"Holy Spirit, Lord of light"
With the Feast of Pentecost, we come to the end of Eastertide. We pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that together we can be Church, truly living out Christ’s message of love.
​
The First Reading gives us an account of the first Pentecost day. The Apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit, speak to the people who have come from different countries to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, fifty days after the Jewish Passover. Today they are understood in their own language.
​
The Psalm is a lyrical song of praise to the God who fills all creation with his life.
​
St Paul (Second Reading) reminds us that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and gives us life. We have received the Spirit of adoption and so we can call on Abba, Father!
​
Our Gospel, taken from Jesus’s words to the disciples at the Last Supper, is his promise to ask the Father to send us another Helper. With the Father and the Son, the Spirit will remind us of all that Jesus has said.
​
As Pilgrims of Hope this Pentecost, may we may ponder the gift of the Spirit that fills all people and things, and give thanks for the beauty of creation. We remember in prayer all those who cannot enjoy a livelihood because of the damage we have caused to our common home.
​
Here’s a text if you’ve only a minute …
We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God. First Reading
Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth. Psalm
‘If anyone loves me, they will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home in them.’ Gospel
Further Reflection
On the Feast of Pentecost we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the establishment of God’s Church: the same Spirit that continues to empower people like us to carry on the ministry of Jesus throughout the world today. The feast is celebrated fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus (Pentecost means ‘fiftieth’ in Greek). The author of the Acts of the Apostles (almost certainly Luke) is the only writer to describe the events of the first ‘Christian Pentecost’ (Acts 2, today’s First Reading), where the symbols of the mighty wind and tongues of fire are especially important.
​
First Reading Acts 2: 1–11 Of the four evangelists, only Luke tells of the Resurrection and Ascension and the coming of the Spirit as three different events. They are described both in his Gospel (Luke 24: 50–53) and in the Acts of the Apostles. In St John’s Gospel, for example, everything seems to happen all on the same day (John 20). However, it is Luke’s account that has shaped Church practice and liturgy over the centuries. Just four verses in the second chapter of Acts itself (2: 1–4) tell us about the coming of the Spirit itself, reporting on the words spoken by the disciples and the people present.
A sound like a mighty rushing wind … In the Old Testament the Spirit is often referred to as the breath of God, echoing this week’s Psalm 103 (104): ‘You send forth your spirit, and they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.’
​
… divided tongues as of fire A reminder of a Jewish tradition that when God spoke on Mount Sinai, his word divided into seventy tongues (believed to be the number of nations in the world at that time). When the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire, they were able to speak in many ‘other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance’.
​
There were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven pilgrimage from all over the known world to celebrate. Much has been written about the choice of nations mentioned by Luke. Pentecost was a major feast , when Jews came to Jerusalem on pilgrimage from all over the known world to celebrate.
Each of us in our own native language The different languages recall the Tower of Babel episode (Genesis 11: 1–9). However, in this case, although the multiple languages remain, people are able to understand each other.
Telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God The Spirit transforms the apostles into a community of prophets speaking about the wonders of the Lord. We are reminded of the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: ‘the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit ,reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen
​
Pope Francis, Jubilee Prayer
To aid our reflection on the Sunday readings each week we are reproducing, with permission, content from St. Bueno's Outreach. If you would like to know more about them or access their guided prayer resources, 'Prego', you can contact them via their website.​​​
QR Code for Readings at Mass
By scanning this with your phone, you will be able to access each of the Mass Readings for today.