COME HOLY GHOST CREATOR COME!
1. The Spirit of Renewal
2. The Spirit of Unity
3. The Spirit of Courage
Introduction by the Celebrant
1. The Spirit of Renewal
There are days when life looks drab to us, too much like a repetitious, boring routine. Our faith too may impress us as unexciting, monotonous and tiring and cheerless. Today’s feast of Pentecost reminds us: life, especially the life of faith, is marvellous, thanks to the Spirit of Jesus who wants to renew the Church and the whole world as he did on the first Pentecost. Let him bring us to life again with joy and peace and the fire of his love. Let him breathe on us the fresh air of the gospel and the life of Jesus. We ask Jesus here in this Eucharist to pour out on us his invigorating Spirit.
2. The Spirit of Unity
On this beautiful day of Pentecost God lets his Spirit bring together again all that has been divided: our own selves, so often broken and ripped apart, our Church and its communities, nations. The Spirit unites in their diversity masters and servants, rich and poor, free people and those enslaved in any way, citizens and strangers, people of every race and tongue and colour. All of us are called to hear in our own language the marvels God is doing among us. Wonder at all this, rejoice and celebrate the feast of the Spirit.
3. The Spirit of Courage
Prudence is a good virtue to have, but a quality that is much rarer is courage: the courage to make a long overdue change, the courage to speak up for the truth when silence can keep you out of trouble, the courage to act according to your conscience, the courage to commit yourself to people when it is much safer not to be involved. Often prudence is cited as a good reason for not being courageous, and that’s bad. Courage and prudence should go hand in hand. The Holy Spirit can bring about the harmony between these two. He gave the apostles and the young Church the courage to risk their lives for the gospel. Today we ask Jesus the Lord to pour out on us his Sprit of courage.
May he lead us forward to follow in the footsteps
of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading: The Spirit Comes as a Mighty Storm
Loud noise, a mighty storm, fire, languages – these symbols, used to describe the first Christian Pentecost, tell us forcefully that here something totally new is happening. God’s Spirit of power is breaking through to bring divided humanity together in a community where there is room for all.
1 Reading ACTS 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.
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 travellers 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.”
Responsorial Psalm 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.
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.
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
Second Reading: Let the Holy Spirit Guide Us
If we are guided by the Spirit, we die with Jesus to sin, we live for love and joy and all that is good.
Galatians 5:16-25
Brothers and sisters, live by the Spirit
and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
these are opposed to each other,
so that you may not do what you want.
But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry,
sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,
drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh
with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
Sequence
Veni, Sancte Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labour, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: The Spirit Leads to the Complete Truth
The Holy Spirit will make Christians throughout the ages discover the meaning of the words spoken by God’s living Word, Jesus.
John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father,
he will testify to me.
And you also testify,
because you have been with me from the beginning.
“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
Everything that the Father has is mine;
for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine
and declare it to you.”
Commentary:
How does God come down?
Smoke came forth from his nostrils
And scorching fire from his mouth:
Coals were set ablaze by its heat. (Ps 17)
This display of anger was meant for the enemy, certainly, but it is still a frightful image of God. By way of contrast, read these lines by Jessica Powers on today’s feast of Pentecost:
That was the day when Fire came down from heaven,
inaugurating the first spring of love.
Blood melted in the frozen veins, and even
the least bird sang in the mind’s inmost grove.
James and John once asked Jesus to send fire from heaven to burn up the Samaritans, who had offered no hospitality. He told them, more or less, to grow up (Lk 9:55). But a year or two later, fire of a different kind did come down on the Samaritans, at the hands of Peter and John, “The apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit…. Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Acts 8:17).
Blessing
Pentecost does not belong to the past.
It is here with us today,
on condition we can overcome our reluctance
to be pushed forward by God’s Spirit
and to do what we know and see to be
right and just and truthful.
Let the Spirit make you free
for God and people.
Overcome your fears,
with the blessing of almighty God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go in peace and take with you
the love of the Holy Spirit. Alleluia! Alleluia!
R/ Thanks be to God. Alleluia! Alleluia!