One of the symbols of the Holy Spirit used in the Scriptures and by artists is that of a dove. Noah sent a dove out to determine if it was safe to exit the Ark after the flood. When the dove returned with an olive branch in its beak, it was a sign of a new beginning. When Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan, a dove was seen descending upon Jesus. It too was a sign of the new ministry which Jesus was sent to accomplish. The dove was a witness to John, confirming that Jesus was the promised Messiah. The dove, coming upon Jesus, was a confirmation of the Father's words to Jesus: "You are my beloved Son in whom my favor rests." Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Christ and led Jesus to fulfill the plan of the Father.

In Baptism we do not see a dove, but in faith believe that the Spirit of God has given  us a new beginning as an adopted son or daughter of God, anointing us with the gifts for sanctification. In Confirmation, we do see a dove, but in faith believe that we have been sealed and anointed by the Holy Spirit as a witness of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus, we are called to live in the Spirit and follow the lead of the Spirit.

Artists have depicted the three persons of the Blessed Trinity by showing the Father as an older man, the Son in his humanity and the Spirit as a dove. For instance when they depicted the Annunciation, they sometimes show not only Mary and the Angel but a dove in flight. For Mary was to conceive the Messiah by the "overshadowing of the Holy Spirit."  

 NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

May 26-June 4

First Day Holy Spirit, Lord of light, from your clear celestial height, your pure beaming radiance give. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

O God who has taught the hearts of your faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit we may be always truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolations. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Second Day Come, O Father of the poor, Come with treasures which endure, Come, O light of all that live. Come, Holy Spirit, come

Let us pray

O Holy Spirit, father of the poor, come fill my poverty-stricken soul out of the plenty of your eternal riches. Warn me, I beg, of every opportunity in my daily round of duty, to lay up treasures where no thief approaches nor moth corrupts, that I may enjoy them together with you forever. Amen.

Third Day You of all consoler’s best, visiting the troubled breast, refreshing peace bestow.  Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

O Divine Consoler, and of all Comforters the best, to you do we come in trouble and distress. Do, in the all-powerful name of Jesus, our Redeemer, and out of love for Mary, our sorrowful Mother and your chaste Spouse, come to our assistance and comfort us in all our trials and tribulations. Amen

Fourth Day You in toil are comfort sweet, Pleasant coolness in the heat, Solace in the midst of woe. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

O God, who gives the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, grant to your people the effect of their pious prayers, that on those to whom you have given grace, you may also bestow peace. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen

Fifth Day Light immortal, light divine, Visit these hearts of yours. And our inmost being fill. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

May the Paraclete, who proceeds from you, enlighten our minds, we beseech, O Lord; and even as your Son has promised, may he lead us into all truth. Amen.

Sixth Day If you take your grace away, nothing pure in man will stay; all his good is turned to ill. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

Send down, we ask, O Lord, your Holy Spirit in his might, to the merciful purifying of our hearts and to our sure deliverance from all danger. Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen

Seventh Day Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

Burn up, O Lord, the stains of our hearts in the fire of the Holy Spirit; that chaste of body and clean of heart, our service may be well pleasing to you. Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

Eighth Day Bend the stubborn heart and will, Melt the frozen, warm the chill, Guide the steps that go astray. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Truth, come into our hearts; give to all peoples the brightness of your light, that they may be well pleasing to you in unity of faith. Amen

Ninth Day On those who evermore, confess and adore you, in your sevenfold gift descend.  Give them comfort when they die Give them life with you on high, Give them joys which never end. Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Let us pray

Send down upon us, we ask, O Lord, the Holy Spirit, that, inspired and encouraged by him, we may comply with the duties of our state, carry our daily crosses patiently, and grow daily in Christian perfection. Grant us, we beseech through the same Divine Spirit, the intentions of this novena or what is most conducive to our eternal salvation and your glory. Amen

 As we prepare to celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, our focus is on the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, whom we received when we were baptized and again when we were confirmed. As we can reflect on Jesus' different titles--Lord, Messiah, Savior, Bread of Life, etc--so we need to reflect on some of the different titles of the Holy Spirit. Like Jesus who is both God and Man, the Holy Spirit is God. One of his titles found in the Scriptures is "ruah", the breath of God, the source of our life breath and the source of sharing in the Divine Life of God. We read in Genesis 2:7: "The LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."  We take the breath in our lungs for granted. Yet it is the Holy Spirit who sustains us in existence. Thank you, Breath of God! The same is true when we are reborn in the waters of baptism. Again, God breathed his own divine life into us and we became Temples of the Holy Spirt. Thank you, Breath of God. We honor both of these gifts of the Spirit by taking care of our body and by remaining in union with God, free from serious sin. Spend some time today, reflecting on this title of the Holy Spirit and the implications in your life.

 Jesus said: "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command  you....I have called you friends, because I have told  you everything I  have heard from my Father. It was not  you who chose me, but I who chose you." (Jn 13-15) Have  you reflected on this fact? Jesus calls us his friends. He, who is Lord and God, our Creator and Savior, invites us into a relationship of friendship. On his part he sacrificed his life so that we may have life. He chose to share his divine life with  us, so that we may be with him forever in glory. His friendship is a gift, which betters us. How do we respond so that this is not a one-way friendship, but mutual, though never equal? We do so, when in gratitude we keep his commandments; when we love in return, him and others as he has loved us. Friendship is a choice. We accept and cherish his friendship and seek to be his friend in return, to do what pleases him. Friends spend time with each other, sharing their lives, with the other as always the focus. Some friendships last; others are temporary. Jesus desires an eternal, lasting friendship with us. Do we?

