Celebrating Pentecost Today

    Pentecost is the day the Holy Spirit came, the day the Holy Trinity was fully revealed, and the Church could not and cannot exist without God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is the Church's birthday because it is the beginning of the time of the Church. The time after the death and resurrection of Christ, but before the second coming of Christ. We are living in this time, and it all started with the first Pentecost.

Pentecost is the Party and the Gift

	Pentecost is about bringing people together.     It is the reversal of the Tower of Babel. As we celebrate Pentecost this year, let us mark the occasion by bringing others together. Consider hosting a BBQ or a seafood boil and invite several friends who don't know each other. What will you do?
	Pentecost is about receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.     We received the Holy Spirit at baptism and were sealed when we were confirmed. By living the Christian life, we continue to receive the Holy Spirit in the sacraments and in prayer. The Catechism even tells us that "Christ awaits us to enable us to drink of the Holy Spirit - in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us." The gift of the Holy Spirit is the birthday gift given to us through Pentecost. Will you unwrap it this year?
	Pentecost is about sharing the gift of the Gospel.    Wherever and whenever the Gospel is shared, the Holy Spirit is there. Take time to speak more with others about the relationship God made for us, about Christ's offer of new life, and his invitation to follow him. Will you proclaim the Good News to all the nations? Will you give others this gift of Pentecost?

Torch and Bucket

    There is the story of a person who saw an angel walking down the street. The angel was carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. "What are you going to do with that torch and that bucket of water?" the person asked. The angel stopped abruptly, looked at the person and said, "With the torch, I'm going to burn down the mansions of Heaven, and with the bucket of water, I'm going to put out the fires of hell. Then we're going to see who really loves God. The angel's point is that many people obey God's Commandments out of fear of punishment in Hell or hope of reward in Heaven. They don't obey him for the reason Jesus gives in today's Gospel: they don't obey them out of love. "If you love me," Jesus says in today's Gospel, "you will obey my commandments."

Babel Tower of confusion and the Pentecost Spirit of Unity

    The people used language to promote a human agenda (Gen 11:3-4). So, God confused tongues into many different languages (Gen 11:7). The result was disunity (Gen 11:6-7). At the Tower of Babel, God scattered the human family across the face of the earth in judgment (Gen 11:9). But on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit used language to announce the mighty works of God (Acts 2:14-41). Thus the Holy Spirit caused people speaking many different languages to understand one Gospel message (Acts 2:5-11). The result was unity (Acts 2:41). Pentecost was the beginning of the reunification of the human family as God sent men and women to gather into the New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ redeemed people from across the face of the earth (Acts 1:8; 2:37-41).