by Faith Central & Steve Welsh
“… #God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,
so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish
but might have Eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be Saved through Him. …”
“… He said to them,
‘Whose image and inscription is this?’
They replied to him, ‘Caesar’s.’
So Jesus said to them,
‘Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar
and to God what belongs to God.'”
“… Centuries later, what message can we gather today from the teaching and marvelous activity of this great missionary and martyr? For those who approach Boniface, an initial fact stands out: the centrality of the Word of God, lived and interpreted in the Faith of the Church, a word that he lived, preached and witnessed to until he gave the supreme gift of himself in martyrdom. He was so passionate about the Word of God that he felt the urgent need and duty to communicate it to others, even at his own personal risk. This word was the pillar of the faith which he had committed himself to spreading at the moment of his episcopal ordination: ‘I profess integrally the purity of the holy Catholic faith and with the help of God I desire to remain in the unity of this faith, in which there is no doubt that the Salvation of Christians lies” (Epist. 12, in S. Bonifatii Epistolae, ed. cit., p. 29). The second most important proof that emerges from the life of Boniface is his faithful communion with the Apostolic See. … Boniface also deserves our attention for a third characteristic: he encouraged the encounter between the Christian-Roman culture and the Germanic culture. Indeed, he knew that humanizing and evangelizing culture was an integral part of his mission as Bishop. In passing on the ancient patrimony of Christian values, he grafted on to the Germanic populations a new, more human lifestyle, thanks to which the inalienable rights of the person were more widely respected. …”
“Jesus began to speak to the chief priests, the scribes,
and the elders in parables.
‘A man planted a vineyard ….
Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey. …
* * *
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?’
They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd,
for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. …”
“Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest,
And in our hearts take up Thy Rest;
Come with Thy Grace and Heavenly Aid
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made. …
O Comfort Blessed, to Thee we cry,
Now Heavenly Gift of God Most High;
Thou Fount of Life, and Fire of Love,
And Sweet Anointing from Above ….”
“Come Holy Ghost,” by Louis Lambillotte, S.J. (1796-1855), performed by “The Singing Nuns”
“What a wondrous and challenging feast we celebrate at Pentecost! A feast like this challenges us because it puts to the lie a lazy, sleepy, hidden, and tepid Christian life. The Lord Jesus said to Apostles, and still says to us, I have come to cast a fire on the earth (Luke 12:49). This is a feast about fire, a transformative, refining, purifying fire that the Lord wants to kindle in us and in this world. It is about a necessary fire. For as the Lord first judged the world by fire, the present heavens and the earth are reserved for fire. Because it is going to be the fire next time, we need the tongues of Pentecost fire to fall on us to set us on fire and bring us up to the temperature of glory.”
Catholic TV Mass for Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 2017, from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. [Click here for Mass Readings]
“Fifty days after Easter we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, in which we recall the Manifestation of the Power of the Holy Spirit, Who as Wind and as Fire descended upon the Apostles gathered together in the Upper Room, and enabled them to Preach the Gospel to all nations with courage (cf. Acts 2: 1-13). The Mystery of Pentecost, which we rightly identify with the event of the Church’s true “Baptism”, is not, however, exhausted by this. The Church in fact lives constantly from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, without which she would exhaust her own strength, like a sailboat without the wind. Pentecost is renewed in a special way in certain powerful moments, whether this be at the local or the universal level, whether it be in small assemblies or in large ones. The Councils, for example, had sessions graced by special outpourings of the Holy Spirit, and among these is certainly the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. We might also recall that famous meeting of the ecclesial movements with Venerable John Paul II, here in St Peter’s Square, precisely on Pentecost in 1998. But the Church knows countless “pentecosts” that vivify the local communities. Let us think of the liturgies, particularly those experienced in special moments of the community’s life, in which the power of God is perceived in an evident way, infusing joy and enthusiasm in hearts. We may think of many other prayer gatherings in which young people clearly feel the call of God to root their lives in His Love, even Consecrating themselves entirely to Him. …”
Catholic TV Mass Readings and Homily for Pentecost Sunday, June 4, 2017, from EWTN in Alabama. [Click here for Mass Readings]
[featured image is file photo]
“This weekend, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church. …”