Bring Heaven to Earth
Pentecost Sunday
Dear Saints,
Let's keep the announcements up top this week:
We're on again this Sunday for Drive-In Mass. Join us in the Walmart parking lot at 9:00am or 11:00am. Check out the link above for everything you need to connect.
We will plan again to distribute Holy Communion at Mass on Sunday. The weather looks like it will be more cooperative this time around.
The Outside Confessional is still on the front steps of the church, and will likely remain there until we are back to full capacity. The current schedule is Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays: 10-11:30am and 3-4:30pm.
Visit our Mission Hub for up-to-date information during these Church-in-exile days.
The readings, prayers, and hymns for the Mass of Pentecost Sunday reveal the importance and centrality of this event in the life of the Church.
In my bulletin article this week I've tried to situate Pentecost in its first-century context. It's a fascinating feast, and I hope I've done it justice in my reflections.
In this email, I'd like to offer just one further 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 the author of Acts 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 his sending the Spirit.
The direction of the wind serves as a sign that God himself was filling the disciples' hearts (and, so, flooding 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? Absolutely! 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
PS We dedicate the month of May to Mary. If you'd like to learn how to pray the rosary, check out this page from the USCCB.
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
Pentecost Sunday
Descent of the Holy Spirit
Anton Raphael Mengs, 1728-1779.