I lector at weekend Masses, and I get scheduled for different Masses. I hope I get to be at the Vigil (Saturday) Mass on Pentecost. There are different readings for the Vigil of Pentecost than for the Sunday Masses, and they are wonderful indeed! I especially love the one from Ezekiel — the dead bones Scripture (Ezk 37:1-14). In it, the prophet Ezekiel sees a plain littered with countless dry bones representing the people of Israel, who are lamenting: “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” Then the Lord acts, saying: “I will put my spirit in you that you may live … I have promised and I will do it.…” The role of God as Spirit is to sustain the life that Jesus brought through his life, death and resurrection. The Spirit is a renewing spirit — “renew the face of the earth,” we pray. How essential this act of Spirit God is! For every person, every culture, every religion goes through periods of decline, dryness, inertia. I wonder, if you could ask the Spirit to enliven one thing that has died a bit, in yourself, in our culture, in our Church — or maybe one thing in each of these — what would it be?
– Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia