Usually, people associate Pentecost with strong symbols, like driving wind and falling tongues of fire and bold proclamations from people who had been hiding behind locked doors just days before. But the truth of the matter is that the Holy Spirit comes in much more subtle, often unnoticed ways.
In today’s liturgy, before the Gospel is proclaimed, you will hear a special sung or spoken proclamation known as the Pentecost Sequence. Among the phrases used to describe the Spirit’s action, listen for these wonderful words:
Comforter, welcome guest; sweet refreshment, rest most sweet;
coolness in the heat; solace in the midst of woe, blessed Light divine,
Come Holy Spirit… Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your 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.
What wonderful things the Spirit is already doing for us, within us and through us! Look around you and within you, take notice, then go and fan the flame!
Sister Michele Vincent Fisher, CSFN
