Dear Parishioners:
This weekend in a very particular way, we call upon the Lord to send out His Spirit and renew us This weekend, our joy is twofold. Firstly, because we celebrate the great Solemnity of Pentecost, also, we rejoice because we are celebrating Mass with a congregation for the first time in months!
Pentecost marks the end of the Easter season. For Christians, it is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues. This event took place fifty days after the Resurrection of Jesus and is the culmination of the Paschal mystery. It also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of St. Peter. Pentecost is, thus, the official birthday of the Church.
The Scripture readings for Pentecost remind us that it is an event of both the past and the present. The readings remind us that is that the gift of the Holy Spirit is something to be shared with others. In other words, the gift of the Holy Spirit moves us to action and inspires us to share this gift with others. The Holy Spirit is that Paraclete (a Greek word meaning Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Encourager, or Enabler), who quietly works in us and through us every day behind the scenes of the daily activities of our lives and the lives of the people around us. He is also there in all His fullness wherever people worship and pray in the name of Jesus, most notably at Holy Mass.
Therefore, we rejoice on this excellent and "essential" feast of our faith. We rejoice today because we are celebrating this great feast together with public Masses after too many months away. We rejoice because we believe and know that the Holy Spirit is with us on this day in a special say. We have longed for this day for many weeks of isolation and quarantine. The Psalmist sings today: "Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth." So as we rejoice on Pentecost as we fervently pray for the Lord to send us His Spirit and renew our lives, our parish, our Church, and our world!
Pope emeritus Benedict XVI teaches: "The Holy Spirit is first and foremost a Creator Spirit, hence Pentecost is also a feast of creation. For us Christians, the world is the fruit of an act of love by God who has made all things and in which he rejoices because it is 'good', it is 'very good', as the creation narrative tells us (cf. Gen 1:1-31). Consequently God is not totally Other, unnameable and obscure. God reveals himself, he has a face. God is reason, God is will, God is love, God is beauty. Faith in the Creator Spirit and faith in the Spirit whom the Risen Christ gave to the Apostles and gives to each one of us are therefore inseparably united."
So we celebrate today on this Pentecost with great joy and a strong sense of renewal. The Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles and the Blessed Mother on the first Pentecost. They, too, were uncertain of their future. They also had been in isolation and living with fear. The gifts of Spirit enabled them to enter the world and boldly preach the Gospel with courage, with hope, with faith, and with joy! Our calling is to do the same in our uncertain times, amidst the pain, suffering, and fear of our world. May the Spirit leads us to preach the Gospel in word and deed with great courage, hope, faith, and joy! May it call us to renew our faith and trust in our loving God and the Church He established in Christ.
With such sincere faith, we continue to pray for the thousands of dead and the many still suffering physically, emotionally, and financially. We pray for all those who serve the suffering and the sick. And we pray for all leaders that they are inspired by the Holy Spirit to serve the common good. We pray that this pandemic may soon end!
Yes, we do rejoice today because of the resumption of the public celebration of Mass. Joyful that we pray together at Mass. The limited seating, social distancing, and the lack of singing change how we celebrate Mass. Yet we know that these necessary changes help maintain the safety and well being of all, priests as well as parishioners. However, the essential truth of what we celebrate at Mass, that Christ is truly present in the Eucharist, is unchanging.
We rejoice on this Pentecost with faith, with hope, and with great joy! A Joyous Pentecost! Welcome back! Be Well. Do Good! Stay safe! God Bless. Come Holy Spirit!!!