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Pentecost Sunday
Exodus, Chapter 9, Verse 27-30
27 Then
Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron and said to them, “I have sinned this time!
The LORD is the just one, and I and my people are the ones at fault. 28 Pray to the LORD! Enough of the
thunder and
hail! I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” 29 Moses replied to him, “As soon as I
leave the city I will extend my hands to the LORD; the thunder will cease, and
there will be no more hail so that you may know that the earth belongs to the
LORD. 30
But as for you and your servants, I
know that you do not yet FEAR the
LORD God.”
This
was the seven plague of God on the Egyptians and of course Pharaoh had closed
his ears and heart to God. Thunder was to the Egyptians the voice of God but
they did not listen nor did the hail melt the ice of their hearts to the true
God. Because God loves us He sometimes permits plagues in our lives that will
bring about an exodus from our sin and a melting of our heart. When we are poor
in spirit it is then that we can draw near to the Lord.
A young man approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. (Mt. 19:16-22)
Today
might be a good day to make a poor man feast.
Poor
Man’s Feast[1]
Recipe originally uploaded to YouTube by 91-year-old cook and great grandmother, Clara, who recounts her childhood during the Great Depression as she prepares meals from the era.
DIRECTIONS
Prepare the vegetables:
Dice the onion. Peel the potatoes and dice into cubes no larger than 1/2 inch.
Heat the oil in a 12"
non-stick skillet over medium heat.
Add the potatoes and cook
for 5 minutes, stirring once.
Add the onion and cook for
another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the sliced wieners and
cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons
vegetable oil
1 medium onion,
diced.
2 lbs potatoes,
peeled and diced small.
5 hot dogs, sliced
into rounds (about 10 oz)
8 ounces tomato
sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
(to taste)
2 teaspoons sugar
Catechism of the Catholic Church
PART FOUR: CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION TWO-THE LORD'S PRAYER
Article 2-"OUR FATHER WHO ART IN HEAVEN"
I. "We Dare to Say"
2777 In the Roman liturgy, the
Eucharistic assembly is invited to pray to our heavenly Father with filial
boldness; the Eastern liturgies develop and use similar expressions: "dare
in all confidence," "make us worthy of...." From the burning
bush Moses heard a voice saying to him, "Do not come near; put off your
shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy
ground."26 Only Jesus could cross that threshold of the divine holiness, for
"when he had made purification for sins," he brought us into the
Father's presence: "Here am I, and the children God has given me."
Our awareness of our status as
slaves would make us sink into the ground and our earthly condition would
dissolve into dust, if the authority of our Father himself and the Spirit of
his Son had not impelled us to this cry . . . 'Abba, Father!' . . . When would
a mortal dare call God 'Father,' if man's innermost being were not animated by
power from on high?"
2778 This power of the Spirit
who introduces us to the Lord's Prayer is expressed in the liturgies of East
and of West by the beautiful, characteristically Christian expression:
parrhesia, straightforward simplicity, filial trust, joyous assurance, humble
boldness, the certainty of being loved.
Apostolic Exhortation[2]
Veneremur
Cernui – Down in Adoration Falling
of The Most
Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix,
to Priests, Deacons, Religious and the Lay Faithful of the Diocese of Phoenix
on the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
My beloved Brothers and
Sisters in Christ,
Part I
II. The Mass as the eternal
memorial of Christ’s Sacrifice on the Cross
19. In the Bible and the Church
liturgy, when the Sacrifice of the Mass is called a ‘memorial,’ it means much
more than remembering the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. It means that whenever
the Mass is celebrated, the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary that happened in the
past is really made present to us at Mass, here and now. This is only possible
because being the eternal High Priest who has conquered death, His
self-offering on the Cross is an everlasting act of love. The Letter to the
Hebrews points clearly to the eternal nature of Christ’s sacrifice: “Because He
remains forever, [He] has a priesthood that does not pass away… He is always
able to save those who approach God through Him, since He lives forever to make
intercession for them” (Heb 7:24-25).
