Pentecost – Mass of the Day
Psalter: Proper
Saint Dunstan
red
Entrance Antiphon : Wis 1: 7
The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world and that which contains all things understands what is said, alleluia.
Collect
O God, who by the mystery of today’s great feast, sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation, pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth, and, with the divine grace that was at work when the Gospel was first proclaimed, fill now, once more the hearts of believers. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading : Acts 2:1-11
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1,24,29-31,34
R/ Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are, How many are your works, O Lord! The earth is full of your riches.
You take back your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came. You send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.
May the glory of the Lord last for ever! May the Lord rejoice in his works! May my thoughts be pleasing to him. I find my joy in the Lord.
Second reading : 1 Cor. 12:3-7,12-13
No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose. Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.
Gospel Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia! Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Alleluia!
Gospel : John 20:19-23
In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.’ After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Grant, we pray, O Lord, that, as promised by your Son, the Holy Spirit may reveal to us more abundantly the hidden mystery of this sacrifice and graciously lead us into all truth. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Acts 2: 4, 11
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke of the marvels of God, alleluia.
Prayer after Communion
O God, who bestow heavenly gifts upon your Church, safeguard, we pray, the grace you have given, that the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon her may retain all its force and that this spiritual food may gain her abundance of eternal redemption. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The Baptism of Fire should not be confused with the sacrament of Baptism. An intrinsic connection remains between the sacrament of Baptism and the Holy Spirit. The best relationship between the Holy Spirit and Baptism is done by Saint John Paul II in his General Audience, September 6, 1989: “In the light of Pentecost, we can also understand better the significance of Baptism as a first sacrament, insofar as it is a work of the Holy Spirit…. The Baptismal walk in newness of life began on Pentecost day at Jerusalem” The Baptism of Fire experienced in the Acts of the Apostles 2, 1-11 marks the “Birthday of the Church” because on this day, with the Descent of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s mission is completed, and the New Covenant is inaugurated. Today, the Church celebrates the day God sends the Spirit of His Son into the world. The Holy Spirit gives us the Church, and she, in turn, gives us the sacraments. Saint Augustine in his Sermo, no. 267 teaches us that “what the soul is to man’s body, the Holy Spirit is to the Body of Christ, which is the Church. The Holy Spirit does in the whole church what the soul does in the members of the one body”. Cardinal Newman (PPSIII, sermon 19) opines that “The Holy Spirit came to finish in us, what Christ had finished in Himself, but left unfinished as regards us” “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.”