Friday, June 6, 2025
Feast of Saint Norbert
My brothers and sisters in the Lord,
Welcome to week twenty-three of BMW, Be My Witnesses. We are starting our cycle over again, now for the fourth time. Each time, I hope, we are deepening our response to Jesus’ statement that we will be his witnesses. So, again we will start this week on prayer, then will follow two weeks of learning, one week of belonging, and finally three weeks of being on mission. This cycle will have a heavy emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Prayer: Invoke the Holy Spirit
At the end of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus appears to his disciples and just before he leaves them he says: “And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (24:49). We know we can do nothing without God’s help, without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The disciples probably knew even less than we do about this gift. But soon they would be empowered to be witnesses to the ends of the earth.
One of my favorite activities is Confirmation. I especially like the prayer where I hold my hands over those to be confirmed and invoke the Holy Spirit down upon them: “Send upon them, O Lord, the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete; give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety; fill them with the spirit of the fear of the Lord.”
For many, it is rare to pray to the Holy Spirit. We usually pray to the Father or to Jesus. Yet, we know that we need the Holy Spirit and his power. St. Paul tells us, “And no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor 12:3). In fact, this twelfth chapter of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians is all about the activity of the Spirit in our lives, something that Paul writes: “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit” (verse 7). That benefit is always to build up the Body of Christ. And each of us must play a role in that process.
The Challenge
So, sisters and brother, this week I invite all of us to pray the prayer to the Holy Spirit, the one I learned as a boy many years ago:
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.
Let us pray. O God, who have taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Until next week, may God Bless you.
I am sincerely yours in Christ,
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing
P.S. Below is a video version of this week's Be My Witnesses. Please do share with family and friends. Thank you. God bless you.