As we look to this momentous Pentecost, #ccrgoldenjubilee2017 can we do better than pray prayers to the Holy Spirit inspired by the very person God chose to remind the Church of the power and action of the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit Chaplet by Blessed Elena Guerra

This prayer to the Holy Spirit originated with the exhortation of Pope Leo XIII. Indeed the same Pontiff in a Papal brief promulgated on May 5, 1895, exhorted all Catholics to devoutly make this Holy Spirit Novena. On this occasion, the Pope suggested a special formula of prayer: “Send forth your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” He strongly recommended this to be prayed. With this in mind, in 1896, Blessed Elena Guerra, “The Holy Spirit Apostle of modern times,” composed these invocations, to ask the Holy Spirit for the grace of a new Pentecost which renews the face of the earth.

– O God, come to my assistance.
– O Lord, make haste to help me.
– Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end, Amen

In Each Mystery, ask for a gift of the Holy Spirit (then)
Repeat seven times on seven beads.
“Father in the name of Jesus, send forth your spirit and renew the world”
Conclude with
“O Mary, who by the work of the Holy Spirit, conceived the Saviour, pray for us.”

The Seven Mysteries invoking the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
1- Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, detach us from earthly things and infuse in us a love and taste of heavenly things.
2- Come, O Spirit of Understanding, enlighten our minds with the light of your eternal truth and the riches of holy thoughts.
3 – Come, O Spirit of Counsel, make us docile to your inspirations and guide us in the way of salvation.
4- Come, O Spirit of Fortitude , and give us strength, constancy and victory in the battle against our spiritual enemies.
5- Come, O Spirit of Knowledge, be the Master of our souls and help us to put into practice Your teachings.
6- Come, O Spirit of Piety, come to live in our heart to possess and sanctify all of our affections.
7- Come, O Spirit of the Fear of the Lord, reign over our will and make us always disposed to suffer every evil rather than to sin.

O most pure Virgin Mary, by your Immaculate Conception you were constituted by the Holy Spirit a chosen tabernacle of Divinity. Pray for us.
May the Divine Paraclete come soon to renew the face of the earth. Hail Mary…
O most pure Virgin Mary, by the Mystery of the Incarnation you were constituted by the Holy Spirit true Mother of God. Pray for us.
May the Divine Paraclete come soon to renew the face of the earth. Hail Mary…
O most pure Virgin Mary, persevering in prayer with the Apostles in the Upper Room, you were abundantly inflamed by the Holy Spirit. Pray for us:
May the Divine Paraclete come soon to renew the face of the earth. Hail Mary…
Let us pray:
Send Your Spirit, Lord, and transform us interiorly with Your gifts. Create in us a new heart that we may please You and be conformed to Your will.
Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
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Our Lady, Help of Christians, Queen of the Apostles, Queen of Pentecost, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, pray for us.
​Blessed Elena Guerra, pray for us.

Homily by Archbishop Christopher Prowse at Our Lady of Lourdes, Seven Hills, Sunday 19 February 2017.
This Mass was the final event of a weekend-long celebration of the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal #ccrgoldenjubilee2017
 
(As usual, this is only the gist of the Archbishop's homily.
The content of this homily he expressly asked to be distributed far and wide.)
 
The readings for this Mass were from the 7th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A
Leviticus 19: Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. You must not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. You must love your neighbour as yourself.
Psalm102(103): Who heals every one of your ills: with the Response: The Lord is kind and merciful.
1 Corinthians 3: You are God's temple The Spirit of God is living among you. You must learn to be  a fool before you can be truly wise.
Matthew 5: Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you: You must be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It has been lovely to have been with you over these days.
God is not interested in our acts but in our deeds. Let us not muck around with God. Be serious with Him. Be hot or be cold, don't be lukewarm, because as you know the lukewarm get spat out.

I want to talk to you about how to have healthy prayer groups and communities.
 
Be holy
In 1965 Vatican II ended and in 1967 the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) began. The CCR prayer groups are at the heart of the Church. Pope Francis says that the apostolate of the prayer groups is to bring the Baptism of the Holy Spirit to every Catholic and beyond. To live out the vocation of the laity you need to start with the sacrament of Baptism. Let us take seriously the sacrament of Baptism. If we get that right everything else falls into place. The reason the modern controversies about the priesthood get it so wrong is that they start thinking from the sacrament of Holy Orders, when they should start their thinking from Baptism. 'God has no grandchildren. He only has children' David du Plessis used to say.

