Come, Holy Spirit, come!

This week the Church is called to particular prayer for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Next Sunday is the great Feast of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost. It is: the birth of the Church, the fire which appeared above the Apostles, the courage and boldness of preachers, the mysterious blend of human languages which proclaimed the good news of salvation in Christ, the breath of God, the Spirit of Jesus, the Advocate or Paraclete (that’s “Paraclete” which means teacher – not parakeet, which means a semi-tropical bird).

The Holy Spirit is:“mighty wind which swept over the waters” at the moment of creation, the Spirit which inspired and spoke through the Prophets of Israel, the Spirit which came down upon Mary as the Word became flesh in her womb, the Spirit of truth, which “will guide you to all truth,” the Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove upon Jesus as he rose from the waters of the Jordan after his baptism, and the third person of the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Spirit is our very life given to us in Baptism, in the healing of forgiveness of sin, in the food of the Eucharist, in the silence and peace of our hearts at prayer. The Spirit who has preserved the Church, Christ’s Body, through centuries of attack, sin, and near collapse. It is the Spirit which has wrought saints and giants of spiritual wisdom in the midst of scandal and human foolishness. Whew! What a busy spirit indeed.

This week, I hope we all take special time to pray. Pray for a renewal of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in each of our hearts. Take time, it doesn’t need to be hours, but some time each day and pray the beautiful Sequence, the Veni, Sancti, Spiritus or any other heart-felt prayer. Each day this week, I will continue the prayer. I invite us to pray together:


Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bossoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine.
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught.
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stain of guilt away;

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore,
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gifts descend;

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;

Give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.