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READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/may.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101

NOTEWORTHY:  YEAR OF FAITH

May 20, 2013  

(Act 1:8) But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.

AMERICAN CATHOLIC: Pentecost: Why Was the Holy Spirit Sent?

EXCERPT: Come, Holy Spirit! by Fr. Jerry M. Orbos SVD

We need a new Pentecost in our present day and time. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives to guide, to heal, to comfort, and to counsel us. May we be liberated from our fears, ignorance, pride, and hunger for worldly riches and power. We all need transformation and renewal. “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth thy spirit and they shall be created, and you will renew the face of the earth.”
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I am writing this column in Lisieux, France, the home of St. Therese whom Pope Pius X called “The Greatest Saint of Modern Times.” Her humility and littleness are what made this saint great. There is no greater power than gentleness and humility. The world, of course, will laugh at this, but the Holy Spirit will teach and remind us what our Lord and Master has taught us. “The advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I told you.”
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St. Therese’s “little way” is all about being simple, humble, and childlike. It is being deeply confident in God’s love and providence. She reminds us that we do not need to do great things to love God, but to do whatever we do with much love. She is also the Patroness of the Missions, offering prayers and sacrifices for missionaries “out there” within the walls of the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. If Pentecost must happen again, we all must be a part of it in our own “little way.”
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Pope Francis, who chose to be named after St. Francis of Assisi, is an agent of Pentecost, filled with simplicity, sincerity, humility, poverty, and trust in God’s providence. Today, let us ask ourselves: Am I an agent of Pentecost, or an agent of Babel?

EXCERPT NEWS.VA: Pope at Pentecost: Newness, harmony and mission

1.    Newness always makes us a bit fearful, because we feel more secure if we have everything under control, if we are the ones who build, programme and plan our lives in accordance with our own ideas, our own comfort, our own preferences. This is also the case when it comes to God. Often we follow him, we accept him, but only up to a certain point. It is hard to abandon ourselves to him with complete trust, allowing the Holy Spirit to be the soul and guide of our lives in our every decision. We fear that God may force us to strike out on new paths and leave behind our all too narrow, closed and selfish horizons in order to become open to his own. Yet throughout the history of salvation, whenever God reveals himself, he brings newness and change, and demands our complete trust: Noah, mocked by all, builds an ark and is saved; Abram leaves his land with only a promise in hand; Moses stands up to the might of Pharaoh and leads his people to freedom; the apostles, huddled fearfully in the Upper Room, go forth with courage to proclaim the Gospel. This is not a question of novelty for novelty’s sake, the search for something new to relieve our boredom, as is so often the case in our own day. The newness which God brings into our life is something that actually brings fulfilment, that gives true joy, true serenity, because God loves us and desires only our good. Let us ask ourselves: Are we open to “God’s surprises”? Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God’s newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in transient structures which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new?

2.    A second thought: the Holy Spirit would appear to create disorder in the Church, since he brings the diversity of charisms and gifts; yet all this, by his working, is a great source of wealth, for the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of unity, which does not mean uniformity, but which leads everything back to harmony. In the Church, it is the Holy Spirit who creates harmony. One of Fathers of the Church has an expression which I love: the Holy Spirit himself is harmony – “Ipse harmonia est”. Only the Spirit can awaken diversity, plurality and multiplicity, while at the same time building unity. Here too, when we are the ones who try to create diversity and close ourselves up in what makes us different and other, we bring division. When we are the ones who want to build unity in accordance with our human plans, we end up creating uniformity, standardization. But if instead we let ourselve be guided by the Spirit, richness, variety and diversity never become a source of conflict, because he impels us to experience variety within the communion of the Church. Journeying together in the Church, under the guidance of her pastors who possess a special charism and ministry, is a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit. Having a sense of the Church is something fundamental for every Christian, every community and every movement. It is the Church which brings Christ to me, and me to Christ; parallel journeys are dangerous! When we venture beyond (proagon) the Church’s teaching and community, and do not remain in them, we are not one with the God of Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Jn 9). So let us ask ourselves: Am I open to the harmony of the Holy Spirit, overcoming every form of exclusivity? Do I let myself be guided by him, living in the Church and with the Church?

3.    A final point. The older theologians used to say that the soul is a kind of sailboat, the Holy Spirit is the wind which fills its sails and drives it forward, and the gusts of wind are the gifts of the Spirit. Lacking his impulse and his grace, we do not go forward. The Holy Spirit draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us from the threat of a Church which is gnostic and self-referential, closed in on herself; he impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the good news of the Gospel, to communicate the joy of faith, the encounter with Christ. The Holy Spirit is the soul of mission. The events that took place in Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago are not something far removed from us; they are events which affect us and become a lived experience in each of us. The Pentecost of the Upper Room in Jerusalem is the beginning, a beginning which endures. The Holy Spirit is the supreme gift of the risen Christ to his apostles, yet he wants that gift to reach everyone. As we heard in the Gospel, Jesus says: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to remain with you forever” (Jn 14:16). It is the Paraclete Spirit, the “Comforter”, who grants us the courage to take to the streets of the world, bringing the Gospel! The Holy Spirit makes us look to the horizon and drive us to the very outskirts of existence in order to proclaim life in Jesus Christ. Let us ask ourselves: do we tend to stay closed in on ourselves, on our group, or do we let the Holy Spirit open us to mission?

Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: Love of the Cross, Contempt and Suffering

3. Crosses, contempt, sorrows and afflictions are the real treasures of the lovers of Jesus Christ crucified.

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This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.