Bishop Robert D. Gruss celebrated his first Mass at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw on the eighth anniversary of his episcopal ordination Sunday, July 28. In his homily message to the faithful, he encouraged those gathered to consider God’s incredible love, and His desire to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.
“At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus says, 'If you then, who are wicked (meaning sinful), know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?'
“I find it interesting that Jesus doesn’t say ‘how much more will the Father in heaven give good things, or things that are needed, or things that we want, to those who ask him,’ but he says, ‘how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.’
“Perhaps there is a reason for this. Perhaps the Holy Spirit is the only thing that is really important in the life of a disciple of Jesus. Perhaps it is because the Holy Spirit, who is the third person of the Trinity, who is the very deep and profound love between the Father and the Son, is what the Father wants us to have the most. But we must ask for it and it will be given to us.
“... perhaps it is because the Holy Spirit is the one who empowers us to love God and our neighbor as Jesus did, enabling us to lay down our lives for others as he laid down his life for you and for me.
“... when was the last time you prayed asking for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your lives?
“Perhaps today we can all pray for this gift and pray for it daily, trusting that ‘everyone who asks, receives; the one who seeks finds; and the one who knocks, the door to the heart of the Father and Son will be opened.’
“Ultimately the goal of prayer is not for us to get everything we want or need. The goal of prayer is responding to an invitation into a love relationship with God. It is seeking union or communion with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and then responding to God’s outrageous love for us."
View the homily now by clicking below