Life-changing encounter with the spirit

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The celebrations of Pentecost for the past three years have been critical in the transformation of the archdiocese, and at this year’s vigil of solemnity of Pentecost, held May 23 at St. Mark the Evangelist Church, Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS, renewed the archdiocesan Consecration to the Holy Spirit, asking the Spirit to continue to generously accomplish its work.

The Mass began with an elaborate entrance procession led by a Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus Honor Guard and featuring banners from close to 70 archdiocesan organizations and associations.

In his remarks at the liturgy, the archbishop told listeners that they gathered in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in hospitals and nursing homes; in orphanages, prisons, and detention centers; the homebound, the elderly, children, young adults, those alienated and marginalized by poverty or substance abuse.

“We gather to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to each of us and to all of us as a community of faith. We are at a new moment in our pilgrim journey as an archdiocese,” Archbishop Gustavo explained. “We are entering a new avenue of pastoral conversion, a pastoral de conjunto. We need to take personal responsibility for the mission and ministry of this local church.”

In the Gospel reading from the Mass, John 7:37-39, Jesus called out: “Let anyone who thirsts, come to me and drink . . . rivers of living water will flow from within him,”

St. Cyril of Jerusalem asked why Christ calls the grace of the Spirit water-agua. He answered: “because all things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. Water comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is always the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine.” St. Cyril adds that the Spirit’s “action is different in different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same. . . the Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. . . As light strikes the eyes of a man who comes out of darkness into the sunshine and enables him to see clearly things he could not discern before, so light floods the soul of the one who receives the Holy Spirit.”

The Second Vatican Council said that, by the power of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit “enables the church to grow young, perpetually renews it, and leads it to complete union with its Spouse, Christ himself.”

Pope Francis often speaks about the role of the Holy Spirit in the church. The pontiff has stated that the Holy Spirit is the source of unity amid diversity: “differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology and pastoral practice, if open to being reconciled by the Spirit in respects and love, can enable the Church to grow, since all of them help to express more clearly the immense riches of God’s word”

The Holy Father says that “seeing reality with the eyes of faith, we cannot fail to acknowledge what the Holy Spirit is sowing.” The Holy Spirit is also sent “into our hearts to make us God’s children, transforming us and enabling us to respond to his love by our lives.”

Pope Francis has emphasized that because of baptism and confirmation, we are empowered to proclaim the Lord Jesus and his gospel. “In all the baptized, from first to last, the sanctifying power of the Spirit is at work, impelling us to evangelization” Indeed, the “Holy Spirit enriches the entire evangelizing church with different charisms. These gifts are meant to renew and build up the church. They are not an inheritance, safely secured and entrusted to a small group for safekeeping; rather they are gifts of the Spirit integrated into the body of the church, drawn to the center which is Christ and then channeled into an evangelizing impulse. Diversity must always be reconciled by the help of the Holy Spirit; he alone can raise up diversity, plurality and multiplicity while at the same time bringing about unity.”

Speaking as heavy rains were landing on the roof of St. Mark’s Church and as occasional claps of lightning and thunder brightened the stained glass windows, Archbishop Gustavo told the faithful assembled that they need the refreshing, renewing gifts of the Holy Spirit as they need water itself.

“We need the light of the Holy Spirit to see things as God sees them and to respond in love. We need the Holy Spirit, working in each and every one of us, to build up the kingdom of God in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. We need to recognize one another’s gifts and to channel them through the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about unity amid our diversity — not uniformity, but communion with one another and with the triune God,” the archbishop stressed.

But living in accord with the gospel can be difficult, and the San Antonio prelate acknowledged that thousands of Christians are living in fear and many have been martyred in the past year because of their faith in the Lord Jesus.

On the same day as the Pentecost vigil, in El Salvador, the martyr Archbishop Oscar Romero was beatified. “He gave his life, like the Good Shepherd, for his flock. He was fully committed to striving for justice for the poor, and this led to his murder,” said Archbishop Gustavo. In the beatification of this Central American archbishop, we see Pope Francis’ vision of the church’s mission and ministry to which we are all called — even though it may lead to persecution, suffering, and even death. Blessings to our brothers and sisters from El Salvador.”

Saying we need the Holy Spirit in our lives, the Missionary of the Holy Spirit urged attendees to pray fervently and boldly. “Let us not fear, however. God is with us! Let us draw near to the Lord because we thirst for new life, because we are called to be missionary disciples and challenged to go out of ourselves in service to others,” he concluded. “We need the Holy Spirit in our lives! Let us invite him into ourselves this evening in a special way. Let us entrust our lives — as individuals and as a community of faith — to the Holy Spirit.”

The prayers of the faithful were recited in seven different languages: English, German, Polish, Korean, Vietnamese, Nigerian (Igbo), and Tagalog (Philippines).

The liturgy concluded with the Prayer of Consecration to the Holy Spirit, which was also recited the following day after the 8 a.m. liturgy at San Fernando Cathedral, also celebrated by Archbishop Gustavo.