May 19, 2013 Pentecost Sunday - Mass During The Day

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Pentecost Sunday - Mass during the Day 
Lectionary: 63

Reading 1ACTS 2:1-11

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Pentecost is celebrated 50 days after the Passover.  It is originally a Jewish Holy Day celebrating the first-fruits of the harvest and the revelation of the Law on the Mountain.  There is a spiritual connection between those two which is revealed in the Christian celebration.  Jesus Christ is the first fruits of the Christian faith.  He was raised on the 1st day of the week and on the first day beginning the season of First Fruits which ends on the 50th day with Pentecost.  It is on this day that the Jews received the Law on the Mountain in the Sinai desert.  And it is on this day that the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in the upper room and they received the power to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven
staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
“Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.”

Devout Jews were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Pentecost.  And God spoke to all of them through the Apostles by giving the Apostles the gift of tongues such that everyone could understand what they were saying.  Totally the opposite of what happened in Babyonia <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/11/">when God scrambled their tongues in order that they could not understand each other.</a>

Responsorial PsalmPS 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

R. (cf. 30) Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.

It is the Spirit of God which dwells in us and which gives us life.  It is in God that we live, move and are.   Without God, we are nothing. 

Reading 21 COR 12:3B-7, 12-13

Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; 
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
there are different workings but the same God
who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
is given for some benefit.

As a body is one though it has many parts,
and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

We receive these gifts of the Holy Spirit when we receive the Sacraments.  The Sacraments are the helps which God has given us so that we can attain perfection in this life.  It is in the Sacraments that we receive a partaking in the dive in life of Jesus Christ.

OrROM 8:8-17

Brothers and sisters:
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
But you are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin,
the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the one who raised Christ from the dead
will give life to your mortal bodies also,
through his Spirit that dwells in you.
Consequently, brothers and sisters,
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body,
you will live.

Those who are in the flesh are they who live according to the lust of this world, seeking only to please themselves.  Those who are in the Spirit are they who seek to please God by persevering in good works to the end of their lives thus proving their faith.  If we live according to the Spirit, we recognize that we are debtors to the Spirit of God which saves those who love Him and keep His Commandments.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a Spirit of adoption,
through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!”
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit
that we are children of God,
and if children, then heirs,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if only we suffer with him
so that we may also be glorified with him.

It is by the Spirit that we are washed of all sin and are born again, sons of God.  We receive this washing in Baptism, if we believe without deceit in our hearts and come to the fountain of grace seeking the grace of God.

GospelJN 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

We see in the Gospel of John that we receive the Holy Spirit multiple times.  Here, on another day not the Pentecost, Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into the Apostles.  We also receive the Holy Spirit multiple times when we receive all of the Sacraments.

OrJN 14:15-16, 23B-26

Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Those who do not love me do not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.”

Jesus revealed that He had to leave in order for the Holy Spirit to come and enter our hearts and empower us to preach the Gospel throughout the world.  And also to guide us into all truth and remind us what Jesus taught.