20. Therefore, in every
Mass, Jesus is not being offered again; rather, we – the Mystical Body of
Christ – are taken up into the one sacrifice at Calvary by means of the
Priesthood of Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary is perpetuated and made
present to us in such a way that we can participate in it, linking our
imperfect and sinful lives to the perfect and pure sacrifice of God and
receiving all the divine benefits that flow from His eternal sacrifice. Our
Lord made this possible for us at the Last Supper by instituting the Sacrament
of the Eucharist. He uses this Sacrament to make His self-offering at Calvary
present to all believers in every place and in every time. Ever since that holy
night, throughout the centuries, whenever and wherever the Mass is celebrated,
the eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross is really made present.
21. If we were at Calvary, what
would stand out to us? We would see Jesus’ gasping for breath. His gaze would
seem to alternate down and up, first towards us with mercy and longing and
second upwards in surrender to His Father. Would we simply say “thank you” or
would we be compelled to make a response of compassion? When we attend Mass, do
we seek to join Jesus in His total surrender to the Father’s will? Do we bring
our imperfections, our toil and sin, and lay them before Jesus to be consumed
by His Death? We either say with Jesus, “Into Your hands, Father, I commend my
spirit, too!” or we choose to remain enslaved to our sin. To be continued…
ON KEEPING
THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[3]
CHAPTER III
DIES ECCLESIAE
The Eucharistic Assembly:
Heart of Sunday
A pilgrim people.
37. As the Church journeys through
time, the reference to Christ's Resurrection and the weekly recurrence of this
solemn memorial help to remind us of the pilgrim and eschatological
character of the People of God. Sunday after Sunday the Church moves
towards the final "Lord's Day", that Sunday which knows no end. The
expectation of Christ's coming is inscribed in the very mystery of the Church
and is evidenced in every Eucharistic celebration. But, with its specific
remembrance of the glory of the Risen Christ, the Lord's Day recalls with
greater intensity the future glory of his "return". This makes Sunday
the day on which the Church, showing forth more clearly her identity as
"Bride", anticipates in some sense the eschatological reality of the
heavenly Jerusalem. Gathering her children into the Eucharistic assembly and
teaching them to wait for the "divine Bridegroom", she engages in a
kind of "exercise of desire", receiving a foretaste of the joy of the
new heavens and new earth, when the holy city, the new Jerusalem, will come
down from God, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev
21:2).
Pentecost[4]
Fifty
days after Easter, the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles is one of the
three great feasts of the liturgical year.
What is Pentecost? The solemn anniversary of the day
on which the Holy Ghost came down, under the appearance of fiery tongues, upon
Mary the Mother of Jesus, and His apostles and disciples, who were assembled in
prayer at Jerusalem. To express her joy at the descent of the Holy Ghost, the
Church sings, at the Introit of the Mass, The Spirit of the Lord hath filled
the whole earth, alleluia, and that which containeth all things, hath knowledge
of the voice, alleluia, alleluia. Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered;
and let them that hate Him fly before His face.
Prayer.
O God, Who on this day didst instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light
of the Holy Spirit, grant that we may be truly wise in the same Spirit, and
ever rejoice in His consolation.
EPISTLE. Acts ii. 1-11.
When
the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one
place: and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming,
and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to
them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: and
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers’
tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. Now there were
dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. And
when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded
in mind, because that every man heard them speak in his own tongue. And they
were all amazed and wondered, saying: Behold, are not all these that speak
Galileans? And how have we heard every man our own tongue wherein we were born?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and in habitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and
Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphilia, Egypt, and the parts of
Lybia about Gyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews also, and proselytes, Cretes,
and Arabians: we have heard them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works
of God.
Why does the Church
celebrate this day so solemnly?
To praise and thank God for sending
the Holy Ghost, Who gave so many spiritual graces and fruits to men.
Why did the Holy
Ghost appear under visible signs?
