Brothers  and Sisters in Christ,

Pentecost literally means 50th. The Jews celebrate this feast on the 50th day after the Passover feast and Christians celebrate it on the 50th day after the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus. To celebrate this feast we need to remember that it is the Holy Spirit that draws us to the Lord. We do need the Holy Spirit.

Looking at the life of the apostles, we can see the power of the Holy Spirit. Fifty days after Jesus’ resurrection, even though the disciples have seen the Risen Lord, they have witnessed the power of Jesus’ resurrection; however, there was still fear and confusion among them. They locked themselves in the upper room.

Only after receiving the Holy Spirit, only after the Holy Spirit descended upon them and empowered them, they were transformed. They opened wide the doors to go out to proclaim the good news. On that day over three thousand people were baptized, the church was born.

The Pentecost is not simple a historical event that happened two thousand years ago. No, the Pentecost continues to happen in our life. The Holy Spirit continues to enter our life to empower us to become true witnesses to the gospel, to proclaim the good news of Jesus. So let us pray: Come, Holy Spirit, renew our life.

May God bless us all!

 Fr. Joe