Pentecost, which we celebrated June 4, recalls the Holy Spirit’s outpouring of grace on the disciples of Christ and thereby inaugurating his Church on earth. I want to take this opportunity to magnify this seminal moment in human history and renew Christ’s call and provision for perseverance and fortitude.

In our world, we can often get distracted from our call as Christians by a deluge of the inane, mundane and profane. Yet Jesus promised us that the gates of hell would not prevail against his Church. That is why we — fueled by the sacraments and grace from the Holy Spirit — should go on the offensive and break those figurative gates where we see them in our lives, in our culture and in the world around us.

You can do this by increasing the frequency of your Rosary for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Make a Holy Hour for the souls in purgatory. Pray for the unborn in front of your local abortion business.

Live your Catholic faith in church, at the grocery store, at the post office and throughout the public square.

In times of uncertainty in the United States — and in the Church — we should never lose sight of the promises made by Christ and “the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth” (1 Timothy 3:15).

Let us all daily renew our relationship with Christ and the Church he founded.

God bless you!