Notes from the Pastor

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity — our belief that there are three Divine Persons in One God — the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As the fundamental mystery of our faith, the Most Holy Trinity permeates our identity and prayer. At the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Sundays, we invoke the Trinity in several ways: from the initial Sign of the Cross at the beginning of Mass to the Gloria, to the Opening Prayer, which is addressed to the Father but offered through the Son, Jesus Christ, “in the unity of the Holy Spirit… one God,  forever and ever.”  In the Creed (Profession of Faith) we  declare what we believe about the oneness of God, and yet a God of three Divine Persons. And, of course, in the central act of the Mass, we ask the Father to send the Spirit so that our offerings of bread and wine may become for us the Body and Blood of Christ, the Son. The Mass concludes with the Final Blessing and another Sign of the Cross. Our faith is truly Trinitarian and this is reflected in how we worship!  

In the Scripture Readings for today’s Mass, we hear two accounts of the Pentecost. The more dramatic of the two   occurs in our First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1-11) where the Holy Spirit descends upon the  Apostles, empowering them to speak in different tongues so that the Jews from different lands who had gathered in Jerusalem could hear the message of Jesus proclaimed in their own language. The second, and perhaps less dramatic account is found in today’s Gospel (John 20:19-23) where the Risen Jesus, himself, appears to the Apostles on Easter Sunday, breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, empowers them to forgive sins in his name, and commissions them to go forth and continue the mission of announcing the coming of the Kingdom of God.      

With hindsight and the benefit of the Bible, as well as 2000 years of Church teaching, we are able to understand the progression from Resurrection to Ascension to Pentecost. This understanding was not so easy for the early disciples of Jesus as they experienced these events.    

Today’s Second Reading, from the First Letter of Peter  (1 Peter 3:15-18), tells us to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, but what does that mean? In our relationship with God, how do we accomplish this? “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel (John 14:15-21). That is how he will know that we love him. What he asks of us is not always easy, but Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to help us.

Running through all of the Scripture Readings in today’s Mass, is a strong sense of action, of movement by the Church and within the Church. The First Reading (Acts 6:1-7) tells of how certain widows were not being taken care of “in the daily distribution.” What was the “daily distribution”?

Today is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. While we pray for the encouragement of all vocations – including those of married life and single life, this day is particularly set aside to pray for those whom God calls to religious life – as priests and deacons, religious sisters and brothers – to serve God’s people.

Our First Reading today (Acts 2:14, 22-33) is a presentation of the “kerygma,” this being the preaching that St. Peter gave to the pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Remember that Pentecost was a Jewish feast celebrated 50 days after Passover before it became a Christian feast celebrated 50 days after Easter and marking the coming of the Holy Spirit. Many of the important themes of the writings of Saint Luke are contained in this reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

Today the Church observes Divine Mercy Sunday. The central focus is our celebration of the Resurrection of Christ and the floodgates of God’s mercy being opened upon us, and is based both on Scripture and the revelations made to Saint Faustina Kowalska.