This weekend we celebrate Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit came down from above and filled the early disciples with hope and joy in a new life with the risen Lord. This is the “birthday” of our Church and the disciples learned new ways being a Church of intentional disciples spreading the Gospel and providing witness to others and being Christ to one another. And once again, in our current times we are being called to learn new ways of being intentional disciples while wearing masks and social distancing, and protecting one another in a global pandemic.

We are at the dawn of a “new” Pentecost. Over the centuries we have lost the ability to be intentional disciples of the Lord. We attend Church, follow the rules of the Church, we pray at Mass and privately but when was the last time did you hear someone fervently talk about their faith? When was the last time you talked with someone about your faith and how you came to know Jesus? When you hear someone talk about their faith, giving witness to Christ, are you not inspired and filled with hope?  

Today I challenge you to find ways of sharing your faith. Share with us, and one another how you have kept the faith while staying at home. The purpose of witnessing is to evangelize and inspire others to follow and become evangelizers themselves: “There are three ways to evangelize. We witness, which is the simple living of our faith through our good actions and virtuous deeds. We share our faith in an explicit way, typically by describing how God is working in our lives. We invite others to experience Christ’s saving love by walking with us in our Catholic Church.” (Cardinal Sean O’Malley- A New Pentecost) 

As we focus on restarting our Church, we invite you to pray and reflect upon what Pentecost means to you and how you will participate in our “New Pentecost”. You all have so much faith to share and love to give one another. Imagine what our Church, our world, would look like if we opened up a bit more! Come Holy Spirit!   

                        Peace be with you, Holly