2014 Pentecost Message for Canadian Catholic National Movements and Associations
Monday, June 02 2014Dear Members of the Movements and Associations,
The Movements and Associations of the Church are a sign and instrument of the Holy Spirit in our times. Each member of the Movements and Associations brings a dynamic presence of the Holy Spirit into a very real encounter with the world. Some of the members are quiet and hidden, like leaven in the dough; others engage the world with a bold apostolate of loving action.
Through his words and witness, our Holy Father reminds us that the Gospel of Joy is a call to the peripheries, to the places and situations of the poor and marginalized: “I dream of a ‘missionary option’ that is capable of transforming everything….” Evangelii Gaudium, 27)
A grace of the Holy Spirit that is vibrant within the many Movements and Associations is a decision by your members to be in communion with each other as brothers and sisters of the Lord. Another gift is the grace of leadership for the whole Church directed toward effective evangelization of the margins of people’s hearts as well as to the peripheries of Canadian society.
Your Movement, your Association, is something beautiful to behold. It is like a meadow of flowers in the boreal forest or in the urban jungle, touching many hearts and minds with the beauty, truth, and goodness of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
The last three stanzas of the Veni Sancte Spiritus, the sequence given in the lectionary for Pentecost Sunday, provides a poetic challenge for each of us today and a comforting consolation from the Holy Spirit.
Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Melt the frozen, warm the chill,
Guide the wayward home once more!
On the faithful who are true,
And profess their faith in you,
In your sevenfold gift descend!
Give us virtue’s sure reward,
Give us your salvation, Lord,
Give us joys that never end!
May the many gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to enliven the charism of all Movements and Associations so the Joy of the Gospel can be known and loved by all.
Pentecost 2014
Standing Committee for Relations with Movements and Associations
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops