As our group leaves for the Holy Land may we be reminded of Pentecost, and the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit that has given wisdom to many over the ages to proclaim the truth about Almighty God, & the beauty and truth about His bride…well, that would us.

First I will share this from Bishop Barron…In the Gospel for this Monday (5th Week) Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to inspire, strengthen, and defend his followers. Speaking to his disciples the night before he dies, Jesus tells them that he and his Father will send another Parakletos. The word, from kaleo (to call) and para (for, or on behalf of) designates something like an advocate or a lawyer, someone who would plead on behalf of another, offering support and encouragement.

Jesus will depart physically from the scene, but he and his Father will send the Spirit as a friend. This is the supporter, the Advocate who will inspire Christians up and down the ages.

When the martyrs went to their deaths, it was with the help of the Holy Spirit; when the missionaries went to proclaim the faith in hostile lands, it was the Holy Spirit who pleaded on their behalf; when Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, it was the Holy Spirit who lifted him up; and when Thomas Aquinas wrote his theological masterpieces, it was at the prompting of the Advocate.

What is the Advocate prompting you to do today?

With that said, we sorely need this gift today as we articulate how we come to know the truth about the reality that surrounds us, and the truth of who we are as human-beings.

C.S. Lewis in The Abolition of Man…

“For the wise men of old, the cardinal problem of human life was how to conform the soul to objective reality, and the solution was wisdom, self-discipline, and virtue. For the modern, the cardinal problem is how to conform reality to the wishes of man, and the solution is a technique.”

As we see all around us, every developed society now continues headlong in its attempts to reshape reality rather than to understand or conform to it. One of the most revolutionary statements one could make today is: “Things are a certain way, and we would do well to accept them.” Because there are some things we cannot change, things that are so deep in us as to constitute our very being. But since we have given up on studying being, we have forgotten this.

May we again seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, giver of true reality, goodness, & truth.

Pax Christi – Fr. Vic G