Fulton J. Sheen once said about the Church, "Even though we are God's chosen people, we often behave more like God's frozen people--frozen in our prayer life, frozen in the way we relate with one another, frozen in the way we celebrate our faith." Today, on this Pentecost Sunday, it is a great day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the spirit of new life and enthusiasm for our faith. A ship strayed off course near San Diego some years back. It became stuck in a reef at low tide. Twelve tugboats were unsuccessful in their attempts to budge it. Finally, the captain instructed the tugs to go back home. He sighed, "I'll just be patient and wait." He waited until high tide. All of a sudden the ocean began to rise. What human power could not do, the rising tide of the Pacific Ocean did. It lifted that ship and put it back into the channel. Something like that happened to the early Church on the Day of Pentecost. They were all together in one place – confused, unmotivated and fearful – when suddenly the tide of Holy Spirit rolled in. GOSPEL QUESTION FOR THE WEEK: Have you considered lately the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to you at your Confirmation? They are in your heart and waiting to be called forth!
Sister Kate’s “Gospel Question of the Week” (John 7: 37-39)…Weekend of 6/7-8/2014 …Pentecost
The season of Easter is officially over and today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the coming of the Holy Spirit! Pentecost literally means 50th. It is a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover feast by the Jews and a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus by us, as Christians. What happened on the first Pentecost? The answer is several things: on the day of Pentecost
1. The Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and Blessed Virgin Mary as fiery tongues.
2. The frightened apostles were transformed into fiery preachers and evangelizers by a special anointing of the Holy Spirit.
3. The people surrounding the apostles experienced an anointing of the Holy Spirit with the gift of tongues, hearing Peter speaking in their languages.
4. The early Christians became powerful witnesses and brave martyrs for faith.
That’s a lot! What does it mean for us? Several things as well…God reveals Himself to us in many ways:
1. As an indwelling God, He makes us His Living Temples. You remember learning about being temples of the Holy Spirit, yes?
2. As a strengthening God, He strengthens us in our fight against temptations and in our mission of bearing witness to Christ by Christian lives of integrity.
3. As a sanctifying God, He makes us holy through the reception of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, His Body and Blood:
4. As a teaching and guiding God, He clarifies and constantly reminds us of Christ’s teachings (check the Gospel!)5. As alistening and talking God, He enables us to pray and listens to our prayers.
6. As a giver of gifts, He gives us His fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, joy, courage, etc.