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🌿 The Force That Brings Life Back | A Pentecost Message
Have you ever experienced a spring in Rome?
After the long winter, when the trees stand bare, almost lifeless, something begins to change. Slowly, quietly… life returns.
A tender green appears on the branches. Flowers begin to rise from the earth. Even in the smallest cracks in the stone, even through asphalt, a fragile plant finds its way to the light.
It feels like a miracle every year!
And we might ask:
What is this force of life?
What is this hidden energy that allows life to return—again and again—against all odds?
Hildegard of Bingen called it viriditas—
the greening power, the creative life-energy of God.
It is the divine energy that flows through all creation,
that connects everything that lives—
in nature, in the cosmos, and in each one of us.
It is the breath of God.
And yet… when we look at our world today, it is not always easy to see this greening power at work.
Watching the news, we can easily feel afraid. There is so much violence and war in many parts of the world. Leaders who show no respect for any international laws or agreements, whose only program seems to be: myself and my country first. It is as if we are falling back into something we thought we had already overcome.
At times, it feels as though humanity is forgetting, failing to learn the lesson.
After the devastation of the Second World War, the nations of the world came together to sign the United Nations Charter in 1945— with a deep sense of hope:
to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” by prohibiting the threat or use of force. It promotes peace through international law, sovereign equality, and peaceful resolution of disputes, emphasizing human rights and collective security.
This surely was a movement of the Holy Spirt!
It seems, today, in the political arena, our memory is falling short. We sense how fragile this agreement has become.
Also, we SSpS have our sisters in some very difficult situations – situations of war and violence, situations of great insecurity and polarisations where prejudice and hatred can easily grow instead of love.
Already in another time, during the First World War, 1917, our first General Superior, Mother Theresia Messner, raised her voice. She warned that love for one’s country must never become rejection, bitterness, or hatred toward others. And she reminded the sisters:
“Whoever we may be—German, Dutch, Austrian, English, Russian, American…
we are all children of the great family of God,
united by the bonds of holy love.”
What a prophetic vision!
Even when nations were divided by war, our sisters were called to live together,
to support one another, to be a sign that another way is possible.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is present wherever national egoisms are overcome.
The Holy Spirit is at work where hearts are transformed!
We see it in the life of Joseph Freinademetz,
who allowed his initial prejudices to be transformed—deeply, patiently—
until he could truly say that he not only wanted to live and die as a Chinese but also wanted to be Chinese in Heaven.
We see it in Arnold Janssen,
whose devotion to the Holy Spirit was rooted already in his family,
and who understood that the Spirit transforms the human heart—
making it more like the Heart of Jesus.
Also, our Founder went through a transformation and passed from a rather cool rationality to a more loving and joyful presence. This can be recognised in his portraits.
Arnold Janssen saw the Holy Spirit deeply connected to the Holy Trinity. It is the overflowing love of the Trinity that incarnated herself in Jesus, especially in the Heart of Jesus. From here it overflows into the world and into our hearts.
The Holy Spirit is a powerful and transforming energy. She is love that wants to become embodied.
And today?
Where do we see this greening, loving power of God at work?
We see it…
These are not small things!
These are signs of Pentecost!
Pentecost is not only an event of the past.
It is happening now.
The same Spirit who raised the dry bones in Ezekiel 37 to life,
the same Spirit who filled the disciples with courage,
is at work today—
quietly, persistently, like the green shoot breaking through stone.
Perhaps the question for each of us is:
Where is the Spirit inviting me
to allow new life to grow?
Where is my heart being called to open?
To move beyond fear… beyond division… beyond grudges, prejudices… beyond narrowness?
May we become people of viriditas—
people in whom the life of God can flow freely.
May we allow the Spirit to renew our hearts,
to widen our love,
to make us instruments of unity in a divided world.
And may the Spirit of Pentecost
be for us today
breath…
fire…
and the quiet, unstoppable greening power of God
renewing the face of the earth.
Sr. Miriam Althenhofen, SSpS
Pentecost 2026
