Today’s Solemnity of Pentecost is always a cause of great joy for Christian people celebrating Christ’s gift to his Church: the Holy Spirit. It is a gift that the Lord's disciples are continually called to accept because without Him there would be no life, no holiness. If the Church is the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit is the soul of that living Body.
One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is unity, the communion of diverse nations and peoples that unite in the confession of the same faith in the risen Lord. We are united by faith, and we are also united by charity without which we are nothing. In a very beautiful commentary to the account of the first Pentecost, Saint Augustine wonders why marvels such as we heard about today - people from different countries understanding the preaching of the Apostles, each one in his own language - don’t happen today. The saint answers by saying that with the Holy Spirit, God has poured divine love into our hearts, and this love is a language understood by men of all times and all peoples.
The Church is always open to all who want to find Christ. The movement of the Spirit goes from the inside out, and drives us to come out of ourselves. In the special circumstances of these days, I want to take advantage of this celebration of Pentecost to express on behalf of our entire community my joy in those who have been coming from other parishes here to Saint Anne in recent weeks. We are very happy that you are with us and I hope that you will feel comfortable enough to keep coming here. We are very happy to serve you and we receive your families with great joy. We are indebted to you.
To all the parishioners of St Anne, I ask you to make a special effort these days to welcome those who are not parishioners here. In his letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul reminds us that some of the fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, peace, joy, patient endurance, kindness, generosity, and mildness (Gal 5:22-23) You may recall that a few months ago I said in one of my homilies that our parish should be the city at the top of the mountain. In these days, on more than one occasion I have had the feeling that our parish has also been the mustard seed that the Lord speaks of in the Gospel, which when it grows, ends up becoming a bush so big that “‘birds of the sky come and dwell in its branches.’” (Mt 13:32). Many people have found refuge here with us. Some have come because, thanks to our staff and volunteers, everything is very well organized. Others have come because the system of acquiring tickets in advance via the Internet greatly facilitates participation in the Mass and avoids long and tedious waiting; others have come because the safety measures in place here inspire confidence; others because they know that here they can continue receiving Holy Communion in the mouth if that is the way they choose to receive the Lord. Others have come because, thank God, we have a very large church and their parishes do not have space for everyone. Others have come because of the reverence with which we always, but especially in these times, treat the Lord in the Eucharist. These people are like the birds in the parable - they have come here looking for the grain of the Eucharist, the shelter of inner peace, the grace that perhaps they could not receive in their communities.
The admirable attitude of so many of our parishioners, who have been serving in so many ways these days, is a fruit of that Holy Spirit that we celebrate today at Pentecost. We have received a lot from the Lord here at St. Anne and now we have to share what God has given us with our brothers and sisters from other communities with the joy of bearing witness to Christian love.
Since we have more and more people interested in returning to the Masses at the parish, beginning next weekend we will add more Masses to allow more opportunities, more ease and more space for everyone. We do not want anyone to be unable to come to Holy Mass for lack of space. I asked the Bishop for permission for the 3 priests at St. Anne to celebrate up to 3 Masses each on Saturdays and Sundays and the answer was yes. Beginning next week, on Saturday afternoon and evening, we will have two Masses in English and one in Spanish. On Sundays, 4 Masses in English, all in the morning, 2 Masses in Spanish in the afternoon, as well as a Latin Mass at 3 in the afternoon. You will find all the details on the parish website.
We do not know when we will be able to return to our usual Mass schedule because the requirements of social distancing and spacing depend on the civil and ecclesiastical authorities, but I am confident that with the new schedule all those who wish to come to Mass will have the opportunity to do so. I apologize for the number of times we have changed the schedule in recent weeks and I cannot assure you that this will be the last time we do so because this is a new situation for everyone. We will have to see how events unfold. I ask that you keep the lines of communication open so that you are properly informed.
The change of schedules and the addition of Masses on Saturdays and Sundays also means that we will have less time between Masses. We will have to celebrate shorter Masses, possibly without music at some of them, so that everything will go according to schedule. I also apologize in advance for that, but for now the priority is that people who wish to do so are able to participate in Sunday Mass.
Finally, I also ask for your collaboration. As you have seen in these last few weeks, we now need the cooperation of many volunteers. With the added Masses we will need more people and I encourage you to volunteer where you can. We will notify you on the parish website and Flocknote about the needs, but I ask you now to be willing to volunteer. We cannot ask our current volunteers to dedicate 6 hours every Sunday for several months. We have to divide the work among all of us. We are going to need “all hands on deck” as is said in English. With everyone’s help, and with the grace of the Holy Spirit, we will surely get it done.
We ask the Lord that the Holy Spirit will fully unite us to Christ, that he will make us courageous disciples in today's world, and that at St. Anne and throughout the Church, he will grant us the grace of unity and joy in service of our brothers and sisters.
