CALLING ON THE SPIRIT
Come, Holy Spirit. Awaken our faith that is weak, small and vacillating. Teach us to live trusting in the unfathomable love of God our Father for all God’s sons and daughters, be they within or outside of your Church. If this faith is extinguished in our hearts, soon it will die in our communities and churches.
Come, Holy Spirit. Bring it about that Jesus occupy the center of your Church. Let no one or nothing take his place or cover it over. May you not live among us without attracting us to his Gospel and converting us to follow him. May we not escape his Word nor deviate from his command of love. May his memory not be lost in the world.
Come, Holy Spirit. Open our ears to hear your calls: the ones that come today from questionings, suffering, conflicts and contradictions of today’s men and women. Make us live open to your power to generate the new faith that this new society needs. May we live in our Church more attentive to what is being born, rather than to what is dying, with a heart sustained by hope and not undermined by nostalgia.
Come, Holy Spirit. Purify the heart of your Church. Place truth among us. Teach us to recognize our sins and limitations. Remind us that we are like all people – fragile, mediocre and sinners. Free us from our arrogance and false security. Make us learn to walk among others with more truth and humility.
Come, Holy Spirit. Teach us to see life, the world, and above all, people in a new way. May we learn to see as Jesus sees those who suffer, those who mourn, those who fall, those who live alone and forgotten. If we change our way of seeing, the heart and face of your Church will change too. Jesus’ disciples will better radiate his nearness, his understanding and solidarity toward those most in need. We will look more like our Teacher and Master.
Come, Holy Spirit. Make of us a Church with open doors, compassionate heart and contagious hope. May no one or nothing distract us or turn us away from Jesus’ project: to make a more just and dignified world, one that is more friendly and happy, one that opens up paths to God’s Reign.
José Antonio Pagola
Translator: Fr. Jay VonHandorf
