When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And 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 all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
“Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.”
Responsorial Psalm PS 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
R. (cf. 30) Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O Lord!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Reading 2 1 COR 12:3B-7, 12-13
Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.
As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
Sequence
Veni, Sancte Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel JN 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Homily for Pentecost Nativity Mass 5/31/2020
Last weekend we celebrated the Ascension, this weekend we celebrate Pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit into all of the disciples who were gathered in the upper room, and subsequently to all believers.
This is Jesus making good on his promise that He would not leave us as orphans, that He would not leave us alone, rather He would send us the Holy Spirit to be with us.
One of the most challenging things about these last few months has been being alone, or at the very least, not being able to see many of our friends and extended family members.
Even the biggest introverts are finding themselves to be lonely. And it all happened so quickly, so quickly everything changed… it felt like one day we were spending time with our friends, making plans to go out to the restaurants and such, and suddenly, nope, everything is closed!
But the biggest loss wasn’t the loss of the restaurants, it was the loss of the friends. Slow the spread, flatten the curve, no more social time and maybe the writing was on the wall from what other states were doing, but when the governor made the announcement that everything was closed it was very sudden.
I believe this is the way it was with Jesus too, first with his sudden death and then with his Ascension after 40 days. Maybe both times the writing was on the wall, but it was still pretty sudden for his friends and family.
I imagine just before the crucifixion the guys, the apostles, trying to make plans with Jesus after the Passover Feast, talking about what they would do once they got back to the Sea of Galilee, but Jesus knew it was gonna happen...
Jesus knew He wasn’t leaving with the group from Jerusalem like he had done in the past, it was just difficult to explain that he would suffer and die and rise again, and inevitably after His death they would feel alone. Suddenly alone.
In hindsight, it is easy to see, but in the moment, very difficult. But as part of his parting message he promised to send the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, who would lead them to all Truth.
So at Pentecost He makes good on his promise. We might think of it like confirmation in some sense.
I mean, think of the readings today where the Apostles, in the Gospel, received the Holy Spirit on the day of the Resurrection, and then we hear in the first reading that they received the Holy Spirit again on Pentecost.
Like Baptism and then Confirmation? Or Maybe the first Holy Orders since they received the Holy Spirit and the command or power to forgive or retain sins?
Anyway, I’m not sure if this is confusing to anyone else, but for me, this has always been confusing. If I have the Holy Spirit at Baptism, why do I need it again at Confirmation, don’t I already have it? And did I personally get more than all of you when I became a Priest??
I’ve been thinking about this recently, not in preparation for this Homily, just naturally it has come up over the last few weeks and I have been talking to some of my priest friends about it.
What I have come to is that we can always get more of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to us at Baptism, but then we receive another dose at our Confirmation, and I received another dose at my Ordination, and in theory we all could receive another dose at any time, today or whenever.
It doesn’t necessarily have to come with a sacrament but it does make sense to accompany a sacrament since a sacrament is an encounter with God.
When it comes to the Holy Spirit, we receive what we need. Or maybe we receive what God needs us to have. We heard in today’s second reading, “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;... To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
Gifts of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Prophecy. Gifts of Joy and Laughter, Counsel and Fortitude, Tongues and Miracles. Gifts of Healing, Piety and Fear of the Lord. These gifts and many others are given by God to us individually for the benefit of the Church, and for our own benefit to know that we are not alone.
Paul goes on to say, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, ... and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.”
At baptism, we receive the Spirit, but throughout our lives, we receive more and more of the Holy Spirit, at various times.
So if you haven’t yet today, ask the Holy Spirit to come down on you and bestow on you the gifts He wants you to have, the gifts that you need to speak the marvels of God and proclaim that “Jesus is Lord” to everyone you meet.
Here at Mass, I encourage you to ask Jesus to send you a dose of the Spirit right after you receive communion. It has been a while since everyone has received. You’ve longed to receive Him again.
Ask Him to give you these gifts, like a relative coming back to visit after a long vacation and he has some sort of souvenir, some gift for you.
Feel free to ask for these gifts by name, God wants to bless you, He wants to bless all of us with these gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus didn’t just suddenly leave us alone to fend for ourselves after His Ascension to Heaven, He prepared us as best He could and then sent us the Holy Spirit to remain with us while we are still on earth.
I pray that God will give us all a new infusion of the Holy Spirit for the good of this church, the good of this community, and for our own good... to give us peace, to guide us in all our actions and to lead us to the Truth, ultimately, to lead us together with Him for eternity in Heaven.