BEND — “Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit, O Lord, and they shall be created and Thou shall renew the face of the earth.” The Solemnity of Pentecost, this year, coincided with the celebration of Mothers’ Day. This provides us with two very appropriate topics upon which to reflect.

BEND — Over the past months I have commented both in sermons and in writing on Pope Benedict’s Encyclical on hope. I do continue to return to it for points of reflection and encouragement on a fairly regular basis. I have found in it very rich and even challenging material.

BEND — Spring is taking its own very sweet time in coming. I have started the irrigation system on the acreage at my home but the overnight result is huge ice fields. The daytime sunshine turns the solid into liquid but I am more than ready for spring.

BEND — The diversity of the Church was made very evident to me these past two weeks. From the small gatherings of the faithful at Saint Anne and Saint Katherine in Monument and Dale, I traveled to Washington, DC to participate in a Mass at Nationals Stadium for nearly 50,000 people with the Holy Father.

BEND — I did not mention last week that the priests of the Diocese had just completed their annual retreat. In our relatively busy and at times even hectic world it is very easy for us to get caught up in a pattern of thinking and doing without adequately reflecting upon what that thinking and doing really mean.

BEND — It was wonderfully refreshing to go down to Chiloquin and Bly this past weekend. As you can imagine these are not large communities and yet the Spirit of God seems to be very active and present there.

BEND — This weekend took me to Boardman and Hermiston as a part of my continuing round of this year’s Confirmation tour. While the weather forecast made it appear that the trip could be a bit challenging the sunny Saturday morning gave me assurance that I would not encounter any weather related delays.

“Rejoice, heavenly powers! Sing, choirs of angels! Exult, all creation around God’s throne! Jesus Christ, our King, is Risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!”

These words, the beginning of the Exultet, the sung proclamation which initiates the solemn Vigil of the Resurrection, bring delight to the heart. Rejoice, sing, exult. Jesus Christ, our King, is Risen! Alleluia.

BEND — Pope Benedict writes in Spe Salvi, “The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society. A society unable to accept its suffering members and incapable of helping to share their suffering and to bear it inwardly through ‘compassion’ is a cruel and inhuman society.

BEND — We enter upon that liturgical season which, in some ways, begins with Jesus’ acknowledgement that “The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.” (John 12:23)