May 15, 2016

Dear Community,

Pentecost is the great Feast of the Holy Spirit. After the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Holy Spirit continues to bestow His many blessings upon us, blessings which allow us to be better disciples. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are unique because they strengthen our human nature. Let us call to mind the gifts which we receive from the Holy Spirit.

In the first place, we have the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Faith gives us the capacity to believe in God and in His words. Hope is the virtue which allows us to constantly pursue eternal life in God’s kingdom. The virtue of charity makes us capable of loving God above all things and expressing God’s love to our neighbors.

The second set of gifts are the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Prudence is the virtue which gives us the ability to discern and distinguish in any circumstance the good from the evil, and to always choose the good. The virtue of justice allows us to give to God what belongs to Him (such as our worship) and to give mankind its due. Fortitude gives to our human nature the necessary firmness to pursue the good in times of difficulty. The virtue of temperance allows us to keep under control our desires and to balance the use of created goods.

Even more is given to us from the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. He bestows on our human nature His gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the lord.

Finally, the Holy Spirit is willing to empower our human nature with His fruits of charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. For these reasons and more we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. Think about all the virtues, gifts and fruits which we can receive from The Holy Spirit if we are open to accepting them.

Which ones are those which we should pray for more? Happy Solemnity of Pentecost!

​Fr. Lopez

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