Pentecost Sunday

This weekend we celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus’ last
promise to the world, the reception of the gift of the Holy
Spirit. We know it as the breath of God that was present at
the creation of the world. It is the mighty wind that swept
over the waters (Gen 1:2), the breath of life blown into the
nostrils of man granting life (Gen 2:7). It is the power that
settled into disciple present in Jerusalem enabling them to
proclaim and understand each other. It is the power we
receive each time we participate in one of the sacraments of
the Church.

Most importantly, it is the power of God within us that enables
us to be and do all that God calls us to do. We know
that God does not call the qualified but qualifies everyone
He calls. It is through the Holy Spirit that this happens.
We are empowered to be better than we have been and better
than we think we can be. As in the prayer of St. Francis
of Assisi “O Master, let me not seek as much to be consoled
as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be
loved as to love, for it is in giving that one receives”.