Pentecost Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, May 28, 2023 (EPISODE- 422)

Pentecost Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, May 28, 2023 (EPISODE- 422)

Readings for Sunday, May 28, 2023 - Pentecost Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A
FIRST READING: Acts 2:1-11
Ps 104:1+24, 29-30, 31+34. "Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth."
SECOND READING: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION ((no bibl. ref.)). Alleluia, alleluia! Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love.
GOSPEL: John 20:19-23

Image Credit: Shutterstock Licensed. Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Stock Photo ID: 1881688891 - St. Louis, Missouri USA - April 15, 2019. Close Up of the Pentecost Mosaic in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis with the apostles and Mary of Nazareth engulfed by the flames of the Holy Spirit. Important information. Editorial Use Only. Photo Contributor: Teresa Otto
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass – (Readings, prayers, and homily), for Pentecost Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A - Sunday, May 28, 2023, by clicking this link here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-solemnity-of-pentecost-a-ep-422-2023/s-ZIelkbX71cb  (EPISODE- 422)
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The Easter Season comes to an end this weekend with the Great Feast of Pentecost. The-descent-of-the-Holy-Spirit upon Christ's disciples. Jesus is now very much present and powerfully active, through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in the church and in his followers of every time and place. 

We, the followers of Christ, continue the wonderful work of the Kingdom. We do this work in tangible ways - putting into action the "warming breath" of God's Spirit of justice, love and practical care...  "God breathed into the first Human being the day of our creation. The book of Genesis tells us that the Lord put his lips to ours and breathed in us and gave us his spirit of life. And so we became human beings. And John tells us that on the day of Pentecost, the risen Lord breathed on us a second time and gave us new life. After receiving the Holy Spirit, courage replaced caution, and a "fire" was lit in our hearts that scatters the darkness of fear forever. We, like those first disciples, are now a new creation. We have been called to live an "heroic life" and to be instruments of God's peace and mercy in this beautiful and broken world."
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The Holy Spirit makes us disciples, able to be the "Warm breath of human kindness at a time of terrible coldness and need".....

The Gospel today, from Saint John, tells us about the coming of the Holy Spirit.  It is clear that these early disciples were hiding behind closed doors, very afraid.  The coming of the Holy Spirit takes their fears away!  These original followers of Christ seem to need peace because that is the first greeting that the Lord gives to them:  "Peace be with you!" -  May we (too) know the peace of Christ in our own lives!  With peace comes the capacity to forgive the sins of others.  This forgiveness is clearly a gift of the Lord, who loves us.  This gift is given to each of us individually and also to the Church through its ministry of service.
 
At the heart of our Christian life, fear is taken away; peace and forgiveness are given to us.  May we dispel the fears of others and proclaim the peace and forgiveness given to us in Christ.
 
In the first reading, too, the disciples were (again) described as being fearful……  They were still afraid to speak publicly and to proclaim Jesus to others. Even though they knew by now that he had Risen from the dead and had Ascended to the Heavenly Father, they had to wait for the Holy Spirit to take hold of them and give them courage in the face of doubt, persecution, ridicule and rejection.  Perhaps at times, we, too, may be shy about proclaiming our faith in the Lord.  Perhaps today, we can pray for this Spirit to descend upon us and to give us renewed courage so that our faith becomes so much a part of ourselves that it comes naturally to us and makes it easier to speak of our faith in an unforced manner.
 
Our gifts are different. Each person has different gifts.  We need all the gifts that each person has so that we can continue the work of Christ in our world.  How different our world looks when we begin to recognise that each person brings his or her own gifts and that we need those gifts to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ.
 
I have my favourite quotes about the Holy Spirit…  there is something about this text that I do believe captures the truth about the power and action of the Holy Spirit in our lives…..   it is written by the brilliant Jesuit writer Karl Rahner. He writes:
"Did we ever do a kindness to a person from whom we could not expect as much of a shadow of gratitude or appreciation, while at the same time, we had not even the compensation of feeling that we had acted unselfishly or decently in doing so?  Let us look into our lives, then, and see if we can discover whether any such experience ever came our way. If we find that it did, we may be sure that the spirit was at work within us then, and eternity and ourselves had a brief encounter, that the spirit means more than an ingredient in the make-up of a transient world. That explains the remarkable lives of the saints… They know well that God's grace can also bless the dull round of daily tasks well done and bring the doers a step nearer to God…. When we Christians… experience the action of the spirit, it means that we are, in point of fact, having contact with the supernatural, although that contact may be scarcely perceptible." (Karl Rahner SJ, 1904-1984, In Belief Today, 40-41).
 
