THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN

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May 31, 2009

The Good News...

           ...Receive the Holy Spirit!

The 2009 observance of the Easter season ends today with the celebration of the great feast of Pentecost. The Easter promise Jesus made to His Church was fulfilled on the first Christian Pentecost, which we commemorate today. However, as people of faith enlivened by the gift  of the Holy Spirit, we not only  commemorate the historical fact of Pentecost, but we also re-enact the sacred Mystery of Pentecost.

There is a New Pentecost every time we: 1) celebrate the sacrament of Confirmation, 2) ordain new priests, 3) actively fulfill our fundamental Christian responsibility to live and proclaim the Good News of Jesus.

1) This spring, approximately 1,000 teenagers will have been  confirmed at 55 churches across the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.  These young people spent two years in study, prayer and Christian service preparing for their Confirmation.  These young people, signed and sealed with the gifts of God’s Holy Spirit, will be better equipped to live our Catholic faith more fully. They can face the difficulties of life with an assurance that God is with them.  And if they respond to God’s presence and nurture the gifts of the Holy Spirit, they will mature into good and holy and faithful Catholic people.

2) We are very blessed to have two young men prepared and ready for ordination to the priesthood. This ordination of Reverend William Lewis and Reverend Long Phan will be at the Cathedral of Our Lady next Friday, June 5. Priests are ordained through the biblical imposition of hands at the direction of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  In the sacramental act of ordination, men who have been chosen by Christ through the ministry of the Church are commissioned to act in the Name of Jesus and on His authority. The sacramental actions they will be empowered to effect are the work of Jesus Himself.

The ordained priest, by the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of Jesus, changes bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.  Through the ministry of the Church and the empowerment of our Triune God, the priest forgives our sins with sacramental absolution. Thus, the priest accomplishes what no human power can effect, which is the reason I say ordination is indeed a New Pentecost.

3) At the time of our baptism, each of us was forgiven of our sins and reborn as God’s people. As people of God, we are all commissioned to live and proclaim the Good News of Jesus. On our own, we really could not accomplish this. However, by the power of God and in union with the Church, we are given the grace to  fulfill this responsibility. Living the fullness of our Catholic faith, we proclaim the Good News of Jesus to others. This inspiration and example, which we give to others, results from us first receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit ourselves. Thus, our active Catholic faith indicates a New Pentecost which we can celebrate every day of our lives on this earth into eternal life in heaven.

Pentecost is the fulfillment of the Easter promise of Jesus Who said, “I will send my Holy Spirit, the Advocate, and He will confirm everything that I have taught you.”