Basic HTML Version
S
OLEMNITY
OF
PENTECOST
SUNDAY
Acts of the Apostles 2: 1-11
Psalm 104: 1-2, 24, 35, 27-28, 28, 30
1 Corinthians 12: 3B-7, 12-13 OR Galatians 5:16-25
John 20: 19-23 or 15: 26-27; 16: 12-15
S
UMMARY
Christ had promised the Apostles that he would send His Holy Spirit; and, on Pentecost,
they were granted the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
R
EFLECTION
Succinctly, Pentecost means ˈ50
th
Dayˉ. Pentecost is the old Greek and Latin name for
the Jewish feast ˈFestival of Weeksˉ. According to Jewish tradition, the Ten Command-
ments were given to Moses 50 days after the first Passover, which freed the Israelites
from their bondage in Egypt. As the Israelites settled, the feast became a time to honor
the Lord for blessing the fruits of their labors.
Within the Christian tradition, it marks 50 days after Easter Sunday, and it supplants the
Jewish feast of Pentecost. The Acts of the Apostles recounts the story of the original
Christian Pentecost (Acts 2): Jews from many regions were gathered in Jerusalem to
celebrate the Jewish feast. The Apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary were gathered in
the Upper Room (the same room where they had seen Christ after His Resurrection); on
this day, the promise Christ (Jn 15 & 16) had made to his apostles was fulfilled:
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 (Acts 2:2-4).
The Apostles began to preach the Gospel in all of the languages that the Jews who were
gathered there spoke, and approximately 3,000 followers were converted
and baptized that day. It marked the establishment of the first Christian Church. Approxi-
mately 2000 years later, what should Pentecost mean for us today? The Pentecost story
continues:
They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the
breaking of the bread and to the Prayers...All who believed were together and had all
things in common; they would sell their property and possessions and divide them
among all according to each one˅s need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting