One of my most favorite hymns in the entire repertoire of the Catholic Church is the hymn: Veni, Sancte Spiritus! Come, Holy Spirit! It was sung for us beautifully at the conclusion of the second reading today. I pray this hymn/prayer every single morning and have done so for over two years and I know that it has had a major influence in the quality of my spirituality and Catholic life. [I have made double-copies of it as a bulletin insert so that you might use it and share it with someone else. Pray it alone or better yet with someone.] I truly believe in the power of this 9th century gift from God! It can be the cause of great peace, joy, strength and healing any place, any time!
And so today we celebrate the great solemnity of Pentecost: the coming of the promised Holy Spirit upon the now fully sent Apostles. Jesus sent the eleven, (now 12 with the replacement of Judas with Matthias) at the Ascension; and he already breathed on them and placed the Spirit within them for the forgiveness of sins on Easter Sunday night – but now he is "releasing them fully equipped" into the cold, cruel and even hostile world to invite it to become radically different: to become a place of Life rather than Death, a place of Light rather than Darkness, a place of Love/Friendship rather than Hatred/Anger. The coming of the Spirit on that day had several applications, but there were seven major Gifts from the Father released upon the Apostles, that were also released on Jesus after his baptism in the Jordan, and released upon us after our baptisms at our confirmations, and I am referring to: WUCKPFF! WUCKPFF???? What in heaven's name is WUCKPFF???
WUCKPFF is the way that I remember and have always taught other to remember the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we all receive at our confirmation which were released into the Church on Pentecost Day: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Knowledge, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord! WUCKPFF!
The definitions for these actually come from the "rite of Confirmation" itself:
- Divine Wisdom is the interior gift to choose what is good and true – there is objective goodness and truth, and this tunes us right in to it
- Divine Understanding is the interior gift to embrace God's loving plan of salvation: to see how everything fits together according to his purposes and desires rather than our own, if only we give it a chance
- Divine Counsel is the interior gift of right judgment so that we can act according to God's will once it is revealed to us, especially in our consciences – conscience is the seat of counsel
- Divine Knowledge is the interior gift which helps us to live as true disciples of Jesus once we say we want to - attuned to his teachings
- Divine Piety (sometimes called "reverence") is the interior gift which helps us recognize the holy when we see it everywhere: in others, in ourselves, in places and things that are meant to be channels of God's grace and strength
- Divine Fortitude is the interior gift which gives us the courage to share our faith with others especially when the going gets rough
- Divine Fear of the Lord is actually a positive interior gift which keeps us safely in a sense of wonder and awe in God's presence – who is our Creator but also our Father and very much our intimate Friend (we would not want to do anything to harm or dissolve that relationship)
There you have it: WUCKPFF!
Coupled with the gifts of our baptism: (the theological virtues or powers of FAITH – the ability to communicate with God on his own level; HOPE – the ability to yearn for a better tomorrow and the completion of this life which will transcend this one in heaven; CHARITY – the ability to self-lessly, self-sacrificially and self-giving-ly be-FRIEND others who are in need) – (coupled with these), the gifts of Confirmation /Pentecost can enable us to enthusiastically proclaim the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. Evangelization was born on Pentecost: the Church filled with the Holy Spirit – everyone having their own general and specific gifts, and assigned a particular mission - is the Church as Evangelizer – sent to bring the good news and transforming power of the gospel to the ends of the earth - SO THAT ALL MIGHT BE ONE!
It's a great day to be Catholic! We are so gifted! We are so primed! We are so ready to go out and make a real and lasting difference in our household situations, our work places, our schools, our recreation sites and into society as we come into contact with it! May we rededicate ourselves to being Spirit-filled-and-sent Catholics today!
Happy Birthday to the Evangelizing Church! Happy Birthday to us! and thank you Holy Spirit for all that you continue to do for us - as you are with us -making of us - responsible citizens not only of our temporary home here on earth but also our lasting and "true native-land" in heaven!
COME, HOLY SPIRIT COME
And from thy celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!
You, of comforters the best;
You, the souls most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, man has naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour thy dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away.
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful who adore
And confess thee evermore
In your sev'nfold gift descend;
Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.
Amen. Alleluia!
No comments:
Post a Comment