Cycle C - Year I:  

9 June 2019: Pentecost Sunday 

(Liturgical Color: Red)

Readings:

First Reading:        Acts 2:1-11

Second Reading:   1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13

Gospel:  Please Read  John 20:19-23

The birth of the Church....

 Today is Pentecost Sunday. The word Pentecost is from the Greek work "pentekoste" and it means "50th day". Because fifty days after Easter Sunday the Church celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers. And this begins their earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations.

The First Reading today describes this great event, thus: "suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues..." (Acts 2:1-4)

On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person.

Now Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church because from that point on the Apostles carried the message of Christ to the whole world. The authority that Christ gave His Apostles through the Holy Spirit extends through the bishops today. The Holy Spirit continues to guide the Church. In fact, St. Augustine said that the Holy Spirit was the soul of the Church. Just as the soul gives life to the body, so also the Spirit gives life to the Church.

Typically priests will wear red garments on Pentecost, and the alter cloth is also red, symbolic of the burning fire of God's love  and the tongues of fire that descended on the Apostles.

The evangelist John shares with us the Gospel for this Sunday, which speaks about the first encounter of the risen Lord with His disciples.

When the resurrected Christ appears, He offers proof of His resurrection by showing the disciples the wounds of His passion, His pierced hands and side. Then He calmed their fears and brought them peace, the peace which reconciles sinners and makes one a friend of God.

Then Jesus commissioned His previously weak and timid Apostles to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He breathed on them the gift of the Holy Spirit to equip His disciples with power, grace, and strength to accomplish their great mission to the world.

Until today in our generation, we, too, are empowered by the same Holy Spirit to continue the missionary work, to face challenges of our time, especially in matters of faith and morality.

In sum, after Our Lord Jesus' ascension to heaven, it is now the turn of the Holy Spirit to continue His saving work through the disciples and our Holy Mother Church. The Holy Spirit is the one who will gather and unite men and women of every race and tongue in one body and one faith.

Finally, today we greet ourselves and the whole Church a Happy Birthday, or Happy Anniversary, or Happy Foundation Day, as we mark a fresh start for all of us as the New Church, the People of God, in journey toward the Father's house in heaven. Amen.

Happy Pentecost Sunday to everyone. And thank you for a moment with God.

Ad Jesum per Mariam!