Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, CSC, was the President of Notre Dame University for 35 years. He was also involved in myriad government, international, and Church projects. One day someone asked him, “So, how’d you do it all?” Fr. Hesburgh replied, “Every morning, I pray, ‘Come, Holy Spirit’ … and away we go.”
I love that story. As a habit I pray the Morning Offering and three Hail Marys to begin each day, but I never thought of calling on the Holy Spirit at that time. It makes sense, especially after writing my book The Holy Spirit: Font of Love, Life, and Power. Moreover, when I look over my life, I must acknowledge that this “forgotten” member of the Trinity has played an important role in it. Ever since my baptism the Holy Spirit has dwelt in my soul, nudging me to act. Why else would a public school kid like me whose parents didn’t go to church decide to be a Sister of Notre Dame?
I see the Holy Spirit’s finger in my life over and over, giving me a push in the right direction. One day as I walked down the street, I met a neighbor working on her lawn. As we spoke, I learned that her baby boy had died earlier that year. She didn’t know anyone on the street, so no one had brought her a casserole or offered condolences. On the spur of the moment I said, “Let’s have a picnic in my backyard for everyone on the street so we all get to know one another.” Hosting that picnic was probably one of the the best things I ever did. Most recently, I “happened” to go to a room for no reason. There someone was in great distress, and I was able to give her some comfort and support.
To me, one of the most striking signs of the Holy Spirit at work in my life, is my book Heart to Heart with Mary: Yearly Reflections. Numerous people have told me how surprising and uncanny it is to find that the reflection for the day matches a circumstance in their life. I can identify with them: On the day of a piano recital, I performed every one of my five classical pieces badly before 170 people. As I passed another musician, he remarked, “Nice try.” (The evening before when I practiced, the pieces had been almost flawless!) The title of the reflection for the day of the disaster was “Dealing with Failure”! Whenever someone tells me what that book means to them, I always credit the Holy Spirit as the co-author, if you will, a “ghost” writer. It’s almost as though that book wrote itself.
The Holy Spirit figured largely in the life of Jesus. My goodness—the God-Man came to be by the overshadowing of this Spirit. Then when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit came down upon him and he was commissioned for his ministry. Perhaps every morning Jesus prayed, “Come, Holy Spirit…Away we go,” and then proceeded to preach, heal the sick, and raise the dead. Even today, at every Mass the bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
When we look to the Holy Spirit for help (Jesus did call him our Advocate, or Helper), we are bound to have an interesting day!