It was done to attract attention, and to
indicate outwardly what took place inwardly. The roar of the mighty wind,
according to the language of the prophets, pointed to the approaching Godhead,
and was intended to announce something extraordinary. The appearance of tongues
signified the gift of languages, and the division of them the difference of
gifts imparted by the Holy Ghost. The fire which lightens, warms, and quickly
spreads, denoted the love of God, the power and joy with which the apostles,
and mankind through them, should be filled, and indicated the rapid extension
of Christianity.
What were the effects
of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles?
Being enlightened and made
acquainted with all truth, freed from all fear and faint-heartedness, and
undaunted, the apostles preached everywhere Christ crucified, and for love of
Him endured with joy all sufferings. Their discourses were understood by all
present, as if they had carefully learned each particular language. From that
time Christianity spread with wonderful rapidity throughout the whole world.
Pray the Holy Ghost to-day to enlighten you also, to inflame you with holy
love, and to give you strength daily to increase in all goodness.
GOSPEL. John xiv. 23-31.
At that time
Jesus said to His disciples: If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My
Father will love him, arid We will come to him, and will make Our abode with
him. He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words. And the word which you have
heard is not Mine: but the Father’s Who sent Me. These things have I spoken to
you, abiding with you. But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will
send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your
mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I
give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart
be troubled, nor let it be afraid. You have heard that I said to you: I go
away, and I come to you. If you loved Me, you would indeed be glad, because I
go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you
before it came to pass that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. I will
not now speak many things with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and in
Me he hath not anything. But that the world may know that I love the Father:
and as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I.
Why is the Holy Ghost called a spirit, and the Holy
Spirit?
Because
He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and is as it were, the Spirit of the
Father and the Son.
What does the Holy Ghost effect in men?
He
renews their hearts, by cleansing them from sin, by imparting to them the
sanctification and likeness to God gained through Christ, together with all
these supernatural gifts and graces by which they can become holy and happy,
and brings forth in them wonderful fruits of sanctity.
Which are these gifts of the Holy Ghost?
The
seven following:
1. The gift of wisdom,
which teaches us to value the heavenly more than the earthly, infuses into us a
longing for the same, and points out to us the right means to salvation.
2. The gift of understanding,
which enlightens us to rightly understand the mysteries and doctrines of our
holy religion.
3. The gift of counsel
in doubtful cases, which enables us to know what to do or omit, and what to
advise others. This gift is particularly necessary for superiors, for those who
are changing their state of life, and for those who are entangled in perplexing
and unfortunate marriage relations.
4. The gift of fortitude,
which banishes all timidity and human respect, strengthens a man to hate sin,
and steadfastly to practice virtue; preferring contempt, temporal loss,
persecution, and even death, to denying Christ by word or deed.
5. The gift of knowledge,
by which the Holy Ghost enlightens us with an inner light, that we may know
ourselves, the snares of self-love, of our passions, of the devil, and of the
world, and may choose the fittest means to overcome them.
6. The gift of piety
and devotion, which infuses into us veneration for God and divine things, and
joy in conversing with Him.
7. The gift of
the fear of God, that childlike fear, which dreads no other misfortune
than that of displeasing God, and which, accordingly, flees sin as the greatest
evil.
The gift
of Wisdom[5]
Wisdom empowers a person “to judge and order all things in accordance with divine norms and with a connaturality that flows from a loving union with God.” So, while knowledge and understanding enable a person to know and to penetrate the divine truths, wisdom moves us to “fall in love” with them. The Holy Spirit aids the contemplation of divine things, enabling the person to grow in union with God. This gift unites us to the heart of Jesus. Father Adolphe Tanquerey taught, “This, then, is the difference between the gift of wisdom and that of understanding, the latter is a view taken by the mind, while the former is an experience undergone by the heart; one is light, the other love, and so they united and complete one another. Wisdom, withal, remains the more perfect gift; for the heart outranges the intellect, it sounds greater depths, and grasps or divines what reason fails to reach. This is particularly the case with the saints, in whom love often surpasses knowledge” (The Spiritual Life, p. 630). For example, St. Therese of Lisieux (declared a doctor of the church), had no formal education in theology, and yet was wise to the ways of the Lord, a wisdom gained through prayer and simple acts of love offered to God. While this gift contemplates the divine, it also is a practical wisdom. It applies God’s ideas to judge both created and divine matter, thereby directing human acts according to divine wisdom.
