Leave the temples with hearts and minds filled with the Holy Spirit to sanctify

This Sunday we celebrate this beautiful feast of the Holy Spirit. We recall the manifestation of the fulfillment of the Lord’s assurance that He would send the Holy Spirit to inspire and protect His Church. It is also sometimes called the “birthday of the Church” since her missionary efforts began following the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost concludes the Easter season. The next two Sundays, although in Ordinary Time, celebrate the beautiful solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi.

On October 9 Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini has been proclaimed a saint. During the Ordinary Consistory, Pope Francis had announced the date on which the Bishop of Piacenza, founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo and the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo Scalabrinians and inspirer of the Scalabrini Secular Missionaries, will be canonized. This is good news not only for all those who bear his name, for migrants and refugees, for lay people who participate in the Scalabrinian mission, but for the whole Church.

Representatives from diverse cultural communities celebrated the diversity and vibrancy of our Catholic faith traditions. As in previous years, the Mass coincided with the celebration of Saint Charles Scalabrine, who founded a religious order of brothers advocated to work for the Migrants and Refugees. Following the liturgy participants enjoyed a variety of traditional food and a display of cultural dances in the parish hall.

Proverbs 31:25-26: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”