FEAST OF PENTECOST.
Happy Birthday to all believers.
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The Holy Spirit: Feast of Pentecost. |
This feast marks the 50 days of Easter
and the closing of Eastertide as a liturgical season, and the birth of the
Church. So, Pentecost is the Church's birthday- ours too as Christians.
God is three persons- Father, Son and Holy Spirit yet one God. This is a mystery. However, we can in our prayer life tap into all three persons. Most of us tend to communicate with God as Father or Jesus as His Son. However, this feast reminds us that Jesus did not leave us orphans when He ascended to Heaven- He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit to be with us until the end of time. Yet, sadly, the Holy Spirit can be forgotten and/or ignored in our spiritual lives. Yet, He has many special gifts to offer us. We can have a very special intimate relationship with Him, just as we do with Jesus and with Father God.
So we might like to take some time to
reflect on my relationship with the Holy Spirit. Some reflective
questions may include:
1. What is my relationship with the Holy
Spirit?
2.
How does the Holy Spirit work in my life?
3.
How will I use the gifts of the Holy Spirit to bring Christ to the world this
week?
4. Do
I know my faith adequately to be able to teach the gospel to one other person?
If not, what steps might I take to change this?
5.
What areas in my life has the risen Christ renewed during Eastertide and
how might the Spirit assist you to continue this renewal for the remainder of
the year?
6.
How might I live in the power of the Holy Spirit in my life?
We
may also want to reflect on the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit and how
they operate in our lives.
Traditions/customs
associated with Pentecost Sunday
Fruit Salad is often used as
a dessert for Pentecost Sunday. It is made from 12 fruits to represent the 12
Fruits of the Holy Spirit which are: Charity, Generosity, Joy, Gentleness,
Peace, Faithfulness, Patience, Modesty, Kindness, Self-Control, Goodness and
Chasity.
The fruit salad can be made
using both dried fruits such as currants, raisins, dates and tinned fruits as
well as fresh fruits. These are then combined with a syrup made with sugar and
water and perhaps a dash of your favourite liqueur.
Another name for Pentecost
Sunday is its traditional name' Whitsunday' which commemorated the white robes
worn by the newly baptised on this day. Two other traditional
desserts served therefore are white food-meringues or a sponge cake topped with
white icing to represent the white robes worn by newly baptised.
Regardless of whether you
choose these traditional Pentecost desserts or not, it is important to remember
that a new chapter began at Pentecost, and the Apostles started to take the
Gospel of salvation to the whole world. This is also our task.
Pentecost ends the liturgical season of Eastertide, but it marks the birthday
of the Church.
We may wish to pause and say
a prayer of thanks in gratitude for the person/people who taught us our faith
and have helped us on our spiritual journey. We may wish to reflect on
how we came into the Church. I was baptised as a young baby- a cradle
catholic. I thank my parents and godparents for bringing me into the
family of the Church. However, at some point, we have to make our own decision
to follow Christ and take our faith seriously. This is the journey we all
make each in our unique way. The Holy Spirit is in this journey with us
too.
The message of Easter and of
the Church is not something meant to be kept to ourselves, rather it is the
glorious news that we must take to everyone : the love of God, the forgiveness
of sins, and the redemption of the human race.
As we celebrate the feast of Pentecost,
let us be filled and renewed by the Holy Spirit. We may wish to make the
commitment to deepen our relationship with the Holy Spirit and to pray each day
at least one prayer to the Holy Spirit such as:
''Come Holy Spirit, fill the
hearts of your faithful
and enkindle in them the
fire of Your love".
May the Holy Spirit bless
you abundantly.
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