THE FIFTIETH AND FINAL DAY OF EASTER : THE HOLY SPIRIT BRINGS A, "NEW PENTECOST"..........

Fifty days after Jesus' Resurrection the Apostles were huddled together in the upper room fearful that they would be the next to suffer and die, because they were followers of the Christ. Their faith in His Messiahship was incomplete, for although they had followed and learned from Jesus and were witnesses to His New and Risen Life, the Apostles had not yet received the Holy Spirit. True to His promise before Ascending into Heaven to send them The Spirit to be their Advocate and their strength, fifty days after His Resurrection and ten days following the Ascension Jesus the Christ fulfilled the promise and the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles. That same Spirit continues to descend upon the Church and the World through twenty one centuries and into the 3rd Millennium of Catholic-Christians. On this Pentecost Sunday 2010, we too as Disciples of the Risen, Ascended, Spirit Sending, Jesus are imbued with the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit and empowered by the Spirit to share our own gifts and talents for the common good of the community of believers and the wider world and the greater glory of the Living and True God. On January 25, 1959, Pope John XXIII, in announcing the calling of the Second Vatican Council proclaimed, "A New Pentecost", for the Church. That Ecumenical Council ushered in a New Pentecost of renewal and reform that allows the Spirit of God to truly permeate the life and mission of Catholic-Christianity to effectively live the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The 16 Documents promulgated nearly unanimously by 2,500 bishops from around the world at Vatican II, are the touchstone for the teachings and practices we follow as post concilar, twenty furst century Catholic-Christians. They are recommended reading for serious and sincere current Disciples who truly want to live the "New Pentecost", God's Holy Spirit brings to the Church today. As you celebrate the conclusion of this Easter Season and the New Pentecost of this Year of the Lord 2010, what are you doing to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit in your personal and communal living of the Gifts and Fruits of Faith and Fellowship, the Spirit is empowering you to share ?..........COME HOLY SPIRIT COME, AND ENKINDLE IN US THE FIRE OF DIVINE LOVE, Fr. Troy