Pentecost
VOCATION: Jesus calls us - He calls you to follow Him, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and become a missionary disciple....
NOVENA: It is never too late for us to join in prayer with Mary and the 120 disciples as they prayed and waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Defender, the Paraclete....
Homily MP3 version
What are the offerings that we bring to God? What is the meaning of "HOSANNAH!" We acclaim God for his greatness and praise Him, while at the same time calling upon Him to rescue us in our distress.... "HOSANNAH!" MP3 version
Almost 2,000 years after Pentecost, how is it that the world has not yet been completely transformed? Jesus did not come to reform the Roman Empire, nor the Jewish Temple, nor even the Council of the Sanhedrin.... He came to meet people, one person at a time... including you and me....
So, how do we welcome within us the power of the Holy Spirit?
Lesson #1. Part A - Our prayers, our requests, must be specific and concrete.
Jesus always asked people who were suffering, even when their trouble seemed obvious: "What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus is still asking us the same question.
Part B - Jesus commands us to act, not to remain passive.
Once a person had concretely expressed their request, Jesus did something, and then He told them to act, to also do something, to go from being passive to being active: "Get up, pick up your mat, and go home." "Go and show yourself to the priests and offer the prescribed sacrifice." "Go and sin no more." Etc.
Jesus expects us to do the same as soon as we have expressed to Him our prayer. So, we must "do something" in connection to our request: visit a parent, call someone we've been neglecting, help a neighbour, rescue a person in distress... in other words, put aside concern about ourselves and make room for others through gestures and concrete actions.
Lesson #2. Part A - Don't focus on the traffic coming in the opposite direction - don't obsess over our sins, our failures, or the great darkness oppressing us.
While driving at night it is very dangerous to focus our eyes on the lights of cars coming in the opposite direction... we would be at great risk to have a head-on collision and everyone dies. By analogy, neither must we focus the eyes of our spirit on all that is our sins, our failures, our fears, or all that is the "great darkness" in our life. The devil ever seeks to paralyze us by getting us to be obsessed with the darkness....
Part B - On the contrary, Jesus commands us: "Look at Me!"
As He met people who were struggling with their misery, Jesus said to them: "Look at Me!" In other words, to free us from the darkness, to be able to forgive us our sins, to at times heal us from our illnesses or, if not, to give us the strength to endure them... for all that Jesus wants to do for us, He must first get our attention.
Then, He needs us to have complete trust and confidence in Him and in the love of God our Father, and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Faith is not a feeling or sentiment, but simply a decision. I decide to put my trust and confidence in Jesus, and then, I leave my confidence in Him and expect to receive his reply, whatever that will be. From that point on, my prayer remains: "Show me, Lord Jesus, what You want, what You are saying to me, what You are doing."
Lesson #3. Part A - Praise the Lord and give Him thanks!
We Catholic Christians of Québec and Canada, are an "aweful bunch" or "in an aweful mess", in the sense that we live and behave as though we are ashamed of our faith, and ashamed of God. We never speak of God, or of Jesus, or of our faith out loud. Especially not in our family, or at school or college or university, or at work, or with friends... or anywhere.
When you get down to it, we've closed the gates of our heart, of our mind, of our spirit, and of our life to God. Why then should we be surprised that God seems silent or absent. We have banished Him from our existence. Some have said that God is a gentleman, and He respects our decisions, even to the point of leaving us alone. Do we really want that?
Part B - Jesus calls and attracts us... and then He sends us....
God is ever attracting us to Himself. The Father sent us his Son in Jesus to get our attention. Jesus invites us to listen to Him and to follow Him.
The Holy Spirit inspires us, attracts us to go to Sunday Mass... The Spirit assembles us to form together the People of God. There, God speaks to us in a heart-to-heart with his living Word... Jesus nourishes us with his mysterious "divine meal" - giving Himself to us in his Body and Blood. Then, strengthened by this mysterious Presence of God within us, Jesus sends us out into the world as his missionary disciples: "Go in my peace! Proclaim the Good News! Go make disciples by sharing with them all that I have given you. I am with you until the end!"
“O my Jesus, I trust in You. Immaculate Mother Mary, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us. We give praise to You, O God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
In silence now, the Holy Spirit continues to pour the Divine Mercy deeply into our spirit..
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© 2006-2022 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2006-2022 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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