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The Southern Cross, Page 4 C©I3IG!inni(§inil£Sll3ry Thursday, 20, 1999
WORLD MISSION SUNDAY, PENTECOST 1999
"TO BRING THE GOOD NEWS... TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED"
showed distress.
“Father, I can’t take
it!” she said. “How
can I fry it for my
children without oil
and firewood?”
How? Father Nava
gave her the money
she needed to pre
pare the meal, with,
little something
extra to buy medi
cine. Perhaps she
received much more,
on a much deeper
level; the early sym
bol for Christians,
after all was a fish.
The Church, sent
by the Spirit to the
ends of the earth,
continues doing what Jesus Himself
did day in and out: bringing the
Good News, forgiving sins, healing
hearts of loneliness and fear; heal
ing bodies.
Here we are, getting ready to cele
brate the 2000th anniversary of the
birth of Christ, and two-thirds of
our sisters and brothers live without
knowing the spiritual peace that
only Christ can give.
It is a
mighty under
taking to tell
the Good
News among
hundreds of
millions of
the world’s
poorest peo
ple. Every one
who has
received the
gift of faith-
each one of us
- is needed.
J Everyone:
x older,
younger, sin
gle people,
families, those
who are in top
form and those who are ill or suffer
ing in any way. Needed not, neces
sarily, to get on a plane for
Bangladesh or Papua New Guinea,
but to incorporate into daily prayer
such intentions as:
Lord, give strength to your mis
sionaries today. Lord, let the people
who hear about you respond to you
with the same love as I do. Lord,
today, to those who are mourning or
A word of faith, a tender look, a
blessing: a missionary moment of
consolation in India.
reminder of hunger for the
By the Society for the
Propagation of the Faith.
hen we think of healing, we
think often of medicine. But
healing can also come in the form
of sharing and love. It can even
come in the form of a big fish!
Xaverian Father Rinaldo Nava,
writing to the Propagation of the
Faith from the Diocese of Khulna,
Bangladesh, told about a young
woman who was abandoned by her
husband shortly before the birth of
her fifth child. She has no job, he
said, but makes a little money by
helping with chores in different
houses of her neighborhood.
One day, as Father Nava was fish
ing in a pond on the mission com
pound, the mother and a daughter
watched from a little distance. “The
reason for their presence,” he says,
“was carved on their faces: hunger.”
The mother was shivering, obvious
ly ill. “I promised them my best
catch,” he recalls, “and in a few
minutes I was lucky enough to keep
my promise!”
Beaming, the young girl took the
large fish, although she was so
weak she was hardly able to hold it;
but her mother, thanking him, still
Pentecost a
By Ticki Lloyd
he feast of Pentecost on Sunday, May 23, is
an excellent time for us to reflect upon the
gift of our Baptism, and on what it means in our
lives. Pentecost reminds us of the hunger for the
Spirit. There is a hunger for his fire and strength
that that the Church feels as the third millennium
approaches.
In the liturgy before Pentecost, the Church
reads the Acts of the Apostles alongside the Gos
pel according to John which implicitly reminds
the People of God that guidance for Christians
involves not only external instruction by teachers,
but internal movements of the Holy Spirit. Both
are essential to the Church to remind us of tradi
tion and new insights.
Years ago, when I received the sacrament of
Confirmation, I recall the bishop stressing the
meaning of Pentecost. He spoke of the Holy Spir-
Letters
(Continued from page 3)
Father McDonald’s contribution, however. His attri
bution of negative and disparaging personality char
acteristics to others (“spirit of narcissim,” “banal
screeching,” and connection of types of servers’
robes with the K.K.K.) appeared petty and mean-
spirited. His unfortunate style left me with apoor
impression of those who adhere to a traditional
approach, which is sad. Is it possible to put forth
one’s perspective without demeaning those of dif
ferent views or approaches? Be that as it may, I
hope you continue with such informative articles.
Rick Taafe
Statesboro
it we would receive in Confirmation as he placed
his consecrated hands on us. His words lifted us
up, filled us with fire. The same fire the Apostles,
Mary and the others felt as they cringed with fear
when the Holy Spirit raged about, leaving a trail
of fire over their heads.
The Holy Spirit is the operating system of the
Christian life. In the words of the Catechism of
the Catholic Church, the Spirit is the artisan of
God’s works (# 741). In Galatians 5:25, Saint
Paul says, “We live by the Spirit; we walk with
the Spirit.”
In Confirmation, the Spirit clothes us with
power from on high so that we may be Christ’s
witnesses. The Presence within us gives us a
share in Jesus’ relationship with the Father, mak
ing us children of God and empowering us to call
God, “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15:16).
Through baptism of the Holy Spirit we are
formed into one family and drawn into a relation
ship of God, called the Trinity. Everyone who has
received the Holy Spirit is, in a sense, drawn
together with one another and with God. There’s
no reason for anyone to think others have more of
the Spirit than they. The Spirit is a gift given each
of us, though many never take advantage of its
power. The Spirit is the breath of God joining
Father and Son. It is the breath that accomplishes
the Incarnation of Jesus.
Spirituality is our response to the person of the
Holy Spirit who desired to be in communion with
us. It is the union Jesus spoke of when he said,
“The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, that the Father will
send in my name will teach you everything and
grieving, send your peace through a
missionary’s care. Lord, help me to
be your missionary here, today,
right where I am.
World Mission Sunday is a great
“reminder” of the fact that all of us,
by our baptism into Christ, are
called to be his missionaries.
Pope John Paul reminds us that
the offerings collected on World
Mission Sunday “are destined for a
common fund of solidarity distrib
uted, in the Pope’s name, by the
Society for the Propagation of the
Faith, among the missions and mis
sionaries of the entire world” (Pope
John Paul II, World Mission Sunday
Message 1995).
A portion of the monies collected
come back to the Diocese of
Savannnah and to other mission
dioceses in the United States.
Money also goes to help missions in
the Near East and into a General
Fund that goes to places with the
greatest need.
When the Spirit of the Lord came
upon Isaiah,
the prophet knew he was sent:
sent to bring Good News to the
poor, to heal the brokenhearted.,
to comfort all who mourn.
Spirit
remind you of all that I told you” (John 15:26).
Pope John Paul II writes, “It is the Spirit who
builds the kingdom of God within the course of
history and prepares its full manifestation in Jesus
Christ.” It is up to us to discern where the Spirit
is calling us to serve. Author Frederick Buechner
says, “The place God calls you to is the place
where your deep gladness and the world’s deep
hunger meet.”
At the Last Supper Jesus made this promise to
his followers. “If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. And, I will ask the Father and he
will give you another Advocate to be with you
always. The Spirit of Truth which the world can
not accept because it neither sees nor knows it.
But, you know it, because it remains with you,
and will be in you” (John 14:15-16).
Jesus was trying to tell the Apostles that they
already had the Holy Spirit. They didn’t have to
go looking for it. “I will not leave you orphans. I
will come back to you. A little while and the
world will see me no more” (John 18:19).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit will be fruitful if we
open our hearts to the action of the Holy Spirit in
our lives. “There is one Body and one Spirit...
one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians
4:4:5).
On Pentecost, let us be aware of the mystery of
the Spirit we received through baptism. When we
do this, we will grow in holiness and love for one
another fulfilling our mission in life.
Ticki Lloyd is a member of Saint Francis Xavier
Parish, Brunswick