The following reflection was offered at an evening of prayer celebrating new life through God's spirit.

Sr. Maria Rose Kelly is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Marywood University.

Sr. Maria Rosa Kelly, IHM

Come, O Holy Spirit, Come
And from your celestial home
shed a ray of light divine
Come, parent . . .  father . . .  mother of the poor
Come, source of all our store
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You of comforters the best
You, the soul's most welcome guest
Sweet refreshment here below.
In our labor, rest most sweet
Grateful coolness in the heat
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed light divine,
come within these hearts of yours,
and our inmost being fill.
Heal our wounds.
Our strength renew.
On our dryness, pour your dew
Wash the stains of guilt away.
Bend the stubborn heart and will
Melt the frozen
Warm the chill
Guide the steps that go astray
On the faith who adore and proclaim you evermore
In your seven fold gifts descend.

It has been a great blessing of the Spirit for me to prepare this reflection.

The title of our prayer --- Sing a new song -- didn't hit me much at first. But then it did hit me. The recurring command of the psalms to sing a new song to the Lord seems to me now as a command that has everything to do with God's Holy Spirit.

You know, it is not easy to sing a new song.
It is not easy to want to sing a new song.
It is not easy to sing a new song thrust
upon us
It is not easy to wrap our tongue and lips around unfamiliar words and tunes.

All of our new singing wherever or whenever it happens, I believe is the work of God's loving, freeing, energizing renewing Spirit.

Refugees from Kosovo are crying these days ... By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept as we remembered Zion . . .  How can we sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?

The Kosovo refugees don't really know a new song to sing. And we don't know what song to sing either . . . so we sing the old song again . . .  the old power songs we know do not work  but we don't know what else to do. We don't know a song that would bring peace.

Come, O Holy Spirit, Come
Heal our wounds, our strength renew
On our dryness pour dew
Bend the stubborn heart and will
Melt the frozen, warm the chill

It is not easy to sing a new song.

In Littleton the song is a wail of grief . . .  the songs stopped . . . the music died.

Will the people of Littleton ever be able to sing a song again? Will tears ever stop? Remarkably - against every prediction thousands gathered just yesterday in the Red Rocks amphitheater and committed themselves to further healing. Their commitment is like the tips of crocus through the blizzard snows.

Come, O Holy Spirit, Come
Heal our wounds, our strength renew
Bend the stubborn heart and will
Melt the frozen, warm the chill

A student of mine has taken a giant step towards singing a new song in her own life . . . after years of coming close but not making the move, she is seeing a counselor to finally come to grips with the depression that has plagued her for years. Yes, she is learning to sing a new song. But it's not easy. God's Spirit at work over the years has finally triumphantly moved her to want to sing a new song . . .  to desire to live more fully . . . more happily . . . more resurrected. And now God  as Spirit every week gives her the courage . . . the fortitude  . . . the faith . . . . the hope to see it through. I am so proud of her . . .  and I praise God for the song she is learning . . .  struggling to learn.

In our labor, rest most sweet
Grateful coolness in the heat
Solace in the midst of woe.

One of the housekeepers at Madonna Hall recently wore a button on her uniform: it said - Congratulate me! This is my 100th day smoke free! She is singing a new song. An easy song? Not by a long shot. But what a good song and how glad she was on the 100th day to invite others to sing it with her. She joins the many courageous who One Day At A Time are drug free, alcohol free, gambling free, smoke free. And did they learn this new song on their own? Every one would tell you -- Absolutely not. I am powerless over my addiction. I depend totally on my absolute power -- my God.

Come, O Holy Spirit, COME
Heal our wounds, our strength renew
On our dryness pour your dew
Wash the stains of guilt away

I first came to love the Holy Spirit when I lived in Verona, NJ. I worked with several other Sisters there staffing a retreat center. Many, many people came to Our Lady of the Lake. Frequently they came very tired, often worried, distressed about some personal or family trouble. What I saw over and over again was slow and quiet transformation. From frozen to melted, from chilled to warmed, from despairing to more hopeful, stubborn hearts and wills bent. Of course this was the miraculous work of God in our midst. This was the Spirit gently teaching our guests a new song to sing.

These post-Easter scriptures are full of it --- full of the Spirit -- promised and already bountifully at work:

The Emmaus disciples went from dirge singing to blissful chants of He is not dead . . . . Jesus is risen!

Saul singing murderous threats becomes Paul singing songs of conversion and apostolic zeal.

The apostle Phillip is snatched up and literally dropped in the path of a pagan man singing a song of confusion about the prophet Isaiah . . . Through the Spirit, Phillip taught him a song of belief and baptism.

What is the new song God hopes you will sing soon?

What is the new song you wish you could sing?
I'm a firm believer that God works through our deepest desires. Is there a new song You'd like to sing?

Do you hear faint strains of the melody even now?
Is it a song you are afraid to sing?
Is it a song you want to put off for a while?
Is it a song you would be brave enough to ask God's Spirit to begin teaching you right now?

Come, O Holy Spirit, COME