February Allocutio 2026
Come Holy Spirit
Fr. Eamon Devlin CM
At this time every year I invite the children preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation to write a letter to God about their hopes and also any questions they have. I also ask them to tell God which gifts they want most and why. One youngster wrote as follows: ‘God, the gift I most want is wisdom because I want to see the world how you see it and make decisions like you would?’ Not bad for an eleven year old!
A simple yet searching insight into what the Holy Spirit is about. At this time of year the Holy Spirit is in the air in our schools and parishes. The Spirit is also a key agent in the nearby season of Lent driving Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The Holy Spirit pervades the Handbook though often, as in the passage we heard today (Handbook Ch333, section 11 p201) Sotto voce: in the challenge to be in a sense always on duty, alert to all and any opportunity to reach out to another with God’s plan and purpose firmly at the back of our minds.
As legionaries ours might be the intention of that schoolboy to see things with God’s eyes, ours might be the sacrifice of Jesus going into the wilderness of our society today where for most people God is absent and often unwanted. The prayers of the Legion begin with simple invocation to the Holy Spirit ‘Come’: could I propose a Lenten Challenge: that each of us would pray that invocation with intent before every small opportunity that comes our way each day: before I make the phone call, send a text or email, before I knock a door or make contact on the street, and also in those moments that are not my Legion work, the ones that allow me to be in a sense always on duty, at home around the table, on the bus or Luas, in a waiting room or busy supermarket, on the street or in a café, in the pub or club or office. ‘Come Holy Spirit’ before I say a word and so see to it that there is no “half-circle Christianity” in my discipleship as I honour the total self-giving of Our Lady Queen of the Legion.
