Pentecost Sunday
Mass during the Day
Lectionary: 63
Reading I
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
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 II
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.
OR:
Rom 8:8-17
Brothers and sisters:
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Consequently, brothers and sisters,
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.
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
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.”
OR:
Jn
14:15-16, 23b-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS,
Today marks the birthday of The Church, the day Jesus sent the Holy Spirit down upon his Apostles and disciples in the form of fiery tongues. They spoke in many different languages and performed many miracles, converting thousands of people at a time to the Christian way of life. Last week, on the Seventh Sunday of Easter, we spoke about how the culmination of The Easter Season was love and that love should serve as the foundation of our faith. This Sunday the full revelation of God’s Love for us is displayed with the Descent of the Holy Spirit. It is through the Holy Spirit that our relationship with God can be realized. Understanding this relationship and entering into it willingly gives us all the capability to realize our fullest potential and to understand the special gifts that God has endowed to each and every one of us.
Indeed, we all are special and unique. Right down to our genetic code, no one is like anyone else. This is something that should be constantly meditated upon: we are a unique creation and an intricate part of this universe, God’s universe. The Apostle Paul reminds us that the Spirit of God dwells in us. When we recognize and embrace its presence, great things can happen. The desires of the flesh melt away and are replaced by heavenly things, which will make us desire things of the spirit. This will ensure that we remain on the right path and are doing the right things. Just as we are unique, the manifestation of the Spirit within us will have a different effect, thus all our experiences within our relationship with God will be unique. Each of us will have a special reaction to the presence of the Spirit, which will bring about a special transformation. As a community, we celebrate these together and individually we go forth into the world to experience a life filled with joy and promise.
We have all experienced a life with God and a life without God. We have all rejected The Gift of the Holy Spirit and have also been filled with the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is the perfect time to recognize The Holy Spirit and to let God rain down His love upon us. As the beautiful hymn Breathe on Me Breathe of God proclaims,
Breathe On Me, Breath Of God,
Fill Me With Life Anew,
That I May Love What Thou Dost Love,
And Do What Thou Wouldst Do.
Breathe On Me, Breath Of God,
Until My Heart Is Pure,
Until With Thee I Will One Will,
To Do And To Endure.
Breathe On Me, Breath Of God,
Till I Am Wholly Thine,
Until This Earthly Part Of Me
Glows With Thy Fire Divine.
Breathe On Me, Breath Of God,
So Shall I Never Die,
But Live With Thee The Perfect Life
Of Thine Eternity.
Within these lyrics contain a longing for intimacy with God and a wanting of The Gifts of the Holy Spirit promised by Jesus when we accept what is being given to us. These gifts are presented to us continuously and laid out before us.
As Christians, it is necessary to recognize the Spirit of God and let it do the necessary work it has to do to keep us spiritually healthy. The Holy Spirit, The Love of God, is constantly in motion. We must be in motion with it, moving forward in our development and understanding of our faith, Worship, prayer, seeking wisdom, and acts of charity are all necessary to be open to The Spirit and to be open to what God wants us to do. As always, this is all for the benefit of us. God wants us to be joyous. God wants us to be fulfilled. God wants us to beautiful children created in His image. It is through The Holy Spirit that this is experienced and realized.
Deacon Tom
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