Hope Crossing Ministries

Pentecost Sunday
Sunday, May 28th

Click to read this week's Gospel

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“…he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22
 
How did the Gift of the Holy Spirit affect the nascent Jesus Movement on the feast of Pentecost, and, subsequently, the world? In John 14:16 Jesus told his disciples “…I will ask the Father, and he will give you an Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth…” On Pentecost, he grants the world the gift of what he promised. This past Lent the Church updated the priest’s Prayer of Absolution to better align with Jesus’ words, “Through the death and resurrection of his son has reconciled the world to himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins…”
 
This outpouring has affected Christians of every generation down to the present age. In liturgical terms, the ordained priest in persona Christi capitis, as Christ the Head of the Church, asks the Holy Spirit in epiclesis to come down and hover over and around us, infusing the spirit within us, and animating us toward a right-ordered purpose driven life, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’ (Acts 17:28) This epiclesis is made manifest not once, but twice in every Eucharistic Prayer. A good example is evident in the words of Eucharistic Prayer II, first, over the bread and wine, then over the people. “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall…” The priest then prays a second epiclesis over the people, “Humbly we pray that, partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ, we may be gathered into one by the Holy Spirit.” In a perfect Trinitarian action, we are spiritually illuminated, “I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.” John 14:20
 
The Holy Spirit infuses us with grace to interiorly animate our mystical life by reconciling us with each other as we prepare for mystical union with God. The Holy Spirit gives us the Seven Gifts to make possible this perfect union: Knowledge, Understanding, Wisdom, Counsel, Fortitude, Piety and Wonder and Awe.
 
Knowledge is the Word emanating from Sacred Scripture; Understanding is the intuitive perception and insight into a deeper reality we receive after reflecting on the Word; Wisdom is the infusion of grace to see with our spiritual senses; Counsel is the Holy Spirit perfecting our discernment for a right-ordered life; Fortitude allows us to pour ourselves out like a libation to the world, without considering the cost, even to the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom. (see 2 Timothy 4:6)  Piety is the spontaneous and intentional gratitude we, in turn, pour out every day in every way toward God. And Wonder and Awe is the raising of our consciousness from the slavish bond of mortal time to a Kairos moment experienced in the Heavenly Jerusalem. In this moment outside of time we celebrate His Mystical Body as we are given an inexpressible vision of union with the Trinity and all who are created, past, present and future, in the Imago Dei, Image of God. “The love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Spirit of God dwelling within us.” Rom 5:5
 
As we reflect this week on the Spirit of Truth bestowed on us, consider St Paul’s words in Philippians 1:6, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
 
Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth! (Ps 104)
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Next Hope Crossing Praise & Worship
Wednesday, May 24th, 6:30 pm

Praise & Worship
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm

All Are Welcome!
Join us as we give praise to God for His Abundant Blessings!

Mark Your Calendars

And the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month:
June 14th, 2023
June 28, 2023​

https://www.hopecrossingministries.com/
Where:  
2670 South Michigan Road
Eaton Rapids, Michigan
https://www.hopecrossingministries.com/