Father Koch: The power of the Spirit is at work in the life of the Church
June 6, 2025 at 8:00 a.m.
Gospel reflection for June 8, 2025, Solemnity of Pentecost
The past six weeks have been filled with many solemn and poignant moments in the life of the Church. The passing of Pope Francis on Monday in the Octave of Easter began a series of age-old rituals leading to the emergence of Pope Leo XIV on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on May 8.
The rituals surrounding the opening of the conclave are rich with imagery and solemnity, reminding us of the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit at work within the hearts and minds of the individual cardinal-electors, and within the body of the conclave as a whole.
Among the most dramatic and solemn moments is the beginning of the conclave itself. There we heard the early medieval chant “Veni Creator Spiritus: Come Holy Spirit.” Many of the parishes will intone this chant on Pentecost Sunday. The cardinals invoked the Holy Spirit to be present with them and to guide their discussions, voting and the ultimate decision. While in a direct way the Holy Spirit does not choose the pope, as the cardinal-electors exercise their free will, it is incumbent upon them to discern and then to cooperate with that discernment. As the cardinals processed into the Sistine Chapel the great Litany of the Saints was chanted. There in communion with the whole Church -- visible and invisible -- the cardinals assembled to make what was for most of them, the most important decision of their entire lives. It is hard to imagine the weight that they must have felt being in that time and place, knowing what they were called to do. Even more difficult is to imagine the intensity of emotion and trepidation that one Cardinal Robert Prevost must have experienced as we realized that he was about to be elected the successor to St. Peter, leading the Church through the tumultuous early decades of the 21st century.
Yet, through all of this, and as he was vested in the papal white cassock, and donned the papal insignia for the first time, he appeared on the loggia and greeted the Church and the world with the very words that Jesus speaks to his disciples on that Easter Sunday night -- “Peace be with you.”
In spite of what inner stomach churning and uncertainty of the moment, it was peace that he first delivered to the world.
That expression of peace could not and was not merely from within himself. He first had to know and experience the peace of Christ within his life and in his mind and heart. This is a peace that Jesus reminded his disciples at the Last Supper, that does not come from the world, but rather comes from God in order to transform the world.
We cannot, however, merely reflect on the power of the Holy Spirit in the majestic moment of a papal conclave. The same Holy Spirit present with the college of cardinals, is active and present within the world each and every day. The priest invokes the Holy Spirit during the Eucharistic Prayer to effect transubstantiation and also to unite the Church into unity of heart and purpose.
The Holy Spirit is present in each of our Sacraments -- in Baptism the Spirit hovers over the waters of the font, to bring about new life. In Confirmation, the Spirit bestows certain gifts to the confirmand, to strengthen their life of faith. It is in and through the power of the Holy Spirit that an ordinary disciple conforms his life to Christ through the anointing and laying on of the hands of the bishop as he is ordained a priest. The Holy Spirit is invoked as a man and a woman come before the altar to pledge their lives one to another in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. In the final stages of life, the Spirit is with us through the final anointing and disposition of the apostolic pardon.
This is not mere sentimentality, but a real and powerful presence. The encounter with the Holy Spirit is palpable and enriching, leading the whole Church along the path to the Kingdom of God.
This Pentecost Sunday we are reminded of our need to be open to the Spirit and to call upon the Spirit to do, as we pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.”
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.
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Gospel reflection for June 8, 2025, Solemnity of Pentecost
The past six weeks have been filled with many solemn and poignant moments in the life of the Church. The passing of Pope Francis on Monday in the Octave of Easter began a series of age-old rituals leading to the emergence of Pope Leo XIV on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on May 8.
The rituals surrounding the opening of the conclave are rich with imagery and solemnity, reminding us of the power of the presence of the Holy Spirit at work within the hearts and minds of the individual cardinal-electors, and within the body of the conclave as a whole.
Among the most dramatic and solemn moments is the beginning of the conclave itself. There we heard the early medieval chant “Veni Creator Spiritus: Come Holy Spirit.” Many of the parishes will intone this chant on Pentecost Sunday. The cardinals invoked the Holy Spirit to be present with them and to guide their discussions, voting and the ultimate decision. While in a direct way the Holy Spirit does not choose the pope, as the cardinal-electors exercise their free will, it is incumbent upon them to discern and then to cooperate with that discernment. As the cardinals processed into the Sistine Chapel the great Litany of the Saints was chanted. There in communion with the whole Church -- visible and invisible -- the cardinals assembled to make what was for most of them, the most important decision of their entire lives. It is hard to imagine the weight that they must have felt being in that time and place, knowing what they were called to do. Even more difficult is to imagine the intensity of emotion and trepidation that one Cardinal Robert Prevost must have experienced as we realized that he was about to be elected the successor to St. Peter, leading the Church through the tumultuous early decades of the 21st century.
Yet, through all of this, and as he was vested in the papal white cassock, and donned the papal insignia for the first time, he appeared on the loggia and greeted the Church and the world with the very words that Jesus speaks to his disciples on that Easter Sunday night -- “Peace be with you.”
In spite of what inner stomach churning and uncertainty of the moment, it was peace that he first delivered to the world.
That expression of peace could not and was not merely from within himself. He first had to know and experience the peace of Christ within his life and in his mind and heart. This is a peace that Jesus reminded his disciples at the Last Supper, that does not come from the world, but rather comes from God in order to transform the world.
We cannot, however, merely reflect on the power of the Holy Spirit in the majestic moment of a papal conclave. The same Holy Spirit present with the college of cardinals, is active and present within the world each and every day. The priest invokes the Holy Spirit during the Eucharistic Prayer to effect transubstantiation and also to unite the Church into unity of heart and purpose.
The Holy Spirit is present in each of our Sacraments -- in Baptism the Spirit hovers over the waters of the font, to bring about new life. In Confirmation, the Spirit bestows certain gifts to the confirmand, to strengthen their life of faith. It is in and through the power of the Holy Spirit that an ordinary disciple conforms his life to Christ through the anointing and laying on of the hands of the bishop as he is ordained a priest. The Holy Spirit is invoked as a man and a woman come before the altar to pledge their lives one to another in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony. In the final stages of life, the Spirit is with us through the final anointing and disposition of the apostolic pardon.
This is not mere sentimentality, but a real and powerful presence. The encounter with the Holy Spirit is palpable and enriching, leading the whole Church along the path to the Kingdom of God.
This Pentecost Sunday we are reminded of our need to be open to the Spirit and to call upon the Spirit to do, as we pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.”
Father Garry Koch is pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Holmdel.