Archbishop Eamon Martin, Archbishop of Armagh; Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Dromore; and Primate of All Ireland, preached a homily at Mass on Sunday 26 May in the Basilica of Our Lady of Knock as part of the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ prayer initiative.
Archbishop Eamon said: “Friends, reflect with me on the sheer joy and confidence of that prayer! We call on the Holy Spirit because we believe the Spirit can change us and change the world. The Spirit can renew the face of the earth. The Spirit can bring us new life, the Spirit can recreate in us what God wanted us to be in the first place! The Spirit can ‘rejuvenate’ us – make us young again!
“I am convinced that the Spirit is already actively at work preparing us for a new springtime of growth and abundance in faith.”
The ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ prayer initiative is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Anglican Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer.
On this prayer initiative, Archbishop Eamon said: “When we pray ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, we imply that we want God’s will to be the motivation for everything we think, and say, and do, every day of our lives. The two prayers ‘Come Holy Spirit’, and ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, work perfectly together, because it is the Holy Spirit, working within us, who helps to establish God’s Kingdom here on earth – a Kingdom of Love, of Justice, of Peace – a Kingdom where patience, kindness, generosity and charity are alive and well, and where selfishness, anger, oppression and violence are shunned.
“How I long for the New Pentecost, for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit to transform and renew the faith in Ireland and rejuvenate our Church!”
In conclusion, the Archbishop said: “I join with Pope Francis and the Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and with my friend and brother Archbishop Richard Clarke – the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh – in encouraging you to pray ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ in the coming days around Ascension Sunday and Pentecost Sunday.
“In particular, we encourage you to choose five particular individuals and pray that they might make the best decision that anyone can ever make in their lives – to become followers of Jesus Christ. I ask you to think of five people – not necessarily five family members – five different people, and pray that their lives may be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit and that the love of Christ may really take root in their hearts.”
To read the full homily see www.catholicbishops.ie.
ENDS
