Bishop Daniel Felton: What were your ‘Holy Spirit moments’ this summer?

Believe in the Good News
 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

Greetings in the healing, hope, and joy of Jesus! 

With the arrival of September, we bid farewell to a summer season. I hope and pray that your summertime was refreshing and rejuvenating. Hopefully, you can point to a time or two where you genuinely felt the healing, hope, and joy of Jesus in the event, experience, or people that were brought forth on any given summer day. Even more so, I hope that in your conversations with others that you were able to give witness to these Jesus moments of healing, hope, and joy. 

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). 

If we are to live the mission that is given to us by the Holy Spirit to intentionally help one another grow closer to Jesus, then giving witness to how this is happening in our own lives is a key moment to helping others to do the same. There are countless moments in the Gospels where someone who has experienced the healing, hope, and joy of Jesus rushes back to tell others of this experience. Their personal witness and testimony gives credence to their invitation for others to come and to meet this Jesus who is healing, hope, and joy for all people! 

This witness is never about ourselves but is always a testimony to how the Holy Spirit is using us to bring others closer to Jesus. I would suggest that we ask ourselves at the end of every day, how did the Holy Spirit come upon me today, and how was I a witness of this moment to those who were a part of my day? As parish communities, just as the disciples reported back to Jesus all they were able to do in His name, thus giving witness to how the Holy Spirit was moving among them, what evidence can you give as parish leaders and parishioners to the manifestations of the healing, hope, and joy of Jesus in your parish community and outwardly to the communities where you dwell? 

As we move into the season of Autumn, which initiates the beginning of school, the closing of our cabins, settling into a more routine schedule, and for some of us returning to our home parishes after spending a summer away at the lake, spend 20 minutes reflecting upon your summer Holy Spirit moments of healing, hope, and joy in Jesus. Give God praise for these manifestations of His presence, and then live your life sharing these moments with others and remember: You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses in Buhl and in Grand Portage and Moose Lake and to the ends of the ten counties of our diocese. 

A Poem of Witness to the Holy Spirit written by Marci in Second Grade at Marquette Catholic School: 

Come Holy Spirit! 
Powerful, strong and caring 
You raised a little girl from the dead. 
Help me be like you. 
I hear you whisper my name 
and I love you. 

May the healing, hope, and joy of Jesus come upon you and remain with you forever, 

Bishop Daniel Felton is the tenth bishop of Duluth.