Let us breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit

The Pentecost Vigil Mass on June 3 at, fittingly, the Church of the Holy Spirit, featured not only the renewal of the archdiocese Consecration of the Holy Spirit, but saw the incardination of a new priest to serve the people of God in South Texas — Father David Wagner; a presentation of artwork depicting the fruits of the Holy Spirit by representatives of each deanery; and heard universal prayers in seven languages: Polish, Korean, Malayalam, Igbo, Vietnamese, and German.

Providing the setting for this multicultural Mass were musicians and singers from the archdiocesan choir, the choir from Vietnamese Martyrs Church, and the Congolese Choir from the St. Paul House of Mercy.

The liturgy began with a procession of banners from various lay ecclesial movements present in the archdiocese.

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, began his homily by quoting several Scripture passages. “O God, for you my soul thirsts, in a land parched, lifeless, and without water!” (Ps 63:2). “All who are thirsty, come to the water!” (Is 55:1) “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me…’rivers of living water will flow from within him.’ [Jesus] said this in reference to the Spirit.” (Jm 7:37b-39).

He explained that, at times, we are parched with thirst, surrounded by chaos and anxiety, tempted to close in on ourselves merely to survive in the perceived safety of our isolation. At the Tower of Babel the arrogance of the people and their rulers led to chaos, the inability to communicate with one another — forced to stand in perpetual loneliness. During their wandering in the inhospitable desert after the Exodus from Egypt, God revealed himself to his chosen people in thunder and lightning — and also quenched their thirst with water from a rock.

The prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of a valley of death — strewn with dried out human bones. “But God’s Spirit is able to breathe into these dry bones the breath of life, just as God did with Adam whom he formed out of the clay,” the archbishop stressed. He continued by describing a time of national crisis, when God spoke through the prophet Joel and poured the Spirit of God into young and old, rich and poor, enabling them to have visions of a better future.

Then, the Missionary of the Holy Spirit invited the congregation to breathe deeply — to breathe in again the Holy Spirit who was given to us at baptism.

“We are challenged to allow the Spirit to work in the world through our lives. We are mandated as missionary disciples to proclaim the risen Lord and his gospel boldly and confidently — in every circumstance, in spite of any persecution — allowing a refreshing wind to flow throughout our local church and the surrounding community,” he emphasized. “Let the cooling, life-giving water that Jesus gives us flow from us into the parched land of alienation, polarization, unwillingness to dialogue — bringing the healing power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth.”

Archbishop Gustavo concluded by exclaiming that God is the source of life, light, and love, challenging listeners with, “Let us drink fully from the living water that Jesus offers us — not only as individuals but also united as a community of faith. Let us breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit. Let us stand firm in proclaiming the light of the gospel and bringing the word of God to help satisfy the deep thirst of all whom we encounter — the thirst for justice and peace, unity and harmony!”