Fatima Pentecost

I have said these things to you

while still with you;

but the Advocate, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

will teach you everything

and remind you of all that I have said to you.’

John 14:26

The Gospels quite unequivocally call for personal transformation in light of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Those who are baptised are incorporated into the church community which sets out to witness that very same Gospel.

On 13 May, 1917 three young children, Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto received a vision of Our Lady of the Rosary. She reappeared each month until October of that year. These young peasant children so convinced their families, friends, the clergy and finally the papacy itself of their genuineness that a basilica now sits where they received their vision. Over 1 million of the world’s faithful came to the 50^th anniversary of the visions to a celebration of the Eucharist presided over by Pope Paul VI. You have to remember that they were children. These children helped change of lives of so many, that it would be difficult to number them. Fatima is visited by millions each year. These people are transformed by of an act of faith.

The crowd that swarmed in the streets outside the disciples’ upper room were quite unlikely to have known what was about to hit them. In the room above them the disciples heard what sounded like a strong wind, and above their heads what appeared to be tongues of fire. Filled with the Spirit, they left their haven and began to preach the Good News and were able to be understood by people who spoke a multitude of languages. The first Pentecost. These people were transformed by an act of faith.

Pretty well every day our teachers and staff walk the corridors and grounds of our schools. There they meet children who have been fractured and broken by life, others for whom each day is a window to new experiences, there are others for whom school is a respite from tension and anxiety and there are others for whom it is a difficult, harrowing place. They sit side by side, play together, laugh at each other’s jokes, share lunches. Our classrooms and grounds are places where the church lives and breathes. This is where we pray and celebrate the life of Jesus. Bit by bit, lives are made anew, refreshed and transformed through the myriad of tiny acts of faith, by teachers, aids, cleaners, parents, children. Each day is Pentecost.

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima is celebrated each year on 13 May – a true sign that our young can change the world we live in for the better. Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, birthday of the church – a sign that true transformation is not only possible, but achievable. Come Holy Spirit.

Peter Douglas

Song to the Holy Spirit

Lord, Holy Spirit,
You blow like the wind in a thousand paddocks,
Inside and outside the fences,
You blow where you wish to blow.

Lord, Holy Spirit,

You are the sun who shines on the little plant,

You warm him gently, you give him life,

You raise him up to become a tree with many leaves.

Lord, Holy Spirit,

You are the mother eagle with her young,

Holding them in peace under your feathers.

On the highest mountain you have built your nest,

Above the valley, above the storms of the world,

Where no hunter ever comes.

Lord, Holy Spirit,

You are the bright cloud in whom we hide,

In whom we know already that the battle has been won.

You bring us to our Brother Jesus

To rest our heads upon his shoulder.

Lord, Holy Spirit,

You are the kind fire who does not cease to burn,

Consuming us with flames of love and peace,

Driving us out like sparks to set the world on fire.

Lord, Holy Spirit,

In the love of friends you are building a new house,

Heaven is with us when you are with us.

You are singing your songs in the hearts of the poor

Guide us, wound us, heal us. Bring us to the Father.

James K. Baxter, ‘Song to the Holy Spirit’, in Collected Poems (ed. John Edward Weir; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1979), 572.