Therefore, a person will
see and evaluate all things —
both joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, success and failure — from God’s point of view, and accept them
with equanimity. With wisdom, all things, even the worst, are seen as having a
supernatural value —
for example, giving value to martyrdom. Here a person arises above the wisdom
of this world and lives in the love of God. St. Paul captured well this gift of
wisdom: “What we
utter is God’s
wisdom: a mysterious, a hidden wisdom. God planned it before all ages for our
glory. …Yet God
has revealed this wisdom to us through the Spirit. …The Spirit we have received is not
the world’s spirit
but God’s
Spirit, helping us to recognize the gifts He has given us. We speak of these,
not in words of human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, thus
interpreting spiritual things in spiritual terms.
The natural man does not
accept what is taught by the spirit of God. For him, that is absurdity. He
cannot come to know such teaching because it must be appraised in a spiritual
way. The spiritual man, on the other hand, can appraise everything. We have the
mind of Christ”
(I Cor 2:6ff). Or consider St. John’s
first epistle: “God
is love. Everyone who loves is begotten of God and has knowledge of God. …He who abides in love, abides in
God, and God in him. Our love is brought to perfection in this, that we should
have confidence on the Day of Judgment; for our relation to this world is just
like His. Love has no room for fear; rather, perfect love casts out all fear” (I Jn 4:7, 17-18).
Which are the fruits of the Holy Ghost? They are the twelve following:
1. Charity.
2. Joy.
3. Peace.
4.
Patience.
5. Benignity.
6. Goodness.
7. Longsuffering.
8. Mildness.
9. Faith.
10. Modesty.
11. Continency.
12.
Chastity.
These fruits
should be visible in the Christian, for thereby men shall know that the Holy
Ghost dwells in him, as the tree is known by its fruit.
Whit Sunday[6]
What is Whitsunday or White Sunday?
The
liturgical color of this Sunday is red in order to recall the tongues of flame
that descended on the Apostles. The old English name for Pentecost, Whitsunday,
originated from the custom of the newly baptized redonning their white robes
for the services of the day. By extension this could also apply to the new
Easter clothes worn by the faithful fifty days earlier.
The Dove
Like Ascension Thursday, Whitsunday was once
the occasion for several liturgical eccentricities. Many medieval churches, for
example, had a Holy Ghost Hole in the ceiling of the church from which a large
blue disk bearing the figure of a white dove would swing slowly down to the
congregation during the Mass sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus. Midway through the
sequence, the disk would stop and from the Holy Ghost hole would rain symbols
of the Spirit: flowers, water, even burning pieces of straw. A practice far
less susceptible to excess, on the other hand, is the use of beautifully carved
and painted wooden doves in the home. These figures would usually be suspended
over the dinner table, and would sometimes be encased in glass, having been
assembled entirely from within (much like the wooden ships assembled in
bottles). The painstaking effort that went into making these doves serves as a
reminder to cherish the adoration of the Holy Spirit.
The Blessed Dew
Though the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit is often described in dramatic terms (a mighty
wind, tongues of fire, etc.), it is also portrayed in soothing, comforting
ways. The Whitsunday sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus, for example, calls the
Spirit our "sweet refreshment" (dulcis refrigerium), while the
postcommunion prayer, in an allusion to Isaiah 45.8, refers to the "inward
sprinkling of His heavenly dew." Hence there arose the charming
superstition that the morning dew of Whitsunday is especially good luck. To
obtain a blessing, people would walk barefoot through the meadows before Mass
and would even feed their animals with bread wiped by the dew.