The waters of Baptism have brought us into the very heart of God. It does not need to be earned. We do not have to prove to God that we are worthy to be loved by Him. He doesn't love me for what I have done. The Father loves me because when He sees me He sees His Son. We are to draw people to Jesus by attraction, by talking to others about what Jesus means to me personally. We are the sacrament of Jesus. We are Christ in the world. Baptism is what animates us. Through Baptism into Jesus I am loved as first born in God, and inheritor of all His gifts.

Bring that Good News experientially into people's lives. We are an encounter religion. We say that we can encounter God like Thomas and Mary Magdalene. What about you? Jesus asks these questions of each of us. Who do you say I am in the depth of your being? When we experience Him, and encounter Him, our response is surrender, 'I surrender myself to you'. Mary the mother of Jesus, is The woman of Pentecost, the Yes woman, the first charismatic. Every parish should have at least one of these groups: Life in the Spirit Seminar; 4 Step Retreats run by The Community of the Risen Lord: Alpha: RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). Say Yes if you are invited to become involved in them. It doesn't matter which one, they are all ways of sharing Jesus with others.
 
Just as Priscilla and Aquila, lay people, saw the potential in Apollos and assisted him to come into full relationship with the Holy Spirit, that is your task too. There are lots of ways of doing this. It is always good for us to pray for our bishops, but we don't have to go to the following lengths: There was a diocese in another country which had lots of prayer groups, but a very resistant bishop. In his curial office he had a bronze bust of himself on display. One of the prayer group leaders was a cleaner, and it was his regular task to clean the bishop's office. On one occasion when the premises were thought to be empty, he smuggled in members of his prayer group. In the bishop's office they prayed for their bishop. They prayed over the chair he usually sat in, asking God to guide his decisions. They prayed over the desk asking God to bless the deliberations that took place there, and knowing their slim chances of ever praying over the bishop directly they placed hands on that bronze bust of his and prayed for him personally. The Vicar General of the diocese came by and asked what on earth was going on. In some fear and trembling the prayer group said they were praying for the bishop. He let them off by saying, 'It is good to know that there has been some prayer in that office, but you had better be off and I don’t recommend you trying this again'.
 
Servant Leadership
You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Our starting place is with our wounds and our vulnerabilities. It isn't easy to do because no one wants to talk about weakness, failure and losing. Everyone is in haste to succeed. Someone asked an 80 year old nun, 'When did you decide to become a nun?' and she gave a very wise answer, 'This morning'. Activate your baptism every day, today. Christianity is a today religion. We leave the past to God's mercy, and we leave the future to God's providence, and we trust God today. In this moment you can act in God. Say Yes to God in the present moment, now. If you have messed up – go to confession, do penance and get on with it. Have faith in Him. If you have been to see the tomb of St Mary McKillop you know that on it is written, 'Trust in God'.
 
You need to be a prayer group. Don't be a 'lonely hearts' group or a 'remember when' group. Don't be a gossip group. If there is something causing division among you, deal with it. Change your leaders every so often. Having the same leader for 20 years is not a good thing. Your prayer group will die out if you don't keep yourselves young. Prayer keeps you young. Seven days without prayer makes a person weak. Getting new younger members keeps you young, too. When we share our vulnerabilities we build trust. Regularly taking part in opportunities for leadership formation keeps you young. Having an apostolate for the poor keeps you young.
 
Love
Only love matters. Offer no resistance to the Holy Spirit by getting rid of all competition and jealousy. Fr Raniero Cantalemessa, the preacher to the Pope, reminds us that if all the bibles in the world vanished except one, and that one was burnt except for a barely legible page, and a single readable line, 'God is love', then the entire message of the Gospel would have been preserved. I invite you to think about all those who have been love to us in prayer groups. Be inspired by them and imitate them. How can we activate the laity? How can we grow in servant leadership? Only if we are animated solely by God, Who is love. Lay people of the Church, Awake! Revive!

In the book of Genesis we read how God breathed (ruah) into the nostrils of Adam, and he became a living being. To feel a gentle breeze or to hear a whisper we need to be still and to listen carefully. In John's Gospel we read that when the Risen Lord appeared to his apostles, He breathed on them. Our mission to be salt and light to the world began at Pentecost – the beginning of God's new creation. Without the Holy Spirit we become robotic and greedy. We need the Holy Spirit to breathe on us afresh. Take time regularly to be still and to know that God is here with you.

