Receive the Holy Spirit

PENTECOST SUNDAY YR A

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. Amen.

Acts 2:1-11

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak.

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
   they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
   a noise like a strong driving wind,
   and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
   which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
   and began to speak in different tongues,
   as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
   but they were confused
   because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
   “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
   inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
   Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
   Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
   as well as travelers from Rome,
   both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
   yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
   of the mighty acts of God.”

The word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

R. :

℟. (cf 30) Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
   O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
   the earth is filled with your creatures.

℟. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
   may the LORD be glad in all his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
   I will be glad in the LORD.

℟. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

If you take away their breath, they perish
   and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
   and you renew the face of the earth.

℟. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
  or:
℟. Alleluia.

Second Reading
Rom 12:3b-7, 12-13

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Brothers and sisters:
No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
   there are different forms of service but the same Lord;
   there are different workings but the same God
   who produces all of them in everyone.
To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit
   is given for some benefit.

As a body is one though it has many parts,
   and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body,
   so also Christ.
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
   whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
   and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

SEQUENCE

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
   Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
   Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
   Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
   Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
   And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
   Nothing free from taint and ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
   Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
   Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
   In your sevenfold gift descend;

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
   Give them joys that never end. Amen.
   Alleluia.

The word of the Lord.

Acclamation before the Gospel

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle inthem the fire of your love.

℟. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel
Jn 20:19-23

As the Father sent me, so I send you: Receive the Holy Spirit.

✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John

On the evening of that first day of the week,
   when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
   for fear of the Jews,
   Jesus came and stood in their midst
   and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
   “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
   and whose sins you retain are retained.”

At the end of the Gospel, the Deacon, or the Priest, acclaims:

The Gospel of the Lord.

All reply:

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

Reflection

Today the Church presents to us the feast of the gift of the Holy Spirit—Pentecost. It is interesting that John in his Gospel recounts that this event took place on that very same day that Jesus rose from the dead: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week” (Jn 20:19). In fact, the event is set in Jerusalem after the discovery of the empty tomb by Mary Magdalene early on Sunday morning. She mistook him for the gardener but then recognised him when he called her by name. Now, it was the disciples’ turn to encounter him face to face—suddenly and unexpectedly.

Unlike Mary Magdalene, the disciples did not go looking for him at the tomb. On the contrary, the Evangelist tells us that they were afraid, with the doors locked. Yet the Lord seeks us out and meets us precisely when we are afraid—even when the doors are closed. How beautiful is the greeting that the Lord repeats twice: “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19, 21). He gives a peace in which the heart finds rest. He does not give the peace that the world gives, for the peace of the world fades away, but his peace remains forever. He paid for it with his own blood: “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side” (Jn 20:20).

Then the Lord breathed on them and gave them the consolation they so deeply needed in their discouragement: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22). Through this Helper, the Lord was with them—and is with us. Through this Holy Spirit who dwells within us, the Lord remained with them and remains with us. He has not left us as orphans.

Prayer

Holy Spirit, grant that there may grow within me:

Wisdom, to see life through the eyes of God;

Understanding, to grasp the events around me as God understands them;

Counsel, to discern the path I must follow;

Fortitude, to sustain me in my weakness and in the face of suffering;

Knowledge, to appreciate the greatness of God and his love for every creature;

Piety, to have a gentle and humble heart like that of Jesus;

Fear of the Lord, so that with trust I may abandon myself into God’s hands, for he is a good Father who loves me.

Amen.

 

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