St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish (Pickerington, Ohio)

Pentecost Sunday

(the 60th Anniversary Msgr. Ed Fairchild)

June 8, 2019

Deacon Tom Barford

We come together to celebrate this great feast of Pentecost. On this final day of the Easter season, we celebrate what some have called the “birthday of the church.” The sending of the Holy Spirit, this great gift from our God, makes possible the Christian Life, that is, our relationship to God our Father and our ability to follow Jesus. Although Christ has ascended, he is still with us in the sacraments, in the scriptures, in the community of believers (as he was to the early disciples). And through this gift the Holy Spirit dwells in the hearts of every Christian.

Many Catholics don’t seem to appreciate the great gift of the Holy Spirit in their lives. In our 2nd reading from Corinthians we hear; “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings by the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” So, plainly we are told that while each one of us receives the Gift of the Spirit, at baptism, we do not receive the same understanding of our faith; that is we understand things according to our individual gifts.

Jesus says, in chapter 16 of John, “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.” Jesus is saying this to us also, that each one of us learns differently and we only have the capacity to learn as our gifts have been given to us. So we are all not all expected to be great Theologian’s. We all grow in our faith differently as our gifts allow us to learn.

In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus say, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Writing about the works of the Holy Spirit, St. Basil says, “The Holy Spirit raises our hearts to heaven, guides the steps of the weak and brings to perfection those who are making progress. He enlightens those who have been cleansed from every stain of sin and makes them spiritual by communion with himself.”

The point I want to make is that the gift of the Holy Spirit continues to live within each Christian. And throughout our lives helps us through many ways including outward revelations, the most important in my mind is the guidance that we all receive from Holy Mother Church through our priests.

So let me introduce myself to you. My name is Tom Barford, a permeant deacon from St. Paul Catholic Church in Westerville. And Msgr. Ed Fairchild asked me to preach at this celebration of his 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. After Msgr. asked me to preach I was feeling honored. I give my thanks and appreciation to Msgr. for all that he has done for me over the years.

Msgr. Ed and I have become very good friends over the past 25 years from the first time I met him at St. Peter church. At that time I was a newly ordained deacon, almost two years when we found out the Msgr. Ed would be coming to be our new pastor. And then I received a phone call telling me that Msgr. Ed would like to talk to me. I really did not know what to expect. As I entered the office at St. Peter Parish I was a nervous wreck, I felt calmed by Carol Wooten, Msgr’s Secretary. Carol has always had the way to make people feel more comfortable. Any way I think the interview went well, or at least he didn’t fire me. One thing I did notice was that he did not seem to have a very good sense of humor; he was all business; which is day and ni

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