Happy Feast of Pentecost!
The feast, which marks the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and is often called the birthday of the Church, was a busy one in the Vatican.
During his homily at the Holy Mass for Pentecost, Pope Leo focused on three aspects of the Holy Spirit.
First, and in keeping with his teachings throughout this past year, he said that “the Spirit of the risen One is the Spirit of peace.” This peace is intimately tied to forgiveness and reconciliation. It makes us collaborators in God’s redemptive plans by granting us the ability to forgive and reconcile with those around us. It is also a peace that extends to all: “…the Lord pours out his Spirit of peace from one end of history to the other, for he who has redeemed everyone from death excludes no one.”
Second, Pope Leo reminded us that “the Spirit of the risen One is the Spirit of mission.” It makes the Church “co-workers” in salvation history, “its protagonist, not merely its guardian.” The Holy Father said that the Spirit first acts within us by giving us the faith to profess “Jesus is Lord,” and then continuously pours out this faith, allowing us to proclaim it with both our words and actions.
Pope Leo finished his homily by reflecting on what our mission proclaims: the truth. He said, “the Spirit of the risen One is the Spirit of Truth” which promotes unity within that truth as a sign of God’s presence. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us understanding and breaks through the walls that are created by things that hinder our recognition of truth, “including partisanship, hypocrisy and fads.” And this same Holy Spirit transforms us in the truth and makes us holy, by imprinting “His character on us” in Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.
During his Regina Caeli catechesis, the Holy Father shifted to reflect upon three “doors” that the Holy Spirit opens: the door to God, the door of the Church, and the door of our hearts. The Holy Spirit opens the door to God by assisting us in developing a personal relationship with Him so that we can move beyond the strictures of law and into deep, intimate knowledge and love. The Spirit opens the door of the Church by overcoming fears and anxieties caused by the “world’s challenging” and “changing times” so that the Church can be open and welcome all with open arms. The Holy Spirit opens our hearts so that we can love one another as brothers and sisters. Pope Leo said,
“The Holy Spirit opens the door of our heart, helping us to overcome resistance, selfishness, mistrust and prejudice, while enabling us to live as children of God and brothers and sisters to one another. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, fraternity is born among individuals, groups and peoples of the Earth, and all speak the same language of love, which unites and brings harmony despite our differences.”
Picking up this theme of mission, at 4pm Rome Time (10am EST), the Dicastery for Communication met virtually with digital missionaries throughout the world who were invited to join in a time of Pentecostal prayer. In his invitation, Monsignor Lucio Adrian Ruiz wrote that the meeting would be an opportunity to join together and to “ask the Holy Spirit to renew in each of us the fire and courage to bring the Lord’s message to social media, praying for and presenting to the Lord each and every person who follows us online.”
Image: “tea candle in the dark” (CC BY 2.0) by Markus Grossalber
Ariane Sroubek is a writer, school psychologist and mother to two children here on earth. Prior to converting to Catholicism, she completed undergraduate studies in Bible and Theology at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She then went on to obtain her doctorate in School and Child Clinical Psychology. Ariane’s writing is inspired by her faith, daily life experiences and education. She is currently writing a women's fiction novel and a middle-grade mystery series. Her non-fiction book, Raising Sunshine: A Guide to Parenting Through the Aftermath of Infant Death is available on Amazon. More of her work can be found at https://mysustaininggrace.com.
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