....................................................................
 
At the end of that Mass, the prophetic word that emerged throughout the weekend was shared in summary form:
​
•A call for unity among us as children of God. This is the third year in a row for this message: Do not ignore it!
•God is unity and love – there should be no more divisions among you.
•Be united in the one Spirit.
•The Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart were embracing us all.
•You have been given wings to fly, that the Church may be awakened and become vibrant once again.
•The future is not only in adults but in the children.
•The call to holiness is for all of us.

​This Pentecost, 4 Jun 2017, is going to be an extraordinary one. Read the long version of why here. The short version is that this year marks 100 years since Fatima, 50 years since the start of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, 120 years since the Pentecost Novena requested by Leo XIII began, 1950 years since the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul, and it is within the time frame of the Azuza Street prophecies.
 
If, as believers in Jesus, we are going to take back the strongholds of the enemy, then we need a massive outpouring of the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Nothing less can bring lasting change, but we have to do our part and go deeper in our relationship with God, and call out to Him for the gift of the Holy Spirit from the deepest places of our hearts and recognition of our need for Him.
 
It is a lot easier to do that together, than it is to do it on our own. So let's pray this Pentecost.
 
What do we pray for? Our deepest need is for charisms of preaching and teaching. When someone preaches under the charism of preaching, we forget who the preacher is because he has made Jesus real for us and we are enabled to focus on Jesus and our hearts are touched by Him. This is something far beyond any natural gift of rhetoric. When someone teaches under the charism of teaching, we feel that it is Jesus Himself teaching us. This brings about an infusion of divine understanding in students and is far beyond any natural gifts of teaching.
 
Why do we pray? Can you think of the last time any preaching or teaching 'cut you to the heart' cf Acts 2:37? Or made you feel that God was talking directly into your heart? How often do we make our way home unmoved by what we have heard and unable to recall it even a day later? Without these precious charisms of the Holy Spirit we cannot extend the Kingdom of God. Paraphrasing Romans 10:14-17: Faith comes from what is preached and taught, and since people cannot begin to believe in Jesus unless they have heard of Him, and they won't hear of Him unless a preacher or teacher is sent, we profoundly need the Holy Spirit to empower and send us. For this the Holy Spirit needs willing helpers, and the gauge of how willing we are is the depth of our prayer and asking.
 
What matters is that Jesus is preached, and that Jesus is taught. Believers of any denomination or non-denomination can agree with that. There are people that the Baptists can reach that the Anglicans cannot, and vice versa. There are people that the Presbyterians and Uniting Churches can reach that the Catholics cannot, and vice versa. But together we can unite in praying for these charisms of the Holy Spirit for us all.

When: Sunday 4 June 2017. Formal prayers from 1pm-2pm. Informal prayers from 2pm onwards.
Where: St John the Baptist Catholic Church, Woy Woy, NSW (wheelchair accessible)
Who should come? Everyone, but especially those with a ministry of preaching or teaching, and those who regularly intercede for others in their prayers: That's priests, deacons and pastors, catechists, Sunday School teachers, Kids Club teachers, Children's Liturgy teachers, primary and secondary Scripture class teachers, those who prepare children and adults to receive sacraments, those who teach newcomers and those who help adults grow in faith. If you long to be used more powerfully by God to bring people to Jesus through your regular preaching or teaching, come!
I want to come, but I am unable? Find a friend who is coming, and give them a photograph of yourself to bring with them. They will act as proxy for you.

So that there is no visible confusion between preachers and teachers, we ask that priests, deacons and pastors wear some visible sign of their office eg, clerical collar, metal crosses on lapels of shirts etc

Please use #Letuspray2017 when you spread the news about this on social media.

Here's an A4 flyer to print and share:

And here's an 8 A4 page PDF of the Formal Prayers that will be used:

​And a larger print version of them (11 A4 pages):

Print them off, and consider praying some of these prayers daily in preparation for Pentecost Sunday.
 
PS. If you live more than 100kms away, you have full permission to use the same PDFs to host a Let Us Pray 2017 in your own region as long as you 1) try to make it as ecumenical as possible and 2) do the right thing with regard to music licensing.
 
