Jesus who has risen from the dead when he showed them his wounds. They are called to meet him amid their anxiety and isolation with joy, hope and trust. The mission entrusted to them was to be present with the same peace with the Father’s love. They are called not to be caught up in the past by holding on to past hurts and grudges but discovering that they can forgive with their hearts, their minds and with their words.

Each of us is entrusted with the gift of the spoken word in how we see ourselves and others. We are gifted in many ways to undertake various tasks for the good of others and for the common good. St Paul talks about how this is given to us like water poured out for the good of others, like the light being switched on and discovering our own essential worth. St Cyril of Jerusalem uses this image that the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life. Water comes down from heaven as rain and although it is always the same it produces many different effects. It adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it.

We notice how the apostles are caught up by a divine fire that seems to descend like tongues of flame, that the room is filled like a rushing wind or a crashing wave, all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. From a place where they believed that the water had run dry, the darkness had engulfed them and caused them to close the world against a hostile world, they became conduits of God’s grace, people who shone the light in a world encased in night and to proclaim God news from the person who created the world.

How in this week will we seek to encounter the person of Jesus who will quench my thirst, enlighten my heart and become a person who proclaims the Good News of peace to our world? The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen and to console.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit, we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen

Why are you looking into the sky?

 

 

We stand in a moment of transition between the Ascension and Pentecost. It appears that we have been waiting for the season of Easter to come to an end so that we can return to business as usual. Yet this is not the message that we hear from the angels who speak to the disciples, why are you standing there looking into the sky?” In other words: don’t remain stuck in this moment. The same Jesus who ascended will return—but in the meantime, there is work to be done.

This calls us to reflect on how we grow in our understanding of the mission and how it is about a person who will accompany us on our journey. The contradiction that we are often presented with is both the proximity and the absence of Jesus at the same moment. No wonder the disciples were confused as their usual reference points were taken from them.

In the Ephesians we start to hear about the wisdom that we help us to grow in full knowledge of him. This wisdom allows us to notice the practical steps in our daily lives that aid our growth in relationships with God and each other. This is more than just an academic exercise but rather a chance to encounter the person of Christ who gathers us together.

We sense this in the disciples throwing themselves down at the feet of Jesus in an act of worship rather than subjugation. Even though some hesitate they are drawn into the conversation that calls them to ponder more deeply where God is at work in their lives.

This should encourage us. Faith is not the absence of hesitation; it is the decision to trust despite it. And it is to this imperfect group that Jesus gives the Great Commission: “Go, make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Thus, in our own community we are called to have hearts set on fire for mission. This calls us to notice how our prayer calls us to look within ourselves and be prepared to ask for what we need to be to live out this mission. This is not through just thinking pious thoughts but rather noticing the graced moments in our lives and the promptings that we resist. We are called to be people who become aware of the moments in our lives when we can be present to others with the spirit of Jesus. These graced filled moments allow us to become people who read the signs of the times in our own time and space. This also calls us to be people who seek to take the next obvious step in proclaiming the Gospel with our lives.

So, we are left with three invitations today.

First, to trust. Like the disciples, we may not know the times or seasons of God’s plan. But we are called to trust in his promise and his providence.

Second, to be enlightened. We need that spirit of wisdom Paul speaks of—hearts open to God, eyes capable of seeing the hope and dignity of our calling.

And third, to be sent. Each of us, in our own way, is called to be a witness—to carry the love, mercy, and truth of Christ into our families, our workplaces, our communities.

We are not alone in this mission. The same Jesus who ascended into heaven remains with us. The same Spirit who empowered the first disciples is given to us. And the same promise holds true: that through our faithful witness, the Gospel will reach to the ends of the earth

Especially in this week we also prayer for Christian Unity as we say:

Heavenly Father, you call us to be one, as You are one—
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Perfect in love and communion.

We confess that too often we allow division, pride, and misunderstanding to separate us.
Forgive us, Lord, and soften our hearts toward one another.

Pour out Your Holy Spirit upon all Christians,
That we may grow in humility, patience, and charity.
Help us to see Christ in one another,
And to recognise the gifts You have given each part of Your Church. Unite us in the truth of Your Word,
In the love of Christ, and in the mission, You have entrusted to us— To proclaim the Gospel to all the world. May our unity be a living witness, So that the world may believe in Your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You,
In the unity of the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever. Amen.

Let all the Earth cry out to God with joy!

When I was on hospital call out a couple of weeks ago, I was called to attend the neonatal unit. The first time was to baptise a premature baby, and on the second occasion to pray with two couples who had lost their children in childbirth. In the mixture of the celebration of a new life and the loss of an innocent child, what do you say to the families who experience this mixture of emotions? What stays with me is how the nurses talked to the newborn in the humidicrib and how they gave a couple the chance to remember and treasure the memories of a child they could name. In the mixture of joy and sadness, we trust that God will lead us to a deeper appreciation of how we go with others as people of prayer.

As we celebrate the Motherhood of Mary, we listen to some of the titles that are given her in the Litany of Loreto: Mother of Christ; Mother of the Church; Mother of Mercy; Mother of Divine Grace; Mother of Hope; Mother most pure; Mother most chaste; Mother inviolate; Mother undefiled; Mother most amiable; Mother most admirable; Mother of good counsel; Mother of our Creator; Mother of our Saviour. In Australia, we also add the title Our Lady, Help of Christians. As we honour our mothers, both living and born to eternal glory, we acknowledge that Motherhood is not just a physical bond but a spiritual and psychological bond that connects us with our mothers throughout our lives. As we pray with Mary this month, may we see in our community the importance of the women who walk with us on our journey of faith.

The disciples also see this when they send St Peter and St John to Samaria to meet new disciples who have just been baptised. This brings memories of the woman at the well and wonder whether it was that community at Jacob’s well that welcomed them. They had already met the person of Jesus, but now they were called to enter a deeper communion with him through the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands. This is where we see the first signs of the sacrament of confirmation that acknowledges that we are called into a living relationship with God as a community of faith. This living relationship recognises how, as a baptised people, we are called to enter a deeper relationship with God and with each other.

St Peter reflects on this in his first letter, where he says, “reverence the Lord Christ in your hearts and always have your answer ready for people who ask the reason for the hope that you all have.” This is not just about having the ability to think about Jesus, but about allowing it to enter more deeply into our being. We are called to be people in prayer who think, feel, and digest the Good News into our own bodies. This is the most profound part of Easter, as we are called to become people who open our hearts to God, not by concentrating on our sins but by discovering how we are called into a living relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. He died once for sins, died for the guilty to lead us to God. In the body, he was put to death; in the spirit, he was raised to life.

This is where Jesus leaves us with the two commandments: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbour as yourself. We do not achieve this relationship through our own efforts but through an active engagement with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is with you; he is in you. We echo the proclamation of the Kingdom where Jesus says that you are in me as I am in you. As we enter prayer, we begin to recognise what feeds and guides our thinking and feelings, and what provides true nourishment for our souls. We see that our faith is a living encounter with the person of Jesus Christ, who guides us, walks with us, and enters a deeper communion with us. In this, we sing with the psalmist, “Let all the Earth cry out to God with joy!