As we come to the end of the Easter tide, we celebrate this great season of hope and joy in the Resurrection of Christ with appropriate festivity—Pentecost Sunday—the gift of God’s Holy Spirit to His Church, the body of Christ, so that those who believe will be “guided to all the truth.”
This Sunday is more than just an anniversary celebration of God’s gift of His Spirit to guide His Church—it is the recogni-tion of Gods sharing of His divine life with us in a unique way so that we are able to walk hand-in-hand with our God as we journey in faith to eternal life. The Church celebrates this Feast by recog-nizing that she is more than just a human institution led by mor-tals. She is a human institution—flawed as is all humanity—but is also divine due to God’s Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trin-ity, who continues to lead us in all that we say and do in His name. This is particularly true when it comes to our Church’s actions and beliefs in faith and morals. The Church believes, be-cause Christ told us, that in these two particular areas (faith and morals) the human leadership of the Church—the pope and the bishops in union with him—is kept safe from error by the gift of God’s divine guidance. Thus the Spirit of Truth, the Advocate, the Wonder Counselor—leads the pontiff in the direction that God desires. In consideration of issues such as the sanctity of human life, in the usage of the human person for medical research or in ethical considerations of the human person, it is God, through the Church, who pronounces His desired end for humanity.
This Sunday we also celebrate our “oneship” with God. He so loved the world that He sent His only Son to be our savior—and then, when His Son returned to Him, it was His Holy Spirit who comes as our Advocate to lead us in the ways of God. It is the Holy Spirit breathing through our Church that makes her who and what she is—the face of Christ in this world. Human nature has within itself the desire and hope to care for others. But human nature tires, and after hard work and long struggles with the concerns of others, we can easily and understandably turn inward and become more concerned with ourselves and lose sight of the needs of others. Historically speaking it has been, for the lion’s share, the Catholic Church that has been the beacon of light for humanity. Of course other faiths have shared in this ministry of caring, but to be honest the leading defender of the poor has been the Catholic Church. Certainly is it the United States of America who leads the secular world in feeding the hungry or for rebuilding worn-torn nations or delivering much needed medical supplies for a world in sickness. But it is the universal Catholic Church led by the Spirit of God that has sought social justice on all continents of the globe. It is the Church, through Leo XII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum (on the condition of the worker) that sought for workers’ rights, it was Pius XI that sought to rebuild the social order with his encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, and John XXIII’s Mater et Magistra which directed the Church to defend the reconstruction of the social order, and the Vatican Council’s document Gaudium et Spes dealing with the pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world. It is the Catholic Church who sends missions to far off lands to bring the Word of God from the Gospels into action for new peoples, and with that mission also brings educational services, medical treatments, and new tech-nologies in food production and medical care to those in need.
The mission and the Church continue today because of His Spirit. It is the Catholic Church in this very modern world that is second only to the United States Government in providing social services to those in need: Catholic hospitals provide necessary beds, emergency room services, off campus healthcare and mental health services to those who are un- and under-insured. It is Catholic Charities who, nationally and internationally, deliver housing and social service needs to the homeless and to refugees. It is the Catholic Worker Organization that finds its way into the poorest sections of America’s cities to meet the very troubling human needs of the forgotten or marginalized. In Hartford, it is the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA) that funds the new Cathedral Green housing authority to make low- and moderate-income housing available to the elderly and the working poor. It is the AAA who helps to fund the Knight’s of Malta Mobile emergency medical vans that travel from city to city to provide medical care, medicines and follow-up treatments to mothers and infants living on the streets and to the elderly who have to decide between food and medicine or food and heat. It is the AAA that educates thousands and thousands of children—Catholic and non-Catholic alike; or that open the doors of daycare centers for middle- and low-income working families; or that run senior centers for those adults who can no longer manage their day-to-day affairs while their adult children work. And the list goes on.
This is not an opportunity to brag or self-promote the Church but rather a recognition of the Truth…the Spirit of Truth working each and every day in very practical ways to make life better for so many people. This is an opportunity to highlight the simple fact that God’s Holy Spirit is alive and well working each and every day through the Catholic Church—which is the body of Christ made up of believers such as yourselves…you who are reading this bulletin and who worship here at Saint Catherine of Siena…and you who give of your time, your talent, and your treasure so that people who have nothing, people who find themselves on hard times, people who are in need can be offered help and hope. It is an opportunity to show the people of faith—you—who give in hope so that the Holy Spirit of God has a place to dwell in a world that needs Him…and you. You are partners in faith with God. You have said “yes” to His call and to His ministry. You have said “yes!” to His Kingdom. For those selfless acts of charity, God continues to send His Holy Spirit into His Church, into you, so that we will not error but lead forth in His goodness for all to receive. Each year we celebrate the belief in Pentecost Sunday that the Spirit continues to breath into His people hope and love. Today we have an opportunity to recommit to Him and I hope you will join me in saying “yes” to His call to help.
This Weekend we are joining the Archdiocese of Hart-ford in Commitment Weekend for the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal (AAA). The goal is not to raise a specific amount of money or to “break the bank.” Rather, our goal is to thankfully take ownership of His Holy Spirit and for each of us to become involved. No matter the amount given, it is the “giving” that matters. I thank you for your generosity. I hope you will take an AAA envelope and do your part.
Peace!
Fr. Michael
