Heaven on Earth
Pentecost Sunday
Dear Friends,
The readings, prayers, and hymns of Pentecost reveal the importance and centrality of this event in the life of the Church.
In my bulletin article this week I've tried to give you some sense of the feast's religious background and baggage.
In this blast, I'd like to offer just one point for your consideration: In Saint Luke’s description of Pentecost, the wind blows down on the disciples in the opposite direction of Jesus’ being taken up into the clouds.
This isn't simply a physical description of the event. What Luke wants us to see is that just as Jesus entered heaven in his Ascension, so now does the sheer energy of heaven itself infiltrate the earth in the Spirit’s outpouring.
The direction of the wind is secondary to the fact that God himself was filling the disciples' hearts (and so, the earth) with his Spirit.
This - not only the event of Pentecost 2,000 years ago, but also God's continued outpouring of his Spirit on Jesus' faithful followers today - is what brings heaven to earth. This is what accomplishes the reality we pray for in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Exciting? Yes! Let's join together in prayer and find our place in God's plan to bring heaven to earth!
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love.
V. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
In the Peace of our Risen Lord,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Pentecost Sunday