June 16, 2019
Great Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost
Beloved Clergy and Laity of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest:
Glory to Jesus Christ! Again and again we are refreshed with the awareness that we have seen the True Light and have received the Heavenly Spirit. On Pentecost, we once again begin our daily and liturgical prayers by saying: "O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere present and fillest all things..."
At the Lord's Ascension, he told His disciples, "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Our Lord's instruction to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" has not been withdrawn. Indeed, the coming of the Holy Spirit is the indwelling power of God to the end that we might fulfill this commission. As I have said before, the victory of Christ given to every man objectively must be accepted by each man subjectively. I must want what I have! I make His victory over death my own by living the virtues of Christ personally. The work of the Holy Spirit is to shape us in virtue so we attain life and we desire this not only for ourselves and our own families, but for every man and woman and child with whom we live and work.