The Entire Thought

Come Holy Spirit

Come Holy Spirit

The next two weekends will be filled with special graces for our parishes. Saturday, May 3rd, Holy Name Parish will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with 43 teenagers. They have been preparing for this day for two years, meeting for class once a month, participating in two weekend retreats and volunteering forty hours of their precious time for community service. Archbishop Charles has delegated Rev. Bernard Schmitz, the Vicar for Clergy (Msgr. George’s previous job) to celebrate the Sacrament with our youth beginning at 12 noon. All parishioners, friends and families are invited to this liturgy to join in praying for our teenagers, “Come Holy Spirit.”
The following weekend we will celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost (May 10-11). That Sunday we have the great joy of celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation with two adults: Michelle Brown and Greg Long. Michelle is a baptized Christian who is converting to Catholicism from a Protestant denomination. And Greg is a baptized Catholic who did not receive Confirmation as a teenager. Both of them have been journeying through the R.C.I.A. process since October of 2007 (with the Cook family whom we received into the Church at the Easter Vigil).
In addition to Michelle and Greg, we will also celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation on Pentecost with five other teenagers who are unable to celebrate it on May 3rd. They are: Anissa Corser, Landen Mertz, and Charlie VonThaden from Holy Name, and Prosper (Pi) Lombardi and Ceanna Rossi from St. Martin’s. We will celebrate this Confirmation ceremony at the Sunday 4:30 p.m. Mass on May 11th. We invite all parishioners, friends and family from both parishes to join in praying for these seven candidates, “Come Holy Spirit.”
In addition to these Confirmations, Pentecost Sunday also occurs on Mother’s Day! The Knight’s of
Columbus, as usual, will offer flowers to all the moms at Mass, which will be followed by a special blessing over the moms. We will be praying for the moms and for all our families, “Come Holy Spirit.” (And a Mother’s Day breakfast will follow Holy Name’s 8 a.m. Mass.)
And if all that isn’t enough, at the morning Mass of Pentecost we will be asking the Holy Spirit to choose the newest members of the Pastoral Councils of both parishes. (Fr. Ernest is still accepting nominations.) So we will also be praying for the new Council members, “Come Holy Spirit.”
But I don’t think the Holy Spirit wants us to stop at that. I invite everyone to pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon all the members of our parishes, upon the whole Church, and all those in special need. Between now and Pentecost I invite us to pray the following contemporary version of the Pentecost Sequence:

Come, Spirit, who is our Light, Come, Spirit, joy of our souls,
Shine among the shadows within. Dance amid life’s hills and valleys.
Warm and transform our hearts. Encircle us with the delights of your dance.
Come, Spirit, who makes a home in us. Come, Spirit of wisdom and insight.
Draw us to the treasures of your dwelling. Draw us towards your goodness and light.
Reveal to us the inner journey of love. Direct our growth and guide our ways.
Come, Spirit, Comforter and Consoler. Come, Spirit, strength of wounded ones.
Heal the wounded. Soothe the anxious. Be warmth in hearts of those grown cold.
Be consolation for all who grieve and ache. Empower the powerless, rekindle the weary.
Come, Spirit, who energizes our being. Come, Spirit, source of our peace.
Keep us from the tangles of toil and travail. Deepen in us the action of peacemakers.
Lead us to moments of prayer and play. Heal the divisions that ravage the earth.
Come, Spirit, consuming Fire of Love,
Fill us with enthusiasm for your vision. Fr. Ernest Bayer
May the desire for truth be vibrant in us.

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