Let the Holy Spirit raise up a new generation of devotion, a new springtime of tenderness and forgiveness, an age in which faith is embraced as a commitment of total surrender to the will of the Father.

Let us not be ruled by a spirit of timidity and cowardice; a spirit of mediocrity and hallmark sentimentalism.

Let us love deeply and sacrifice deeply. Let us allow time and space to dream and to gaze upon creation with wonder and amazement. Let us make time to play in the Spirit and to build communities of friendship in which mercy is the bond of mutual up-building.

Communities in which we are quick to forgive and slow to judge. Communities where we can laugh together and cry together. Networks of intimacy that lead us to discover Christ working in our lives.

Such a vision does not come to fruition through our own efforts, but rather through surrendering to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.

This is the spirit of Pentecost, this is the living reality of Christ in our midst. The dynamic activity of the Holy Spirit was not simply a thing of the past, a bright moment which faded with time. In each generation, there must be a renewal of faith, hope, and love, the power and the glory of the Holy Spirit must never be taken for granted.

In each age, believers must move from the Cross to the Resurrection and finally into the reality of full Christian flourishing in which we move from the externals of piety to that interior transformation which is the work of the Holy Spirit. This interior transformation empowers us, empowers us to go forth into the world and to proclaim the victory of Jesus Christ.

With boldness, we proclaim not a message of judgement and condemnation. Rather, we proclaim that Christ has dispelled the shadows of sin and the fear of death. Christ has destroyed the slavery of sin. Christ has set hearts free.

Today, let us proclaim that victory.