Sunday of Pentecost

First Reading

Acts 2,1-11

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to express themselves. Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, and each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. 'Surely,' they said, 'all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of Rome- Jews and proselytes alike -- Cretans and Arabs, we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.'

Psalmody

Psalm 103

Antiphon

How great you are O Lord, our God.

Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord god, how great you are,

clothed in majesty and glory,
wrapped in light as in a robe!

You stretch out the heavens like a tent.
Above the rains you build your dwelling.

You make the cloud your chariot,
you walk on the wings of the wind,

you make the winds your messengers
and flashing fire your servants.

You founded the earth on its base,
to stand firm from age to age.

You wrapped it with the ocean like a cloak:
the waters stood higher than the mountains.

At your threat they took to flight;
at the voice of your thunder they fled.

They rose over the mountains and flowed down
to the place which you had appointed.

You set limits they might not pass
lest they return to cover the earth.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys:
they flow in between the hills.

They give drink to all the beasts of the field;
the wild-asses quench their thirst.

On their banks dwell the birds of heaven;
from the branches they sing their songs.

From your dwelling you water the hills;
earth drinks its fill of your gift.

You make the grass grow for the cattle
and the plants to serve man's needs,

that he may bring forth bread from the earth
and wine to cheer man's heart;

oil, to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.

The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
the cedars he planted on Lebanon;

there the birds build their nests:
on the tree-top the stork has her home.

The goats find a home on the mountains
and rabbits hide in the rocks.

You made the moon to mark the months;
the sun knows the time for its setting.

When you spread the darkness it is night
and all the beasts of the forest creep forth.

The young lions roar for their prey
and ask their food from God.

At the rising of the sun they steal away
and go to rest in their dens.

Man goes forth to his work,
to labour till evening falls.

How many are your works, O Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.

There is the sea, vast and wide,
with its moving swarms past counting,
living things great and small.

The ships are moving there
and the monsters you made to play with.

All of these look to you
to give them their food in due season.

You give it, they gather it up;
you open your hand, they have their fill.

You hide your face, they are dismayed;
you take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.

You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
May the Lord rejoice in his works!

He looks on the earth and it trembles;
the mountains send forth smoke at his touch.

I will sing to the Lord all my life,
make music to my God while I live

May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I find my joy in the Lord.

Let sinners vanish from the earth
and the wicked exist no more.
Bless the Lord, my soul.

Second Reading

Galatians 5,16-25

Instead, I tell you, be guided by the Spirit, and you will no longer yield to self-indulgence. The desires of self-indulgence are always in opposition to the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are in opposition to self-indulgence: they are opposites, one against the other; that is how you are prevented from doing the things that you want to. But when you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: sexual vice, impurity, and sensuality, the worship of false gods and sorcery; antagonisms and rivalry, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels, disagreements, factions and malice, drunkenness, orgies and all such things. And about these, I tell you now as I have told you in the past, that people who behave in these ways will not inherit the kingdom of God. On the other hand the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control; no law can touch such things as these. All who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified self with all its passions and its desires. Since we are living by the Spirit, let our behaviour be guided by the Spirit

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

If we are not reborn through water and the Spirit,
we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

John 15,26-27; 16,12-15

When the Paraclete comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning. I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you to bear now. However, when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking of his own accord, but will say only what he has been told; and he will reveal to you the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he reveals to you will be taken from what is mine.

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
he sent me to bring good news to the poor.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

We read in the Acts of the Apostles the narration of Pentecost that Luke puts as a founding event of the time of the Church, a time that starts precisely with the irruption of the Spirit. The Baptist had already foreseen this by pointing to Jesus: "He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Lk 3:16). The Church is born as a people gathered and led by the Holy Spirit. It is born not of itself, but from above.
The Spirit moved that small community to overcome fear and to go out into the square that - at hearing such roar - had meanwhile filled with a crowd of people "from every nation under heaven." Everyone present in the Upper Room was filled with the Holy Spirit: "and began to speak in other languages" (Acts 2:4). We could say that this is the first aspect of the Pentecost miracle: the transformation of that small group into a community united by the passion for the Gospel. It is the community in the foreground, not the individual disciples. It is no coincidence that Luke notes that before Pentecost the twelfth apostle had also just been elected. There is a new subject that is created by the Spirit and who is impelled to go out to communicate the Gospel to all the peoples of the earth. And they immediately began to speak about Jesus: the Father had raised him from the dead that prophet who had been crucified. This is the heart of Christian preaching in every age.
Then there is the second aspect of the miracle: the unity of the peoples of the earth who had gathered in front of the upper room square and brought about by the preaching of the Gospel. With a narrative effectiveness, Luke has them presented by name, as in an appeal, one by one: we are "Parthians, Medes, Elamites..., Cretans and Arabs... visitors from Rome... and we hear them speaking in our own languages." It is the first globalization worked by the Spirit through the Church, that community, that "we" that wants to unite the peoples of the earth. Each retains its own name, its own identity but, at the same time, they all began to feel that they were one people united by the one Gospel. They were different and yet united.
Today too, the world needs a new irruption of the Spirit. Conflicts have multiplied, injustices have expanded...There is a need for a new Pentecost for this difficult and complex time. There is a need for that "breath of wind" to cause new upheavals from the hearts of believers.