From Father Carlos...
Dear friends at Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Saint Frances Cabrini parishes,
This Sunday, the Church Universal celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost. We celebrate the day that the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples and the Church.
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them” (Acts 2: 1-3.)
When we recite the creed, we profess our faith in the Holy Spirit as the “Lord and giver of life.” It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived the author of life, Jesus, in her womb (cf. Luke 1:35.) It was by the power of the Holy Spirit that the Father raised his Son Jesus from death (cf. Romans 8:11.) It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the bread and wine offered at Mass are transformed into the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of the Lord. As we celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost, we ask the Holy Spirit that with this same power he may come upon his Church and fill her with renewed life, strength and vigor.
In these times, we have witnessed with pain how many of our brothers and sisters have stopped coming to Church while having the ability, possibility and availability to come. This Pentecost we ask the Holy Spirit that, with his power, he may draw back to himself and his Church those who have grown cold in the practice of the Faith. The Holy Spirit’s power overcame the chaos in the beginning before the creation of the world (cf. Genesis 1:2.) The Holy Spirit’s power also overcame death itself in the resurrection of the Lord. Now, we ask the same Spirit to come upon us and “pour [his] dew [on our dryness]; wash the stains of guilt away: bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill [and] guide the steps that go astray,” as the sequence for Pentecost prays.
The Eucharistic Prayer III (one of the prayers recited by the priest before the consecration of the bread and wine) beautifully summarizes our prayer to the Holy Spirit this Pentecost for a return to Mass and the celebration of the Sacraments of those who have grown cold in the practice of the faith especially this past year. The Eucharistic prayer says: “[O God,] by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting, a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.” May he draw to the table of the Eucharist sacrifice all “his children scattered throughout the world” so that, together, we may truly become “one body, one spirit in Christ.”
On Monday after Pentecost, the Church also celebrates the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church. To our blessed Mother we also raise our cry that she may “turn [her] eyes of mercy towards us and [...] show unto us the blessed fruit of [her] womb Jesus.” May her intercession obtain for us the promises of Christ who said, “come to me… and you will find rest.”