Age of the Holy
Spirit
Where
we are is the age of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is often called the birthday of
the Church because even though the Apostles were transformed by earlier events
such as the institution of the Eucharist and priesthood on Maundy Thursday or
their acquiring the power to forgive sins on Easter afternoon, they - and by
extension, the Church - did not really come into their own until the Paraclete
inspired them to burst out of their closed quarters and spread the Gospel to
the ends of the earth. And just as Pentecost marks the birthday of the Church
in the Holy Spirit, so too does the Time after Pentecost mark the life of the
Church moving through the vicissitudes of history under the protection and
guidance of that same Spirit. It is for this reason that the epistle readings
from this season emphasize the Apostles' advice to the burgeoning churches of
the day while its Gospel readings focus on the kingdom of heaven and its
justice. It is also the reason why the corresponding lessons from the breviary
draw heavily from the history of the Israelite monarchy in the Old Testament.
All are somehow meant to teach us how to comport ourselves as citizens of the
city of God as we pass through the kingdoms of this world.
Octave?
Pentecost
Monday remains an official festival in many Protestant churches, such as the
(Lutheran) Church of Sweden, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church of Finland,
and others. In the Byzantine Catholic
Rite Pentecost
Monday is no longer a Holy Day of
Obligation, but
rather a simple holiday. In the Extraordinary Form of the
liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, as at Easter, the liturgical rank of Monday and Tuesday of Pentecost
week is a Double of the First Class and across many Western denominations,
Pentecost is celebrated with an octave culminating on Trinity Sunday. However, in the modern Roman Rite (Ordinary Form),
Pentecost ends after Evening Prayer on the feast day itself, with Ordinary Time resuming the next day.
·
My advice: Go to Mass for the 8 days.
Highlights
and Things to Do:[7]
- Listen
to the Catholic Culture audiobook St. Thomas Aquinas—Send Out Your Spirit read by James
Majewski.
- Meditate
on Fr. Roger Landry's homily for Pentecost Sunday.
- Pray
the Golden Sequence, Veni, Sancte Spiritus which is read or sung at the
Pentecost Vigil and Sunday Mass.
- Find
some ideas for celebrating Pentecost in the home:
- Therese Mueller, Celebrating Pentecost in the Home
- P. Craig Stewart and Helen McLoughlin, Whitsunday, The Cenacle and The Cenacle Project.
- Ethel Marbach, Pentecost Activities and Pentecost Wheel
- Helen McLoughlin, Pentecost Visual Display
- Jan Wilson, Make Your Own Windmill
- Mary Reed Newland, Pentecost Favors, Gifts and Fruits
- Family Life Bureau, Planting a Pentecost Tree
- Pentecost
Feasting Ideas: Catholic Culture has a large list of suggested recipes in
the right hand column. But the themes are red, something with flames, or
something that reminds of flames. Strawberry placed upside down have the
shape of a flame. And also, fruits help us think of the fruits of the Holy
Spirit. Another way of thinking is presenting the meal in "gift"
form, like the "gifts of the Holy Spirit."
- Evelyn Vitz, Twelve Fruit Salad
- Demetria Taylor, Special Strawberry Shortcake
- Florence Berger, Pentecost Picnic and Strawberry Cake
- See
also Catholic Cuisine for feast food ideas.
- For
further inspiration, see the blog posts by Jennifer Gregory Miller:
Claire’s
Corner
May 24 - 26, 2024
Feast of the Flowering Moon is held annually on Memorial Day weekend in historic, downtown Chillicothe, Ohio.
The festival offers plenty of family-friendly entertainment for
residents and visitors to Chillicothe, Ohio. Featured activities include Native
American music and dancing, crafters, exhibitors, Mountain Man Encampment with
working craftsmen and demonstrations, entertainment and much more.
Daily
Devotions
·
Today in honor of the
Holy Trinity do the Divine Office giving your day to God. To honor God REST: no
shopping after 6 pm Saturday till Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Conversion
of Sinners
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[1]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/recipes/view.cfm?id=1656
[4]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
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