I love that quote! Because, to me, it says very powerfully (and in an example that is very 'everyday' and unexceptional) that we KNOW the Spirit is at work in our lives, especially when the love and sacrifice we show is clearly coming from a loving hand bigger than our own lives and our own limited motives and actions.
 
When we do actions that are loving and unselfish, we are deeply aware that there is a power and a loving presence at work in us that is outside of just ourselves.  ….Transcending our limitations … and not explainable by our own actions… but bigger, ……. And "of which are just a cooperating part…."

It is God, …. It is God's Spirit at work in and through us.  At work in the world.   A power of unselfish, sacrificing, love and service. Unconditional love. That is at the heart of creation.
 
Finally, we often read this text about how (after the Spirit descended) people of different languages and cultures could all hear and understand….. but what is interesting is…   the people were not speaking the same language… they were still speaking in the language of those different cultures…..  but even so… they could understand….  This is a reminder that the Spirit brings not uniformity but diversity and variety…. But we are all ONE in that diversity because the common language we speak is the language of God… and that is LOVE…..
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References:

Fr Paul W. Kelly

St Mary's College daily diary entry on the Holy Spirit;     
MISSION 2000  – PRAYING SCRIPTURE IN A CONTEMPORARY WAY. YEAR B. BY MARK LINK S.J;

"SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR." GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ;  MONASTERY OF CHRIST IN THE DESERT. ABBOT'S HOMILY.

Image Credit- Shutterstock Licensed. Stock Photo ID: 1881688891 - St. Louis, Missouri USA - April 15, 2019. Close Up of the Pentecost Mosaic in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis with the apostles and Mary of Nazareth engulfed by the flames of the Holy Spirit. Important information. Editorial Use Only. Photo Contributor: Teresa Otto

Pentecost Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year A (Sunday, May 28, 2023) (EPISODE- 422)

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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{{Happy Pentecost to you all.  This is such a wonderful feast day, celebrating the birthday of the Church...   when, as promised, Our Lord Sent the Holy Spirit from his Heavenly Father... to fall upon the apostles and ensure Christ's presence is in and among his followers of every generation...  giving fruitfulness to all we do and say in the name of Christ.. and carrying on Christ's work in us all...    Peace and Goodness to you all}}
my brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.
Lord Jesus, you have revealed yourself as the way to the Father: Lord, have mercy.
You have poured out on your people the Spirit of truth: Christ, have mercy
You are the Good Shepherd, leading us to eternal life: Lord, have mercy.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.  Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
2. When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.
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PREFACE: Pentecost
Eucharistic Prayer III
Communion side.  pwk:  LH
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{Thanks, everyone -   With today's feast of Pentecost.. this brings our easter season to a close... and ordinary time resumes from this Monday......   with the very fitting new Feastday of Mary the Mother of the Church....      , and have a grace-filled and compassion-filled week. And may God continue to bless and protect us all.

Go forth. The Mass is ended. Alleluia alleluia.
 
 
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Archive of homilies and reflections:  http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email:  paulwkelly68@gmail.com

To listen to the weekly homily audio podcast, please click this link here.
NB - It is often a week or so Ahead:  https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks


Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection"  - Led by Rev Paul Kelly

Prayers and chants  — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)

Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)

"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers. 

 

The Pentecost Sequence.  Australian Lectionary for the Mass,  1969, 1981

Prayers of the Faithful -   " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'.   E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).

Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" -  By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The ….Gloria, copyright 2011 ccwatershed.org.  

-Come Holy Spirit Hymn: inspired by the Hymn by  Rabanus Maurus (9th century). Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2020. Sound effects by Mark DiAngelo,

May God bless and keep you.