PENTECOST Solemnity
Also Read: Mass Readings for 05 June 2022
First Reading: Acts 2: 1-11
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. (1)
There was great unity among the apostles and the early church. At a recent homily I heard, the priest explained that “Unity does not mean Uniformity!” We may belong to different cultures and speak different languages, but the idea of unity must reside in our hearts. As followers of Christ, we the universal church belong in one place – The One Body of Christ.
May the Coming of the Holy Spirit, unite us in spirit.
Amen!
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
(30) When you send forth your spirit they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.
(34) May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.
Second Reading: First Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13
(3) I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says “Let Jesus be cursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.
St. Paul provides us an insight into how to recognize false prophets. Only when we have the Holy Spirit within us, can we proclaim Christ’s name.
(12- 13) For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
Our nourishment comes from the Holy Spirit!
Amen!
Gospel: John 20: 19-23
(20- 23) After Jesus said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The apostles saw the Lord and they rejoiced in him. Then they receive Peace from Jesus Christ! –What Peace they might have experienced, to suffice them a lifetime! After Peace, then comes the Holy Spirit! The Sacrament of Reconciliation is established and Christ bequeaths his ministry here on earth to the apostles. Our priests today carry on his work.
We as baptized believers of this faith, receive peace from Christ. We are to ask the Holy Spirit to be activated in our hearts. In our hearts (not heads or intellects), we receive wisdom. We have been privileged to call out to God as “Abba Father!” (Rom 8: 14,16) When we act upon this promise, every day, every moment, we are instructed in the way we are to go. We ought to submit each of our choices and decisions to the Lord in this manner.
Prayer to the Holy Spirit:
Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth. O God, who by the Light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of your faithful grant we beseech You that we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolation through the same Christ Our Lord.
Amen, Amen, Amen!
