Sacred Heart Parish

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PENTECOST (C)

  1. In our Preface Prayer today we will say to God our Father – "You sent the Holy Spirit on those marked out to be your children by sharing the life of your only Son, and so you brought the Easter Mystery to its completion". The Easter candle, symbol of Christ’s victory over sin and death, and prominently positioned here in the sanctuary for the past fifty days, will now be placed at the baptismal font where it will be displayed with honor until next year’s Easter Vigil. In our baptismal celebrations the candles of our newly baptized will take their light from the paschal candle, symbol of Christ, the Light of the World. In our funeral liturgies, the bodies of our deceased brothers and sisters will be greeted at the baptismal font and, in the shadow of the paschal candle, the celebrant will sprinkle the casket with baptismal water and say – "In the water of baptism our dear parishioner was buried with Christ in the death of baptism. May he or she now share with Christ in his resurrection." On Monday we will return to what is called "Ordinary Time" – the thirty-four weeks after Pentecost. Of course, no time can be considered ordinary in the light of Christ’s death and resurrection. Our daily routines may seem quite ordinary but we must now live them with extraordinary love, patterned after Christ’s love for us in his Easter Mystery. That is why we prayed at Mass yesterday – "Father, let the love we have celebrated in the Easter season be put into practice in the days and weeks and months ahead.”


  1. In our Preface Prayer we will also say to God our Father – "Today we celebrate the great beginning of your Church when the Holy Spirit made known to all peoples the one true God and created from the many languages of mankind one voice to profess one faith". Our Catholic faith teaches us about our three-person God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is the proper work of the Holy Spirit to effect the real presence of the risen Christ in our lives here and now. This means that the divine life which has its origins in God the Father and has come to planet earth through God the Son is made our interior, personal possession by God the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the Church. This truth brings us to the very heart of our faith. When Christ the Lord lived in our history, his visible presence, his sacred humanity was the source of light and grace for those who were in contact with him and began to be his followers. Now that he has returned to his heavenly Father in his glorious ascension, Christ’s visible presence, his spiritual powers and authority has passed over into the sacraments of the Church by the work of the Holy Spirit. This is what St. Augustine had in mind centuries ago when he said of Christ – He did not leave heaven when he came among us in weakness, and he did not leave us when he returned in glory to heaven. That is why he could promise all who follow him – "I will be with you always." The Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of that promise. This also means that the Church is also the fulfillment of that promise. Just reflect on all the wonderful realities the Lord Jesus has won for us by his Easter death and resurrection: the forgiveness of sins, the grace of the sacraments, the truth of the Gospel, the Eucharist we celebrate, the share we have in God’s own life. These realities would be non-existent if there were no Church, and there would be no Church were there no coming of the Pentecostal Spirit.


  1. What must we do to be receptive to the Holy Spirit? First of all and most importantly we must pray. Notice the Sequence Prayer that followed our second reading today. Its title is "Come, Holy Spirit". We should note the direct manner and demanding tone with which the poet addresses the Holy Spirit. "Come, Creator Spirit, visit our hearts with your love, enlighten our minds, drive forth from us all that is hostile to divine life within us, give us always the gift of peace." We should note also the many titles with which the poem describes the Spirit – Paraclete, gift of God Most-High, Spirit of life, fire of love, the soul’s anointing, Father of the poor. Paraclete is a Greek word with various meanings. It can mean advocate – one who stands by you when you are in trouble, as does your lawyer. Jesus is our first advocate, but He speaks of sending us another advocate, another helper, who is the Spirit. English often translates Paraclete as Comforter or Consoler. Paraclete is a strong term. Our first Advocate does not abandon us in his ascension; he promises us another Advocate who will remain with us always. Finally, we should note the last few lines of the Sequence Prayer: Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour out your dew. Bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill. On the faithful, who adore and confess you evermore in your seven-fold gift descend. Give us virtue’s sure reward; give us your salvation, Lord; give us joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.