Archbishop Vigneron offers apostolic blessing for those in attendance, including plenary indulgence as Easter season concludes

DETROIT — The cathedral filled Saturday night with the sounds of Gospel music, with praise and worship punctuated by moments of holy silence.

Red was everywhere — on the priests’ vestments, in the roses gathered before the altar, the streamers hanging from the ceiling and the clothing of those in attendance.

The occasion was the vigil of Pentecost, when the Church commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Advocate of those who believe, to culminate the 50-day Easter season.

“It is our great blessing tonight to be the representatives of the whole archdiocese as we keep vigil for the feast day of Pentecost,” Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron said in his opening collect. “It’s an important day not only for the whole Church, but also because for us in the archdiocese, it’s an occasion to renew our thanksgiving for the graces of our synod and to renew our commitment to be faithful to that great blessing.”

Indeed, it was four years ago at Pentecost that Archbishop Vigneron issued a landmark pastoral letter, Unleash the Gospel, in response to the local Church’s Synod 16, which called for a wholesale renewal of the archdiocese’s missionary efforts.

In the years since, the Church has taken strides toward fulfilling that mandate, refocusing on evangelization and missionary discipleship at the curia, parish and family levels.

“This is a time for us to be filled with hope that God wants to do incredible things in the Archdiocese of Detroit,” said Fr. Stephen Pullis, director of evangelization and missionary discipleship for the archdiocese, who preached the homily. “He wants to renew us. He wants many people to hear and know and love the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Like most years, the annual Pentecost Mass featured upbeat praise and worship music, but unlike most years, this year’s Mass featured a special Gospel setting written by Keir Ward, music minister of Sacred Heart Parish in Detroit.

Ward, whose family was featured in a recent Detroit Catholic documentary, wrote the setting as an homage to Detroit’s Black Catholic worship experience.

“It represents what I think is a work of the Holy Spirit,” Archbishop Vigneron said after Mass. “We heard so much about ‘many tongues’ in the liturgy — that God is to be glorified in every tongue and idiom — and He wants to be glorified in what we might call the ‘idiom of Detroit.’”

Expounding on that theme, Fr. Pullis opined that while not everyone is a great musician like those called to write music for the Church, everyone has their part to play in “Jesus’ band.”

“We have wonderful musicians here today,” Fr. Pullis said. “I cannot play anything. The triangle is pretty complicated for me. But I think Jesus wants each of us to be part of his band. Whether we feel like we’re just keeping time or whether we’re an excellent guitar player in the Gospel, if each of us is not committed to sharing the gifts and talents we have to build the kingdom of God, then our band will be off tune.”

The readings for the liturgy recounted the story of the tower of Babel from Genesis, in which the people, in their arrogance, built a tower to rival God’s glory. But instead of reaching heaven, like they’d intended, God instead confused their language so one couldn’t understand another.

It wasn’t until Pentecost — and the coming of the Holy Spirit — that the opposite occurred, Fr. Pullis said. Instead of each speaking his own language, the Spirit enabled everyone to hear the apostles’ preaching of the good news in his own tongue.

“The Holy Spirit that Jesus gives us is true unity,” Fr. Pullis said. “The Holy Spirit is the love between the Father and the Son, and that same Spirit is given to us out of Jesus’ obedience to the Father. If we try to be united apart from the way the Church gives us — Jesus’ obedience to the Father — we’re going to be building our own tower of Babel.”

After Mass, Archbishop Vigneron offered an apostolic blessing to those present — a blessing that comes from the pope — which carried with it a plenary indulgence for those disposed to receive it. The conditions for a plenary indulgence include sacramental confession and reception of Communion, a detachment from sin and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father.