Now some of the hymns that we will use may be unfamiliar to you. Most have been chosen because they have been used by centuries of Christians before us. When we pray and sing these ancient hymns in a sense we truly pray and sing with those generations of believers who have prayed and sung them before us. So here are some recordings to listen to:
 
Veni Creator Spiritus
http://gregorian-chant-hymns.com/hymns-2/veni-creator-spiritus.html or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnUJWDEQDW4
 
Come Holy Ghost, Creator Come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSsQ8lfgF2M
 
Litany of the Saints, John D. Becker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kId0NBvNiCk
 
Our Father (this version is sung very flat, but I couldn't find one closer to how it is actually sung)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-QNZHL6gR8
This version is close, too, but it has a few extra notes and differences in syllable emphasis to how it is actually sung
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egar8MKQrUA
 
Sub Tuum Paesidium (although it is odds on we will say and not sing this one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws2b7-6OmZ8
 
Magnificat – Amazing Grace tune
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQjrrwoflEk
 
Holy God we praise Thy Name
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVBQYnfkiBM
 
God can do it again
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYPAcEDYNjU   (a bit flat)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwo5zLP0Pek  (a big high)

​Frequently asked questions
 
Will someone who is uncertain about the whole charismatic thing feel comfortable?
During the formal hour of prayer from 1pm-2pm there will be nothing overtly charismatic. The closest we will come is during the prayers for various groups of preachers and teachers. At that time those present will be invited to pray in unison using English or any other language. For some people it is more comfortable to pray in their native language or in a prayer language.
From 2pm onwards - which is optional - we will try our best to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and be open to any charismatic gifts.
 
Haven't I already received the Holy Spirit in Baptism, Confirmation (and if applicable Holy Orders)?
You have indeed received Him in those sacraments. No question about that. The question is not how much you possess the Holy Spirit, but how much does the Holy Spirit possess you? How much do we live under His direction and guidance? We can always grow in greater responsiveness and surrender to Him. The Holy Spirit is always willing to give us fresh gifts to help us grow in holiness and to build up the Kingdom of God Eph 4:11-13. Those gifts have results beyond what is humanly possible Acts 8:4-8. The Holy Spirit acts like a gentleman, and never forces His gifts upon anyone, but we are invited to ask for them. Luke 11:9-13, 1 Cor 12: 31a, 1 Cor 14:1
 
Why the Latin hymn to begin with?
Because when you are serious about calling on the help of the Holy Spirit you dust off the very best bits of your prayer arsenal. This hymn has been used for over a millennium and for the most important occasions. It is part of our shared Christian heritage. But even more than that the melody has a lot to teach us about the respect, adoration, intimacy, longing and reverence with which we should seek the Holy Spirit.
 
What's with asking the saints for prayer?
This is another of those very best bits of your prayer arsenal. It, too, has been prayed in various formats by Christians since at least the late 3rd century, and for the most important occasions. All of us at some time or other have asked our earthly friends to pray for us. If that is OK and normal, surely it is OK to ask our heavenly friends to pray for us. Jesus Himself said, 'For to Him all men are in fact alive'. Luke 20:38b We know that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God Rom 8:27b, and surely that is truer for the residents of heaven than for our holy friends on earth. The scriptures teach us that while God can act sovereignly and sometimes does, He prefers to collaborate with us. Take that strange story in Ezekiel 37 about the dry bones as an example. God could have done it all Himself, but he kept giving words to the prophet to say. When in John 12:20-22 the Greeks went to Philip and said, 'We would like to see Jesus', and Philip went and got Andrew, and together they went to Jesus – was the glory of the mediation of Jesus decreased? Of course not! Wasn't Jesus more glorified and honoured this way than if the Greeks had gone to Him directly? Didn't more people share in the good work of bringing people to Jesus? Asking the saints to pray for us and to pray with us is concretely acting upon the belief we share as Christians in the Apostles Creed: 'I believe in the communion of saints'. This particular sung version of the litany of the saints is an easy tune to pick up.
 
Can saints hear prayer? Can they answer prayer?
1 Sam 28 where king Saul decides to consult a medium rather than one of God's prophets. He wants to hear from the deceased Samuel. In the dialogue that follows Samuel knows what is going on (so yes saints can hear prayers) and God has permitted him to bring an answer to Saul (albeit one that Saul doesn't want to hear). Matt 25:21 'You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much' is a promise fulfilled on earth and in heaven. There are far too many Christian shrines dotted over the world with the testimony of crutches and other aids left behind when people were healed to deny that saints hear prayer. They hear our prayers just like any true friend would, they add their prayers to ours and take them together to God on our behalf, and when God permits they have a role in delivering God's answer back to us. Does it make you happy when your good friend gets honoured? Then why is it so hard to understand that it makes God happy when we honour His best friends? Is it hard to believe that it delights God to see His friends, earthly and heavenly, working together for the good of His Kingdom? Any honour we show them redoubles to God's glory, because God is the source and origin of their holiness.
 
