Dear friends, I’ve long been a fan of the poet Francis Thompson. His life was far from straightforward, and for many years he slept rough by the banks of the river Thames, addicted to opium. Yet, Francis was a man of faith. His epic poem ‘The Hound of Heaven,’ describes God’s endless searching love for every person, surely something we should never ever forget. But it’s another of Francis’ poems that comes to my mind today. Entitled, ‘In No Strange Land,’ he speaks of the interaction between God’s life and ours. He calls this the ‘traffic of Jacob’s ladder,’ which, he says, is ‘Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charring Cross.’ For anyone who doesn’t know London, Charring Cross is a railway station.
How often we find ourselves pitched betwixt and between different events and different emotions. Certainly each one of us is pitched somewhere between our birth in time and our entrance into eternity, between the here and now and heaven. We exist in the in-between time, the in-between period, which we call and experience as life. And, alive in Christ, we are summoned to flourish, to live life – this life – in all its fullness, in all its truth, and in all its beauty.
But this life, even with all it offers, is a prelude to something more. In the words of the Lord Jesus’ prayer to His Father, the cross and the resurrection allow Him ‘to give eternal life to all those entrusted to Him.’ And what is eternal life? Again, in the words of our Saviour, ‘Eternal life is this: to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.’ In Christ – risen, ascended and glorified – we are offered a share in the knowing relationship between the Lord Jesus and His heavenly Father. Therefore how could we not pray with the psalmist’s words: ‘I believe that I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.’ Dear friends, this is the most wonderful hope to live by, at all times and in all places.
Today, we find ourselves in this great in-between time towards the end of Eastertide. To use Francis Thompson’s image, we are ‘pitched betwixt Ascension and Pentecost.’ And the traffic on the ladder between God’s life and ours is the Church’s ancient prayer: Veni, Sancte Spiritus – Come, Holy Spirit.
These are days of waiting and believing; days of waiting and hoping; days of waiting and praying. And we do so with joyful trust knowing the Lord desires to give us the gifts and fruits we each need as disciples and as the Church. And yet, I wonder if we really believe this?
The little demon on our shoulder will whisper into our ear: ‘Don’t be silly; God’s gifts might be on offer for everyone else, but they’re not meant for you.’ Or ‘Don’t dare think you’re anywhere near holy enough for God to bless you.’ Or ‘Don’t you think that if God was going to change your life, he’d have done it by now?’ Or ‘Why bother asking for special graces, you’ll only make mistakes.’ My brother and sisters these are all lies. We can ‘if’ and ‘but’ all day long. Spiritually, it will get us nowhere. Instead, why don’t we just trust that God who sent His Son to save us is a faithful God? This is what it means to live by faith. ‘I pray for those you have given me,’ said the Lord Jesus, ‘because they belong to you.’
This is the faith we choose to life by. It is Christ to whom we choose to listen -no other voice, no detractor, no voice that tells us lies. Christ speaks the truth to us, into our hearts. We belong to God in Christ. And so, in faith, we open our hearts to receive whatever gifts and fruits we need and the Holy Spirit to brings. In fact, we can do more than that. We can pray, Come Holy Spirit, please grant me this particular gift, this particular grace, to help shape me in imitation of Christ according to His love and His mercy. Even when we share in His sufferings, this is the prayer of believers: Come, Holy Spirit, breathe into this experience, this situation, this fear, this doubt, this pain; Come, Holy Spirit, breathe into me the power of new life.
There’s a long tradition of praying for renewal through the Holy Spirit on each of the nine days between Ascension and Pentecost. As I was pondering this, I decided to write a personal litany to express the desires of my heart at this time. You might like to do the same. Our prayer is one of invitation – Come, Holy Spirit – and it can only be offered genuinely if we have faith to believe and faith to receive, our hearts must be ready and expectant.
So, here’s is my litany for these days betwixt and between Ascension and Pentecost:
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Overcome the effects of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Restore the life of our communities, local, national, and global
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Continue to inspire our generous and selfless service towards others, especially the weakest and poorest
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Set our clergy, religious, and laity, our parishes and schools, our entire Archdiocese, ablaze with the Gospel
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Bring us wisdom as we discern our mission together, moving forward in hope
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Call forth vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate, and the consecrated life
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Raise up husbands and wives as Christian parents who nurture holy families
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
So that peace and justice might transform our lives, our society, our world, and our environment, with respect for every human life and the beauty of creation
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Breathe God’s life within us to animate and strengthen us
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
With grace and healing for those in pain, in sickness, in trouble, and in need
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Help us persevere when life weighs heavy upon us
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Make hearts grow fonder in love of Christ when so many are separated from the Sacraments
Come, Holy Spirit, we pray
Change us to be more like Christ, to live and love like Him, to live and love for Him.
Come Holy Spirit
Amen
The Hope Within You 