Letter from Pastor
-
May 31, 2020
Pentecost is the lost feast. It does not have the sentimental, loving feeling as in Christmas, or the joyful, spring-like feeling of Easter, yet Pentecost is the second greatest feast day in the Church. Today Christians throughout the world celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost. Pentecost Sunday comes fifty days after Easter Sunday and ten days after the Ascension of our Lord. Pentecost is the Greek name for the Hebrew feast of Weeks or the Feast of Harvest; it was celebrated 50 days after Passover. It was the celebration of the beginning of the early weeks of harvest. There were two harvests each year, Spring and Fall. Pentecost was the Spring celebration of the beginning of the early wheat harvest.
Pentecost means fifty and 50 days equals seven weeks, a "week of weeks" that is why the people called it the Feast of Weeks. Later on, it became associated with the giving of the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai. The Hebrews would come back to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. It is not coincidental that the Holy Spirit would come on Pentecost, the 50th day, beginning of a new period of time, an eighth day, a new creation: the Church.
We all know the familiar story of what occurred on that Sunday. The Apostles and the Blessed Mother were gathered in the Upper Room, the same room where they had seen Christ after His resurrection and the same room where they celebrated the Last Supper.
“And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues of fire, distributed and resting on each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:2-4).
Christ had promised His Apostles that He would send His Holy Spirit, and on Pentecost the gift was given. The Apostles went out and began to preach the Gospel in all the languages that the Hebrews who were gathered in Jerusalem spoke and many were converted and baptized that day. It is the day on which the Spirit brings the Church into existence and enlivens it.
And here we are 2020 years later, living in the same Church of Christ, still having the same Spirit guiding and protecting us and the Church. The Church of Christ will always be here until the end of the world. Her Spouse, Jesus, will always protect His spotless, Holy Bride, the Church.
Down through the centuries, the Church survived. There were wars, and pandemics, plagues and conquests, we had corruption, scandals, mistakes galore, and there were had dictators and ideologies thinking that they were going to destroy Her. They are all long dead or gone, and the Church is still here and thriving. No mere human institution would have survived the first days, let alone 2020 years.
We as a Church are going through some tough times now. It helps to realize a certain similarity between the first Pentecost and Pentecost 2020.
We like them are waiting for the doors of our “Upper Rooms” to be opened. Their time of solitude and prayer was the groundwork for the rest of their lives. The Apostles had 50 days for meditation and reflection on the teachings of their Lord in order to mature in their faith and their vocation. And so are we, although it is much longer than 50 days! Certainly, we as a Church, society, individuals should use this time for prayer, reflection, and renewal.
We, like the Apostles will be called to return to our daily routines with strength to our faith, to our values, to our healthy family relationships, to our social commitments. The same Spirit will guide and help us as well. Be Not Afraid, all will be well.
Have a Blessed Pentecost Sunday, and be open to the “rushing winds” of the Holy Spirit in your life and the life of your family.