Beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

What does God’s love sound like?

How do we understand God’s love through the gift of one another?

The first Christians, building a community of faith, receive the breath of God through the Holy Spirit and are renewed and refreshed through His inimitable love. The message of unity is clear as those gathered are able to grasp the mighty acts of God, even though they are from “every nation under heaven” and speak different languages. They are astounded by this; and seek to tell others of God’s great love.

Jesus foretold this momentous occasion as He said He would not leave us comfortless. He knew His disciples for all generations would need divine guidance, wisdom and strength to live the life to which He calls us.

We pray when we proclaim in the Nicene Creed that the Holy Spirit is the “giver of life.” He comes to give us new life in Christ, the wind of God who empowers us to act and live to glorify God. The Holy Spirit fills our heart with the fire of God’s love, a fire that continues to blossom and grow, not in a manner of destruction, but as the warmth of the heart of God that spreads to all the people we meet by our thought, word and deed. This fire cannot be extinguished because God’s love is never ending. How beautiful is God’s call to us, how wondrous that He asks us to lead one another to Him!

United in their love for Christ and His Church and a desire to be servant leaders, Deacon Daniel Bassile and Deacon Sinclair Cushmore will receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders at St. James Cathedral on Saturday, May 23. They welcome the gift of the Holy Spirit as they have journeyed to breathe the flame of God’s love throughout their life experiences.

Both would acknowledge that God provided for them and did not leave them comfortless. Both understand theirs is the pilgrimage of heaven and they will adjoin all the people they meet along the way that they might know, love and serve God.

Their heart is the journey of the Eucharist, to share communion within each gathering of people. Let us pray for them during this sacred occasion that they might truly serve God well by serving His people.

Each one of us is called to be Eucharist. St. Paul speaks of this charge from God as he acknowledges we are different, but of the same Spirit of God. Our differences are not divisive, but complement one another because each one of us is needed to build the body of Christ. We praise God because of our differences, and are astonished by the holy work accomplished through the gift of one another.

Pope Leo XIV tells us, “When we ask the Spirit to enlighten our minds, to multiply our languages, to awaken our senses, to instill love, to strengthen our bodies and to grant us peace, we become open to God’s Kingdom. This is, according to the Gospel, the meaning of conversion. It is a “turning toward” the Kingdom already close at hand.”

Our Holy Father continues, “At Pentecost, Mary, the Apostles, and the disciples with them received a Spirit of unity, which forever grounded in the one Lord Jesus Christ all their diversity. Theirs were not multiple missions, but a single mission. They were no longer introverted and quarrelling with one another, but outgoing and radiant with joy.”

The Spirit of Jesus changes the world, because through our faithfulness, He changes hearts. He calls us to be the spirit of His Peace. May our living be God’s invitation, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.”