THE COMIN
G DOWN
of the Holy Spirit on Our Lady and the Apostles happened 50 days after Easter and is called the Feast of Pentecost or Whit Sunday.
I am a Daughter of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost means a lot to us. Convents which are with easy distance of each other always come together for a celebratory meal. In advance we will have prepared spiritually with 9 days of prayer (called a ‘Novena’) asking for a special anointing of the Holy Spirit. As nuns, we need this anointing to give us strength to evangelise and tell people of God’s love in the world.
Come, Holy Spirit we need you
Come, Holy Spirit we pray
Come with your strength and your power
Come in your own special way.
We pray for an extra outpouring of the Holy Spirit with his Seven Gifts upon many of our young people being confirmed at this time of the year, and we ask God that they will become active Christians in our world.
SADLY some of our young people say GOOD-BYE for the time being to the inspired teaching they have received from many committed Catechists over the years.
So, for some the Day of Confirmation is the Day of DEPARTURE.
They say: ‘Good-bye’ to us, and that is the last time we see them!! However, we mustn’t say ‘Good-bye’ to them – one day eventually at a time and in a way we can’t predict they will have another opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit’s Gifts. Confirmation is a time for vigor, excitement, energy, movement, birth, fresh air and fresh commitment.
PENTECOST is a time of red — a color of fire and zeal and passion and heat. The Spirit is incendiary within us. Thus, wear red or flame-orange clothes or accessories, especially when combined with baptismal whites.
Bring out the red potted flowers, and make flame decorations. Serve red and zingy foods. My favorites are Italian pasta dishes with hot sausage and tomato sauce, but you might want to try Mexican food with red peppers and chilies and tomatos. Eat that red supper together with family, friends, and perhaps a new acquaintance, lighting a candle on the table for each person who’s there, as well as perhaps ones for other loved ones who are especially missed. You can use that time to say something brief about where the Spirit’s flame burns in your life.
Red could also be the theme of the refreshments made available at church after worship. At Pentecost, the theme is not the kind of fire that consumes and destroys; the theme is the kind of fire that warms, energizes, excites, powers.
B U T for some the Day of Confirmation is the Day of WELCOME!
TAKE SOME TIME to think about the gifts the Spirit has given you. Say : ‘Is there a way I can use these gifts to build up or help bring healing to others, to the credit of God alone?’
The thanks that the Spirit wants for giving his gifts is in your using them instead of sitting back and frittering away the opportunities.
.
Come like a spring in the desert,
Come to the withered of soul,
Come with your sweet healing power,
Touch me and make me whole!
-