 Jesus said: "I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." (Jn 15:11)

What is this joy of the Lord? It is not a feeling nor an emotion that is here one moment but gone the next. It is more lasting. It is a gift, a grace, the fruit of living in the Spirit. The source of this joy is Jesus, his life within us, which we share because of his great love for us. The greater our awareness of his presence within us, the greater our joy should be. The fullness of this life of joy will be realized when we are one in God forever in glory. St. Paul encouraged this when he said: "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say, rejoice." Nehemiah, the prophet, captured the resulting effect of this joy: "Joy in the Lord is your strength." 

We Christians are called to be people of great joy because we know that we have been saved by the blood of the Lord, reconciled and adopted as sons and daughters of God. We share in God's life now, so that we can share in his life eternally.  Does this joy radiate in and through  us to others? Can others see our joy and therefore ask the source of our joy? What kind of witness are we of all that God has done in our lives? If authentic love is a distinctive sign of a true disciple of  Jesus Christ, isn't joy equally such a sign? We don't have to force a smile. We have reason to smile, namely, all that God has and is doing in our lives. 

 

Homily Sixth Sunday of Easter Year C

 

Reading 1: As the Word of God through the ministry of Paul and Barnabas spread among the Gentiles who are baptized, some of the Judaizers came from Jerusalem and began to sow doubt in the community of believers concerning the authenticity of Paul’s ministry. These Judaizers insisted that the Gentiles need to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic laws to be saved.

 

Not knowing who was right, the community decided to send Paul and Barnabas with others to Jerusalem to the Apostles for clarification. This is the initial awareness of the authority of the Apostles over the life and teaching of the Church.

 

After hearing about how God blessed the ministry of Paul and Barnabas to the Gentiles with signs and wonders, the apostolic leadership made a profound statement and decision. First of all, they said: “It is the decision of the Holy Spirit and us.” In other words, after prayer and much discussion The Holy Spirit inspired them with the answer. This fulfills what Jesus taught the Apostles at the Last Supper: “I will send you the Holy Spirit. He will teach and guide you to the truth.” We will come back to this in the Gospel.

 

What was the truth? That baptism not circumcision was necessary for salvation. Following the Mosaic Law was not required any longer. The only requirement was the turning away from their former pagan practices. What will happen if we followed the practice of the Apostles, namely invoking and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit in major decisions?

 

Reading 2: During this post Resurrection times the Church keeps before us the life that God invites us to enter into now and after death. She presents to us another vision of life in heaven. The image of the new, holy city of Jerusalem is the image of the exultant and victorious Church, the bride of Christ in all its beauty and perfection in eternity. We are that Church now and are called to be in eternity.

 

The Church is built upon the faithful people of the Old Testament, the prophets, the Apostles and all the baptized who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb in baptism and the sacrament of Reconciliation.  In the center of this is the Father and Jesus, the Lamb, whose glorified life is the light of the city.

 

Gospel: We continue to read John’s narrative of the Last Supper in which Jesus gave a number of teachings as part of his last will and testimony. He speaks repeatedly of the centrality of love as a sign of our union with him and as a sign of our discipleship. He speaks of the need to keep his word because we love him. He teaches us the parable of the vine and the branches, reminding us that the Father loves us and as we love and keep his word, God will dwell in us and we in him.

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches what later the Apostles will better understand and act upon. The Father and the Son will send the Holy Spirit. As our Advocate, helper, and intercessor, the Spirit will teach us everything concerning the truth revealed by God. Then Jesus reminds them that the peace he gives them is not a greeting but the fruit of salvation which brings life.

 

He tells them he is going away but will come back. He is referring not only to his upcoming death and resurrection, but also to his ascension and his second coming in glory.

 

His final teaching in the reading deals with the mystery of his Incarnation, being both God and Man. As God, he is one with the Father. In his humanity, the Father is greater than him, because for a time he emptied himself of his divinity in order to embrace our humanity and do the will of the Father, even to the death on the cross. It is only after the Resurrection and Pentecost and the ensuing years that the Church began to unpack these mysteries and acknowledge them fulfilled.

 
"Remain in me as I remain in you." These words of Jesus are comforting to us. How do we remain in him and he in us? Through the sharing in his divine life, which makes us his adopted sons and daughters. On his part,  Jesus sustains us in his divine life through the Sacraments, especially Eucharist and Reconciliation. How do we sustain this life in us? When we choose to do what will help us to remain in him. Here are the reflections of Pope Francis: "To remain in Jesus, and this is the hardest of all, means to do what Jesus did. To have the same attitude as Jesus....To do good, to help others, to pray to the Father, to care for the sick, to help the poor, to have the joy of the Holy Spirit." Maybe the one phrase that sums it up is to love others as Jesus loves us and in doing so we are loving Jesus. We are keeping his commands. It is only by his grace can we remain in him. At the same time, it is only by selfishness and seeking what is not pleasing to him that we separate ourselves from him. His life will not flow in us. He will not remain in us.

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