Is Alleluia really our song, my song?

Halleluiah! Greetings in the name of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ.

He is risen, indeed. Alleluia!!! As the wonderful Eastertide liturgies and readings remind us, may we truly believe, in the words St Augustine made popular, that, ‘we are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song’.

But is Alleluia really our song, my song? Is it really true in my life and yours? Are we constantly praising God (’Hallel’ is the Hebrew word for ‘praise’, and ‘Yah’ is the short form of ‘Yahweh’.) Or have we reserved our “Praise the Lord” only for prayer meetings and which evaporate in the daily chores, difficult situations or trials we face.

In Ps 34 the psalmist says, “I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips”. Yet we often find ourselves grumbling, afraid, negative – possibly like the disciples locked up in the room in fear (Jn 20:19). But to them (and likewise to us), Jesus appears and “breathed on them and said, “Receive the holy Spirit.” (Jn 20:22)

That’s it. The Holy Spirit – the only power by which we can live lives of ‘continuous and spontaneous Alleluias’. There is no other way, other than the in-dwelling Holy Spirit of God, who “transforms us by the renewal of our minds” (Rom 12:2). So, this month as we prepare to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost – we pray that we may experience our own Pentecost and for the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in our life.

Indeed, the work of the Holy Spirit is essential in preparing “the bride” – us as a body and us as individuals for Christ. And so, I take this opportunity to sincerely thank the Holy Spirit for the guidance He has given us, each month, as we prepare this Monthly Intercessory Diary. Truly, as we put this together, month on month, we are amazed by the congruence and clarity He brings in directing our hearts and minds to intercede for the needs of the Church, “the bride of Christ”. Indeed, the Spirit intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will. (Rom 8:27)

This month we accompany (in prayer) our Pope Benedict XVI on His first visit to the Holy Land. We specifically pray the prayers of the Good Friday General Intercessions for Christians of other denominations, the Jews, Muslims and people of other faiths.

In this ‘her own month of May’, we entrust our intercession through the maternal and loving hands of Mary, who “was overshadowed by the Holy Spirit” (Lk 1:35) so that Jesus may be born and who waited on the Lord ‘in one accord’ (Acts 1:14) for “power from on-high” (Lk 24:49), so that the Church may be born. May this Pentecost be, for each one of us, a falling in love, more and more, with the “Lord and Giver of Life”.

I end with the words of Cardinal Suenens, “As I look to the future, I cannot avoid stressing the role of the Holy Spirit in the church of tomorrow”. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit, Lord, and we shall be created. And thou shalt renew the face of the earth.