PENTECOST SUNDAY YEAR B
COLLECT
The Collect for Pentecost Sunday Year B reads as
follows:
God our Father, who by sending
into the world the Word of truth
and the Spirit of sanctification
made known to the human race Your
wondrous mystery,
Grant us, we pray, that in
profession the true faith,
we may acknowledge the Trinity of
eternal glory and adore Your Unity,
powerful in majesty.
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.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
In making this prayer tangible, the
following reflection questions emerged:
- What is my relationship with Holy
Spirit?
- What does Pentecost Sunday mean to my
life?
- What gifts and fruits of the Holy
Spirit do I wish to receive this Pentecost Sunday?
- How can I acknowledge the Trinity of
eternal glory?
GOSPEL REFLECTION
The Gospel for today is from St
John.
Jesus tells us that the Holy
Spirit will guide us and give us what we need to know. Jesus knows each of us
by name and by personality. Jesus knows what each of us can manage at any given
time. The Spirit knows what we can manage and how to tell us the truth. It is
our choice to accept and acknowledge what He has to offer.
Jesus also invites us to be witnesses
to the truth. We need to know and accept
the truth before we can share it with others.
We need to be able to share the Good News with others. We can do this in a mighty way through the
power of the Holy Spirit through prayer and by the way we live our every day
lives in our families, parish, workplace, those whom we meet in the street. Simple gestures such a kind word or a smile
can be life changing and healing for others.
If we ask the Holy Spirit to respond to others in the way they need,
then our simple kind words, gestures or smile will be transforming as the Holy
Spirit will transform them into a way that is within reach of that other
person. The other person may not be aware
or may not accept it but at the right time for that person, that seed of
kindness, a warm smile or gesture will have been sown and it will bear much
fruit.
The Holy Spirit can be for some of
us, a poor second cousin to God the Father, or Jesus His Son. However,
the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed Trinity-three persons yet
one God as our Catholic Faith tells us. Today's Gospel makes it perfectly
clear that the Holy Spirit will lead us to the complete truth and what is told
to us will be taken from Father God and Jesus. In other words, it will be
in total unity as is the Triuune God.
The Holy Spirit needs therefore to be
our best friend, since what He tells us is in direct harmony with Father God
and Jesus His Son. Yet, the Holy Spirit will provide the graces and gifts that
we need for our daily lives, just as He did with the disciples after Jesus had
ascended to Heaven. It is through the Holy Spirit that the Church is
guided, and we are in our personal prayer guided by Him too. It is that
quiet little voice that
·
prompts us to do the right thing and
stand up for what we believe when it would easier to walk away,
·
helps us examine our conscience of
any wrong doing/sin/faults which we need to confess,
·
guides us to do the will of God in
our lives.
·
is our consolation in times of grief
and confusion.
·
brings us a greater awareness and
understanding of our faith
·
supports us in our life journey and
is our best friend.
Of course, there are the 7
traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit and the 12 fruits which emanate from them
which we are given in a special way at Confirmation. However, although we
receive them then, we can always ask the Holy Spirit daily to increase in us
these gifts and fruits, and supply for us what is lacking at our present
time.
It seems to me that the Holy Spirit
gives each of us an extra special dose of the gift/s that we most need for our
lives, a gift we use more often than the other gifts- for me, that gift has
been courage and perservance. When life has been tough, I know with God's help
that I can dig deep and draw on these gifts. Perhaps, you may have
had a similar observation in your life. Of course, we do not need to wait until
life is tough, but we can draw on these gifts each day in our daily lives.
The Holy Spirit came to the disciples
as promised by Jesus. They were no longer afraid but went out and preached the
Good News. On this feast of Pentecost, which is the birthday of the
Church, she invokes the Holy Spirit to fall afresh on us, and with that, we can
ask Him to provide the gifts/fruits we most need for our lives. We can be
filled anew- a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a wonderful grace to
receive again. Let us be open to receive the Holy Spirit afresh in our
hearts and to be eagerly awaiting to receive the gift/s He has to offer us on
His special Feast- the feast of Pentecost.
COME HOLY SPIRIT COME.
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