Solemnity of Pentecost – Who’s got the spirit? Do you have the spirit?
Yes, we all have the Holy Spirit, if you have been confirmed! Or unless we have lost the Spirit through negligence or apathy, we are meant to be Spirit-filled Catholics every day.
With this major feast day, we bring to a close the three-month-long Lent and Easter Season of the Liturgical Year, with the celebration of the Holy Spirit coming upon Christ’s disciples on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost. The Apostles, with Mary and a good number of other disciples, were gathered in the same “upper room,” which was used for the Last Supper and then where the risen Lord appeared to the Apostles on Easter. The “good news” is that Jesus kept his promise to send an advocate or helper to help jump-start the Church. This helper or Holy Spirit of God came as wind and fire. This is significant in God’s plan in that the “wind” of the Spirit is God blowing strongly his life-giving breath into the new-born Church and the “fire” indicates that the Lord wanted to set a fire under the Apostles to get out there and preach the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
What about us? Do you have the Spirit? Are you letting God blow his Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s gifts into your heart and soul? Do you feel at least a bit of the fire of the Spirit to tell others about God in your life and the importance of the Catholic Church?
Any possible candidates for R.C.I.A. this September?
Speaking of telling others about your Catholic faith, it is not too soon to start thinking about who you know might be interested in joining the Catholic Church. A good friend, a neighbor, a relative? Start planting the seed now and have them talk to me or Sister Kathy if anyone has any questions. If you recruit someone that enters into our St. Bernadette R.C.I.A. (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), you get a special gold star in the Lord’s big evangelization book!
Sunday lectionary-based bible study with Father Bob
The Tuesday afternoon group will meet just one more time, May 31, before we take a summer recess. The Wednesday evening group will not have a meeting this week. Both groups will start back up on Tuesday, August 2 and Wednesday, August 3. The usual handout for each week of June and July will be available in the parish office. I have personally enjoyed leading the bible study groups since I got back up and around on my knee. I am looking forward to restarting the groups in August and hoping for some additional participants.
Summer vacation and travel plans?
Don’t forget that your responsibility to worship our Lord in the Holy Eucharist every Sunday does not take a vacation! You can find a list of all the Catholic churches in Missouri and their mass times on this website. I am sure you can find on the internet the same info for every state in the country. Also, almost any place you go in the world has a Catholic church in town, unless you are going to Outer Mongolia or some other obscure place.
Just a reminder that if you are away from St. Bernadette parish this summer, myself and the parish finance council heartily encourage you to still use your Sunday envelope, or you can sign up yourself for electronic giving while you are gone. Just know that parish expenses do not go down just because you are not at the parish on Sunday. God bless you and your family this summer!