Pentecost

Ireland has a new energy.

Ads are great! It is obvious that hours and hours go into the construction of advertisements. On tv, the radio and in the printed media ads are everywhere. You can't look at something on the internet now with out an ad popping up, and even if it lasts 30 seconds, you are coerced into the word of the 'mad men'.
One ad recently has being playing on RTE Radio, for those of you not too familiar with Irish media, that is, the State's national broadcaster. It is amazing that they can pop in ads everywhere. This one comes in just before the weather after the news and Irish people being so preoccupied with the weather, the sponsor  can be guaranteed a very wide audience. The jingle is very simple "Ireland has a new energy" - it is for an electricity provider. It is clever for a number of reason, the most compelling I suppose is a the juxtaposition of 'new energy' with the reality of a county that has taken a bit of a battering of late.

A question came up recently in a parish prayer group; what is the difference between an apostle and a disciple? A disciple follows a teacher, an apostle is sent to proclaim. The Church was built on the foundations of the Twelve, which is continued to this day. The Holy Spirit gives disciples apostolic zeal to go forth and preach the Good News as Jesus as asked us to. On Pentecost the whole Church is invited to open wide to the Holy Spirit to help us make knows to all people the saving message of Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is God. We do not celebrate the feast of the Holy Spirit any more than we celebrate the feast of God the Father or God the Son. We celebrate His coming upon the apostles and Our Lady on this day giving the Church its new energy. On this Pentecost Day we earnest ask the Holy Spirit to enkindle within us the fire of his love. 

A few weeks ago we celebrated the feast of St Charles Lwanga. I often wondered what made these great saints so special? If i was in the face of martyrdom  would I be as brave as they were? Or even saints who did not suffer death for the faith like Blessed John Paul or St Columba, why did these people make such a great impact on the Church and the world? By themselves they were no different to any other Christian. Their response to faith is what made them great. They were truly anointed by the Holy Spirit who made them strong in the face of their own weakness and the threats of the world. We are not all called to such heroism, but we are all called to the be open to the Spirit and working  with his grace we can do more than we could ever dream possible. 

Come Holy Spirit! Fill our hears, fill the Church! Make everyone one of us burn with the love of God and neighbour, so that people will see in us the seeds of the Kingdom and reality of the presence of Christ in the world, to the glory of God the Father.