The Catholic Church celebrates when the Holy Spirit descended on Pentecost, fifty days after Jesus had risen from the dead on Easter. Pentecost commemorates the birth of the Church and marks the end of the seven weeks of Easter.
The Greek word pentekoste means “fiftieth day”.
For nine days, since Jesus’ Ascension into Heaven, the Apostles had been hiding in fear and praying to God. On the tenth day, the Holy Spirit descended on the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, and other followers of Jesus in the upper room.
The Third Person of the Holy Trinity empowered and emboldened them to come out from hiding and spread the Gospel. Over 3000 people were baptized on that first Christian Pentecost, marking the beginning of the Church.
The liturgical color of red symbolizes the Holy Spirit descending as tongues of fire and the fire that was lit in the hearts of Jesus’ followers.
The Holy Spirit continues to guide and unify the Church while inspiring and encouraging Catholics today.
Pentecost in 2 Minutes:
A Jewish feast takes on a new meaning for Christians:
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. 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 and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Acts 2: 1-4
A reversal of the Tower of Babel and the Golden Calf:
The Lord descends as fire in the New and Old Testaments:
The Holy Spirit descended where Mary and the Apostles were praying:
“Having accomplished the work that the Father had entrusted to the Son on Earth, on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit was sent to sanctify the Church forever, so that believers might have access to the Father through Christ in one Spirit. He is the Spirit of life, the fountain of water springing up to eternal life, the One through Whom the Father restores life to those who are dead through sin, until one day He will raise in Christ their mortal bodies”. In this way the Second Vatican Council speaks of the Church’s birth on the day of Pentecost. This event constitutes the definitive manifestation of what had already been accomplished in the same Upper Room on Easter Sunday. The Risen Christ came and “brought” to the Apostles the Holy Spirit. He gave him to them, saying “Receive the Holy Spirit.” What had then taken place inside the Upper Room, “the doors being shut,” later, on the day of Pentecost is manifested also outside, in public. The doors of the Upper Room are opened and the Apostles go to the inhabitants and the pilgrims who had gathered in Jerusalem on the occasion of the feast, in order to bear witness to Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way the prediction is fulfilled: “He will bear witness to Me: and you also are witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”
Pope John Paul II, Dominum et Vivificantem, 18 May 1986
Celebrating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit:
The Holy Spirit is ferocious and dangerous:
On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance.
Catechism of the Catholic Church 731
We need the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us:
You have been given a unique manifestation of the Holy Spirit:
The mysterious center of our being:
The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty of the Catholic Church
What the Pope does day to day:
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