“There is a big deal of devotion to Jesus and to the Father and I feel like sometimes the Spirit is given the smallest portion,” said Fr. Luc Amoussou. “We tend to go more to Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit is kind of left behind. These nine days are a kind of special time which is important to mark but if we reduce our devotion or our commitment to the Holy Spirit to these nine days, again, we are falling into the same problem.”
Amoussou, a visiting Jesuit priest from the African nation of Benin, took time from his PhD work at the Toronto School of Theology to officially open the Annual Holy Spirit Novena at the small downtown parish on May 10.
“I believe that the Church is the gift of the Holy Spirit,” he said following the evening Mass. “People do not give due homage to the Holy Spirit. That’s why I am happy to participate in this kind of novena, to show that it is important that we listen to the Spirit.”
Nine priests were to celebrate over the nine days, including Our Lady of Good Counsel pastor Fr. Carlyle Guiseppi.
While the focus is the Holy Spirit, each day carried a different theme, including the gift of fear, the gift of knowledge and the gift of understanding.
Now in its sixth year, Guiseppi said the annual novena has been a true success despite criticism he’d received when piloting the project back in 2008.
“When the Holy Spirit started the novena here I was told that people would not come out for nine nights,” he said. “This is our sixth year and every time that we have had it we have been almost full. If they weren’t getting something from it people wouldn’t be coming here for nine nights.”
Earlgin Gibbs hasn’t missed a night of the six novenas and intends to continue attending, but couldn’t quite put into words what it is she gets out of it.
“It gets me thinking to go the right way,” said Gibbs. “I don’t know how to put it into words. I can’t describe it, just closer to God.”
Guiseppi said her response is exactly why he does it each year.
“We are in the business as priests of helping God to help His people. When you feel comforted it is God’s Spirit comforting you.”