Dear Parishioners of Mary Immaculate and Saint Rose,
Today we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit coming down upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles at Pentecost.  The small company is at prayer, begging the Lord to send the promised Advocate.  The door is locked.  The room is permeated with fear as well as prayer.  The future is uncertain.  No one is sure what to expect.
Suddenly there is a strong driving wind.  Tongues as of fire descend upon the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles.  These are familiar words but it is difficult to understand what they mean.  But the effects of what happened when the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit are obvious.  Immediately they are filled with an overwhelming compulsion to preach the Good News.  They want to proclaim that Jesus is risen from the dead.
So they unlock the door, fling it open, and go out into the crowded streets of Jerusalem, and they begin to preach.  And wonder of wonders, Jews from all over the world hear the Gospel proclaimed in their own language, thus reversing the confusion of languages in the biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
We say that the preaching of the Gospel at Pentecost is the beginning or the birth of the Church.  From that first proclamation of the message of Jesus, people begin to believe and the community of the Church comes into being.
It is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church today that keeps the Church alive. We are so familiar with the presence of the Holy Spirit that we often take the work of the Holy Spirit for granted.  It is the Spirit that stirs the Faith in our hearts, creating a desire for God in us.  This Spirit is called upon when we celebrate the sacraments.  It is the Spirit who makes the sacraments efficacious.  We are filled with the Spirit at baptism.  We are open to the guidance and gifts of the Spirit at confirmation.  We call down the Spirit to consecrate the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  It is the Holy Spirit who consecrates a priest or deacon for the service of God at an ordination.  It is the Spirit who unites a man and woman in marriage.  It is the Spirit who sets us free from sin in reconciliation.  And it is the Spirit who heals and prepares the soul to go to God in the sacrament of anointing.
The Holy Spirit is the lifeblood of the Church.  It is the difference between being locked away in fear or being bold enough to go forth and live the Gospel.
As we celebrate Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit, may the Spirit of God fill you with wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
Come, Holy Spirit!
Msgr. Cox
 
Pentecost, ca. 1600, by El Greco