Pastor's Letter

The Good News of Easter
Tongues of Fire
 
What’s interesting about a flame on a candle is that, once it’s lit, it can’t be divided, it can only spread.  And a flame from one candle can be shared a thousand times (or more) and still be the same flame.  It’s a great metaphor for Pentecost, the feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit into our lives. 
 
Today, in the first reading, we’re reminded of the scene in the upper room where the apostles and Mary are gathered together.  When the Holy Spirit came upon them, it looked like a tongue of fire came to rest on each of their heads (Acts 2:3). 
 
From that moment on, though, they found the courage to speak and to begin to spread the good news about “the mighty acts of God” (Acts 2:11), in other words, about who Jesus Christ is, his resurrection and the gift of eternal life.  (Interestingly, fire is also referenced in Exodus 19 and the appearance of God on Mt. Sinai—another mighty act.) 
 
In other words, the one flame is the message—what’s shared and spread are the news of encounters we have with God.  What is shared is faith.
 
Each of us has our own encounters with the Holy, our stories of faith.  Some of us have Pentecost moments, when it feels as if the Holy Spirit comes alive within us.  We know God has been good to us and we find a need to share it: someone is cured; a relationship is restored; a problem is resolved; healing finds its way into a broken family; a dream begins to be realized; hope is found in the midst of darkness. 
 
God acts in our lives and we know we’ve been blessed.  It’s the joy Mary expresses in her Magnificat when she can’t help but sing, “The Lord has done great things for me.” It’s Thomas’ “My Lord and my God” on seeing Jesus’ wounds after the resurrection, something Jesus did to help him.  It’s one of our parishioners, who upon hearing her cancer was gone, simply saying “God blessed me. I have a new life. Thank you God.”
 
Pentecost is an awaking and a spreading of the ways God blesses us. It’s sharing God’s mighty acts in our everyday lives. Today would be a great day to spread our own good news of the way God has helped us.
  
Happy Pentecost everyone, 

--Fr. Mike 

The Good News at St. Hubert School

Click here for our Principal Kelly Bourrell’s annual report card on the year that was and what’s planned for the year to come.  Graduation was on Friday, May 31, our last
all-school Mass was this past Tuesday, and the last day of school is June 10 ^th.  If you would like to support a St. Hubert family, please contact Kelly Bourrell or Fr. Mike.  They would be happy to share different ways you can help our students.