Happy birthday to the Church, to this parish community of Our Lady Queen of Peace and to the Spiritan Community. We are thankful for the Holy Spirit’s coming upon Mary and the other disciples on that amazing and shocking Pentecost day so many centuries ago. An event that unleashed a religious revolution that has, down through the centuries in one way or another, impacted the whole world.
We are thankful for our courageous Black Catholic sisters and brothers who, filled with the Holy Spirit, went to Richmond to meet with the bishop and ask for a parish of their own where they could worship in dignity and be treated with love and respect. And, we are thankful for the Spiritan Congregation who responded to the call from the Bishop of Richmond to come to Arlington and work with the first Black Catholic Families to start a new Black Catholic Parish community.
We offer a prayer of gratitude for all the parishioners and clergy who have gone before us, filled with the Holy Spirit and labored to build and grow this wonderful diverse and welcoming Catholic community.
St. Augustine said that the Spirit blows where the Spirit wills… not exactly comforting if you are someone who likes things neat and orderly or if you prefer to have life all figured out and neatly packaged. Most of us would prefer to see life’s decisions as right or wrong, good or bad…as if everything in life were black and white. The problem with life is that most of the time we are living in the grey-- everything is not always black and white!
This is where the Holy Spirit offers counsel; the challenge is to be open to the Spirit’s counsel! The Holy Spirit blows where it wills and inspires and guides whomever it chooses, whenever and wherever it chooses.
Most of us get used to a particular routine and we find comfort in doing things in a particular way and we find discomfort when our routine gets changed by outside influences or when we are forced to do things in a different or new way. It is no different in the church: we all get comfortable in the way we worship, in the way we pray, in the way we sing, in what we sing…and, then when change comes and we suddenly are set off center, we feel “off balance” at the change or new ways.
I am sure that many in the church today see ‘the Pope Francis’ challenge to live a radically gospel centered life’ as a change from what they were used to; a change in what they thought it meant to be a Catholic.
In answering the Gospel’s call, Pope Francis called us out of the church building and into the streets to be a “field hospital” where binding up the wounds of the poor and brokenhearted is a priority.
Pope Francis, following the call of Christ, calls us to be a welcoming presence to immigrants and refugees, to seek out the lost and forsaken, to “be” the word of peace in the presence of war, to “be” the word of love spoken to the lonely and marginalized of the world, to “be” the word of justice and equality spoken in the midst of racial injustice and exclusion, and to be a sign of mercy to those bowed down by life’s burdens.
As well, we are called to be care takers of creation; to take responsibility for the way we live on the planet -- personally, communally, nationally and internationally.
While all of this seems overwhelming, we need to remember that we are not called to do all this by ourselves but rather as a community filled with, and guided by, the Holy Spirit. It is in and through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit within us and around us that we are able to do all good things! As we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost let each of us ask ourselves: to where and to what is the Holy Spirit calling me in my life?
Happy 80th anniversary Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Parish! And happy 322th anniversary to the Congregation of the Holy Spirit!
Happy Pentecost, and all God’s blessings to you all!
Fr. Tim
We are thankful for our courageous Black Catholic sisters and brothers who, filled with the Holy Spirit, went to Richmond to meet with the bishop and ask for a parish of their own where they could worship in dignity and be treated with love and respect. And, we are thankful for the Spiritan Congregation who responded to the call from the Bishop of Richmond to come to Arlington and work with the first Black Catholic Families to start a new Black Catholic Parish community.
We offer a prayer of gratitude for all the parishioners and clergy who have gone before us, filled with the Holy Spirit and labored to build and grow this wonderful diverse and welcoming Catholic community.
St. Augustine said that the Spirit blows where the Spirit wills… not exactly comforting if you are someone who likes things neat and orderly or if you prefer to have life all figured out and neatly packaged. Most of us would prefer to see life’s decisions as right or wrong, good or bad…as if everything in life were black and white. The problem with life is that most of the time we are living in the grey-- everything is not always black and white!
This is where the Holy Spirit offers counsel; the challenge is to be open to the Spirit’s counsel! The Holy Spirit blows where it wills and inspires and guides whomever it chooses, whenever and wherever it chooses.
Most of us get used to a particular routine and we find comfort in doing things in a particular way and we find discomfort when our routine gets changed by outside influences or when we are forced to do things in a different or new way. It is no different in the church: we all get comfortable in the way we worship, in the way we pray, in the way we sing, in what we sing…and, then when change comes and we suddenly are set off center, we feel “off balance” at the change or new ways.
I am sure that many in the church today see ‘the Pope Francis’ challenge to live a radically gospel centered life’ as a change from what they were used to; a change in what they thought it meant to be a Catholic.
In answering the Gospel’s call, Pope Francis called us out of the church building and into the streets to be a “field hospital” where binding up the wounds of the poor and brokenhearted is a priority.
Pope Francis, following the call of Christ, calls us to be a welcoming presence to immigrants and refugees, to seek out the lost and forsaken, to “be” the word of peace in the presence of war, to “be” the word of love spoken to the lonely and marginalized of the world, to “be” the word of justice and equality spoken in the midst of racial injustice and exclusion, and to be a sign of mercy to those bowed down by life’s burdens.
As well, we are called to be care takers of creation; to take responsibility for the way we live on the planet -- personally, communally, nationally and internationally.
While all of this seems overwhelming, we need to remember that we are not called to do all this by ourselves but rather as a community filled with, and guided by, the Holy Spirit. It is in and through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit within us and around us that we are able to do all good things! As we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost let each of us ask ourselves: to where and to what is the Holy Spirit calling me in my life?
Happy 80th anniversary Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Parish! And happy 322th anniversary to the Congregation of the Holy Spirit!
Happy Pentecost, and all God’s blessings to you all!
Fr. Tim
RSS Feed
