Suddenly, A Green Valley A Strange Story Of The Spirit

By Fr. Bart Pastor

Fr. Bart Pastor runs the Family of God Little Children – a charismatic community in Tacloban Leyte (1977). He shares with us the importance of the Holy Spirit in all our, work, especially if we are involved in the Social Gospel. His commitment to social transformation goes way back to the early seventies. But he tells us that along the way back he had much to learn. He went down some dead ends, but in the end the Holy Spirit led him to a more wholistic approach to his priestly vocation.

Freeing the Captives

In the early seventies I was convinced that as an Alter Christus it was my mission to save the Filipino people from poverty, misery and oppression which I blamed in great parts on the imperialist and colonial powers of the West. As a priest my mission was “to bring the Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives, sight to the blind and freedom to the oppressed.” [Luke 4:18] A touch of the Messianic Complex.

Author: Fr Bart Pastor

Something was Wrong

Body and soul I devoted myself to organizing and encouraging the landless tenants and slum dwellers to fight for their right and to bring about social and economic transformation. To my frustrations however, in spite of all my efforts, I witnessed our people sinking ever deeper into social,  economic and political depression. What was wrong? What was missing? Where had I failed?

Pastoral Activities

During all this time I also had a full pastoral schedule. I baptized thousands of infants, solemnized weddings, blessed the dead and new houses, celebrated daily Masses, preached pious sermons and I prayed novenas in honor of patron saints. How effective were these pastoral activities in dethroning the unbridled greed, the unmitigated pride and the runaway lust for power which I saw around me among the rich and influential?

Crisis

A crisis came in my life. I began to ask myself how relevant was my priestly ministry in the face of the enormous social problems of our country? Was my being a priest useful at all in the effort to dismantle oppressive social structures? I guess my answer was almost always a large NO. As a result I began to feel disillusionment with my priesthood. I know this happens to many other priests like myself. I know that many other priests left the priesthood as a result of this disillusionment. For me it was a crucial moment. I was confused and struggling to make up my mind whether to continue as a priest or not.

Miracle of Sequence Prayer

But I was lucky, or I should say blessed, because when Pentecost 1975 came something special happened to me. The Lord in His unlimited mercy miraculously touched my life. On that Pentecost day while I was listening to and praying the sequence prayer of the Mass He opened my heart to His Spirit. The sequence prayer was written hundreds of years ago by Thomas Aquinas. I will quote some of his beautiful lines:

Come, Holy Spirit, come
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poorCome, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine!
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where your are not, man has naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stain of guilt away.
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

Blocking the Holy Spirit

As I listened to the prayer suddenly the Holy Spirit made me see what was wrong with my life, what was missing in my effort at social transformation, what was lacking in my pastoral activities. The problem was the absence of the Holy Spirit. I had not asked Him to take charge of my pastoral ministry. I had not given Him a chance to work with me, through me and in me. In spite of my hard work and dedication He was practically locked out of my life and ministry. I realize that in the noise and clamor of my work for social justice I was in a way doing an injustice to the Lord. I had missed the first line of Luke 4:18, that line which says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me,” I was not allowing the Spirit of the Lord to rest upon me.

God’s Transforming Power

Today things have changed. Oh yes, I am the same frail me but I have learned a lot. Never again would I want the Spirit of the Lord to be locked out from my life and pastoral ministry and my work for justice. As I serve in a community of disciples, I am making sure that the Holy Spirit always occupies the center of our Christian community life and activities. I believe efforts should not be spared to teach our Filipino Catholics the significance of our baptismal character and to woo them to experience God’s transforming power through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual Richness

Our Filipino people may not become affluent and powerful according to the world’s standard, but by the baptism of the Holy Spirit however we are richly graced and empowered. Various initiatives and ministries inspired by the Holy Spirit through the Catholic Charismatic Renewal should be coordinated for greater effectiveness and lasting fruitfulness in the work of evangelization and church renewal. For me this is a real spiritual revolution.

Our work for the poor is an essential part of our being a Christian. But the Holy Father in is letter Redemptoris Missio [par. 83] tells us that our work of evangelization can never be reduced to that. He says, “The poor are hungry for God, not just for bread and freedom. Our activities must fist of all bear witness to and proclaim salvation in Christ and establish local Churches which then become a means of liberation in every sense.”