Blessed Elena Guerra, an Italian religious who lived from 1835-1914, devoted

her life to the education of girls.

For that purpose, she founded the Oblates of the Holy Spirit. As the name of the order indicates, Bless-ed Elena also had a deep reverence for the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. In addition to her work in education, she also sought to promote devotion to the Holy Spirit.

Blessed Elena wrote 12 letters to Pope Leo XIII en-couraging the Holy Father to renew devotion to the Holy Spirit throughout the Catholic Church. Partially in response to her prompt-ing, Pope Leo promulgated an encyclical, “Divinium Illud Munus,” in 1897, asking Catholic bishops throughout the world to promote devotion to the Holy Spirit and specifically requesting the praying of a novena to the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the 20th century.

On Jan. 1, 1901, Pope Leo sang the “Veni Creator Spiritus” (“Come Holy Spirit”) in front of the famous Holy Spirit window in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome asking for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church. At this same time in Topeka, at Bethel College and Bible School, a group of students had been praying to receive the Holy Spirit in a manner similar to that described in the Acts of the Apos-tles.

On the very same day that Pope Leo in Rome was praying for a new out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church, one of the Bethel College stu-dents, Agnes Ozman, had a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit’s presence that, in part, manifested itself by her praying in tongues.

Over the next few days, several other students had similar expe-

riences. These events at “Stone’s Folly” in Topeka are considered by many as the beginning of the Prot-estant Pentecostal and charismatic movement.

This past October in Kansas City, Missouri, there was an international gathering of Catholic and Protestant leaders of the charismatic renewal. The event was called Kairos 2017 and it was held here to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a major gathering of Catholic and Protestant charismatics in Kansas City.

Dr. Mary Healy, a pro-fessor in sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdio-cese of Detroit, was one of the participants at the Kairos event.

In her presentation, Healy noted with interest that some have postulat-ed the first observable answer to Pope Leo’s prayer in Rome occurred in Topeka at a Protestant Bible college.

In speculating why God might have chosen to respond to Pope Leo’s prayer in this way, Healy recalled that the Holy Father had received a very tepid response from Catholic bishops around the world regarding his request for a vigorous promotion of devotion to Holy Spirit.

She hypothesized that the Catholic Church

at that time was not prepared to welcome a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Many date the beginning of the Catholic charismatic renewal to a 1967 retreat at Duchesne University in Pittsburgh.

While it is fascinating to reflect on the local con-nections to the beginning and the development of the charismatic renewal in the Christian world, I want us to do more in the arch-diocese than just recall this history. I am asking our priests, deacons, religious and laity during 2018 to pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Catholic community in northeast Kansas.

Specifically, I am asking everyone to pray for the Holy Spirit to guide our efforts to create within the archdiocese and all of our parishes and ministries a culture of evangelization. At the same time, I ask that we beg the Holy Spirit to help each of us become, what Pope Francis terms, “mis-sionary disciples”!

A culture of evange-lization means for our parishes, institutions and ministries to become less focused on merely main-taining the status quo and more and more dedicat-ed to sharing the truth, beauty and goodness of our Catholic faith with others.

With a large number of nonpracticing Cath-olics and an even larger number of individuals who claim no religious affiliation, those of us blessed with the joy that

only Jesus and life in his church can bring to our hearts have an obligation to share the gift of our faith with others.

In preparation for the solemnity of Pentecost on May 20, I will be encour-aging individuals and parishes to pray a Holy Spirit novena, begging the Holy Spirit to rekindle the fire of his love here in northeast Kansas.

For now, I ask each member of the archdio-cese during the coming year to consider praying daily, or as frequently as possible, one of the prayers to the Holy Spirit found above. I ask that you pray for the Holy Spirit to help us in our efforts to build a culture of evangelization and to help

each of us become more and more missionary disciples.

Finally, the former Bethel College site in Topeka is today Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish campus.

The foundation to Most Pure Heart of Mary rectory is all that remains of the Bethel College buildings. After many years of planning, Most Pure Heart of Mary Parish is preparing to build a new rectory. Father Greg Hammes, the pastor, wants to construct a eu-charistic adoration chapel on the site of the current rectory.

If this actually hap-pens, I think it will please both the Holy Spirit and Pope Leo XIII.

LIFE WILLBE VICTORIOUS

ARCHBISHOPJOSEPH F. NAUMANN

Holy Spirit: Make ‘missionary disciples’ of all of usPrayer to the Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithfuland enkindle in them the fire of your love.Send forth your Spirit and they shall be createdand you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit,

grant that by the gift of the same Spiritwe may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his conso-

lation.Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit by Cardinal Mercier

O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore you.Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console

me.Tell me what I should do; give me your orders.I promise to submit myself to all that you desire of me

andto accept all that you permit to happen to me.Let me only know your will. Amen.

A Prayer to the Holy Spirit by St. Augustine of Hippo

Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit,that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me, O Holy Spirit,that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit,that I love but what is holy.

Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,that I always may be holy. Amen