Is the presence and intercession of Mary important?
Without her 'Yes' to God, Jesus would not have become incarnate for us. When it comes to collaborating in the works of grace, the mother of Jesus has no equal. She was there at the foot of the Cross of her Son when He entrusted all of the disciples He loves to her maternal care John 19:26-27. Who else but the woman overshadowed by the Holy Spirit in Luke 1:35 can best teach the believers in the Upper Room awaiting the promised Advocate about Him? Would the Holy Spirit do anything important without collaborating with His spouse? We take Jesus for our model. We know that He kept the commandments perfectly, and He kept the commandment to honour His mother. We honour her because Jesus honoured her first. He chose to involve her in all the most important parts of His life, and all of the most ordinary and hidden parts of His life too. With this example, how can we do otherwise? If God Himself wanted Mary at conception and birth of His Son, He also wanted her at the conception and birth of the Church, His body, the body of Christ. How then could we fail to take this Godly hint to invoke her presence and intercession at crucial times in the life of the Church?

What is a charism? Why would you want any?
A charism is a free supernatural gift from God for the building up of the kingdom of God on earth. Eph 4: 7,11-12. Think of the difference between a hand held paper fan and an electric powered fan as an analogy between a natural gift and a supernatural gift. Both move the air around to make it feel cooler. The hand held paper fan has a limited range, and eventually your hand tires and you stop and rest. It does a good job for the one or two people within its range, but there will eventually be burn-out. The electric powered fan is plugged into a power source (the Holy Spirit) and switched on by prayer and consent. It can cool down a whole room, will not burn-out and the amount of power released is proportional to how surrendered our lives are to God – we can set it to low, medium or high depending on our surrender and co-operation with God's grace. Our free will is never compromised, we always have the choice to decrease the power, switch off, and unplug. When a charism is operating people see Jesus in action, and hearts are changed.
 
Maybe a story will help:
St Vincent Ferrer lived in Spain between 1350 and 1419. He became a priest of the Dominican Order. He had a special God-given charism of preaching. Many people were converted to God just by listening to him preach. St Vincent counted on God. He also asked for the prayers and penance of many people for the success of his sermons. He knew it was not his words or his talents that won people over. That is why he prayed before every sermon. But one day, when he knew that a very important person was going to listen to him, he worked harder than usual on his sermon. He ran out of time to pray. This sermon which he had prepared so carefully did not affect the nobleman much at all. God let that happen to teach Vincent not to count on himself. Another time, this same important person came to listen to Fr Ferrer preach. But this time the priest did not know it. He prayed and counted on God as usual. The nobleman listened to the sermon and was greatly impressed by what he heard. The nobleman explained it like this: ‘In the first sermon it was Vincent who preached. In the second sermon, it was Jesus Christ.’ From 'Saints for Young Readers' Volume 1, April 5
 
Is it OK to feel excited and scared at the same time?
Yes. God is very generous with His gifts, but He never ever forces them on anyone. Having a charism doesn't mean you are holy, but it can be a means to help you grow in holiness. Many of them only operate when God wants them to.
 
Do you have to have experienced 'the baptism in the Spirit' to have charisms operate?
No. Sacramental baptism or the desire for sacramental baptism is sufficient, together with a desire to bring people to Jesus and the desire to respond to the gentle promptings of the Holy Spirit. Often it feels like St Peter felt when Jesus said, 'Come' and invited him to get out of the boat and walk across the water in Matthew 14: excited and scared at the same time, but trusting in the One who says, 'Come'. There is an argument that Joel 3:1/Acts 2:17 implies that the promise to pour out the Holy Spirit on all mankind covers the non-baptised as well. At the same time it must be acknowledged that the asking and yielding/surrendering to the Holy Spirit that are part of the baptism in the Spirit experience have frequently been responded to by God with the outpouring of charisms.
 
So I don't have to worry about turning into a raving loony if I ask God to give me the gifts needed for me to serve Him better and be more effective at bringing people into His kingdom?
That's right. You will still be you, just more supernaturally equipped for ministry. And you will still need to do your part to provide the raw material for God to collaborate with (ie prayer, study, preparation of lessons and/or homilies, and seeking holiness).