HONG KONG (SE): “All things are possible for one who believes. We have to keep that truth in our hearts and our minds,” Dr. Mary Healy reminded some 400 people from Hong Kong’s various Catholic Charismatic communities on June 16, at Caritas Hall, Caine Road.
The annual Pentecost gathering was organised by CHARIS Hong Kong, the local arm of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal International Services—established by the Holy See, through the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life in 2019.
The event began with empowered praise and worship led by the Renewal in the Spirit Community, leading people deep into prayer and song, and communion with the Holy Spirit
“You came to the right place because we are here with the One who baptises in the Holy Spirit and the one who is our healer,” said Dr. Healy as she began her engaging and inspiring talk on the Role of the Holy Spirit in the Salvation Plan of God.
She is the author of several books, a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, a consultor to the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments and one of the first three women to serve on the Pontifical Biblical Commission.
All things are possible for one who believes. We have to keep that truth in our hearts and our minds
Dr. Mary Healy
Dr. Healy observed that for a long time, the Holy Spirit “became the forgotten person of the Holy Trinity” until in the late 19th century when Blessed Sister Elena Guerrero—known as the Apostle of the Holy Spirit—founded prayer groups and began to pray for a renewed knowledge of and devotion to the Holy Spirit in the Church.
Blessed Elena was inspired to write to Pope Leo XIII who was moved to write the encyclical, Divinum Illud Munus [On the Holy Spirit] in 1897. Again, at her prompting, Pope Leo at the dawn of the new century—1 January 1901, decided to pray the ancient prayer to the Holy Spirit, Veni Creator Spiritus, which would lead to a sequence of events in which the Holy Spirit would manifest in a Protestant Bible study group on the same day, and spread throughout the world. Eventually, in 1967, the Catholic renewal began with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit during a student retreat at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania.
“Thanks be to God. He’s no longer the forgotten person of the Holy Trinity,” Dr. Healy said as she illustrated the many manifestations of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments.
She stressed that the gospel proclaimed by Jesus “is good news that comes with power. It’s not like any other message. Because [in] other messages, you can say good things, but they’re just a meaningful, beautiful, maybe comforting message. But they don’t do anything. But the gospel of Jesus Christ comes with power to actually do what it announces. Freedom. Forgiveness of sin. Healing. Healing. Salvation. Transformation.”
She reflected that at Pentecost, when the Spirit descended upon the disciples, “the love of God was so burning within them that their fear went out the window. And instead they got this boldness. And they just realised, we can’t keep Jesus to ourselves!” and “and they began to share Jesus with a broken world that didn’t know him”
[Jesus] is good news that comes with power. It’s not like any other message. Because [in] other messages, you can say good things, but they’re just a meaningful, beautiful, maybe comforting message Dr. Healy
After a short break, Dr. Healy led a healing session; reminding everyone that “Nothing is impossible for God” [Luke 1:37]” and that “All things are possible to one who believes [Mark 9:23]” because it is God’s nature to heal and his intention for his people.
She also emphasised the importance of forgiveness as a key to healing. Refusing to forgive can be a block, as referenced in Mark 11:25-26. “When a person chooses to forgive, it can open the floodgates of healing,” she said.
Many who indicated a need for healing experienced God’s grace.
“He is pouring out his Holy Spirit on the Church in an amazing way, with signs and wonders and healings and miracles on a scale that probably has not been seen since the early Church,” Dr. Healy testified, noting that “the battle for the hearts and minds of this generation is very intense. Especially for the young. Does anybody here see young people being seduced by a godless culture? Pulled away from the Lord? By media? Social media? Entertainment? Even schools?”
She said, “The time to keep Jesus to yourself is over. When we tell people what Jesus has done for us, they can come to know him too.”
The event concluded with a Mass celebrated by Divine Word Father Jay Flandez, the CHARIS Hong Kong diocesan spiritual coordinator, and concelebrated by the diocesan chancellor, Father Lawrence Lee Len and Divine Word Father Johnson Dhos. Music was provided by the BLD-Hong Kong Catholic Covenant Community.
