Catholic Prayer Club
… a Worldwide Apostolate
May 2008 A.D.
PENTECOST
By: Laura Macy
On May 11, 2008, we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost.
Pentecost is one of the prominent feasts in the Christian
liturgical year, celebrated the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday (the tenth day
after Ascension Thursday). It
commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other
followers of Jesus.
Pentecost was originally an Old Testament festival, since
the time of Josephus calculated as beginning on the fiftieth day after the
beginning of Passover. In the Christian
calendar, it falls on the seventh Sunday after Easter. It was called the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot),
and in the Old Testament was originally an agricultural festival celebrating
and giving thanks for the “first fruits” of the early spring harvest.
By the early New Testament period, it had gradually lost
its association with agriculture and became associated with the celebration of
God’s creation of His people and their religious history. By the destruction of
While there are other references to Pentecost in the New
Testament, it is most significant in Acts 2 and the scene of the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on those in the “upper room”.
The New Testament writers associate the events of Acts 2 with Pentecost
and relate it to the prophecies of Joel 2 and promises of Jesus (Acts 1:8) in
both, the emphasis is on an empowerment through the Holy Spirit to enable the
people of God to witness to Jesus the Christ.
Pentecost represents God’s gracious, enabling presence
actively at work among His people, calling and enabling them to live out in
dynamic ways the witness of being His people.
Perhaps at this point there is direct contact with the Pentecost of Judaism,
for in Judaism the Torah, God’s instruction to His people, is the means by
which they become His witness to the world.
The word “Pentecost” means “fiftieth day”. Pentecost Sunday occurs 50 days following
Easter Sunday, as has been mentioned.
Since Easter is a “movable feast,” Pentecost is also moveable. It can occur as early as May 10 and as late
as June 13.
The sanctuary color for Pentecost Sunday is red. The red symbolized both the fire of Pentecost
as well as the apostles and early followers of Jesus who were gathered in the
Upper Room for the empowerment from God to proclaim the Gospel throughout the
world.
For Christians, Pentecost Sunday is a day to celebrate
hope, a hope evoked by the knowledge that God through His Holy Spirit is at
work among His people. It is a
celebration of God’s ongoing work in the world, yet it is also a recognition
that His work is done through His people as He pours out His presence upon
them.
This focus on the church’s mission to the world, and the
enabling presence of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in the church to
empower that mission should provide powerful impetus for churches, especially
those in the evangelical traditions, to recover this season of the church
year. There is tremendous opportunity to
use this sacred time to call people to renewal through the work of the Holy
Spirit in their lives.
WHO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?
The Holy Spirit is a real person who came to reside within
Jesus Christ’s true followers after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to
heaven. The Holy Spirit is not a vague,
ethereal shadow, nor an impersonal force.
He is a person equal in every way with God the Father and God the
Son. He is considered to be the third
member of the Godhead. God is the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All the
divine attributes ascribed to the Father and the Son are equally ascribed to
the Holy Spirit.
A primary role of the Holy Spirit is that He bears
“witness” of Jesus Christ. He tells
people’s hearts about the truth of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit also acts as a Christian’s
teacher. He reveals God’s will and God’s
truth to a Christian.
The Holy Spirit also performs a function for
non-Christians as well. He convicts
people’s hearts of God’s truth concerning how sinful we are, needing God’s
forgiveness; how righteous Jesus is – He died in our place, for our sins; and
God’s eventual judgment of the world and those do not know Him. The Holy Spirit tugs on our hearts and minds,
asking us to repent and turn to God for forgiveness and a new life.
The Holy Spirit is fully God. He is eternal, omniscient, and omnipresent,
has a will and can speak. He is
alive. He is a person. He is not particularly visible in the Bible
because His ministry is to bear witness of Jesus.
GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
To the Holy Spirit we attribute the operations of grace
and the sanctification of souls, and in particular spiritual gifts and
fruits, because He proceeds from the Father and the Son as Their mutual
love and is called in Holy Writ the goodness and charity of God.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are of two kinds: the first are specially intended for the
sanctification of the person who receives them;
the second, more properly called charismata, are extraordinary
favors granted for the help of another, favors, too, which do not sanctify by themselves
and may even be separated from sanctifying grace.
There are seven gifts of the Holy Spirit:
1. WISDOM The gift of Wisdom, by detaching
us from the world, makes us relish and love only the things of heaven.
2. UNDERSTANDING The gift of Understanding
helps us to grasp the truths of religion as far as is necessary.
3. COUNSEL The gift of counsel springs
from supernatural prudence, and enables us to see and choose correctly what
will help most to the glory of God and our own salvation.
4. FORTITUDE By the gift of fortitude we
receive courage to overcome the obstacles and difficulties that arise in the
practice of our religious duties.
5. KNOWLEDGE The gift of knowledge points
out to us the path to follow and the dangers to avoid in order reaching heaven.
6. PIETY The gift of piety, by inspiring
us with a tender and filial confidence in God, makes us joyfully embrace all
that pertains to His service.
7. FEAR OF THE LORD Lastly, the gift of
fear fills us with a sovereign respect for God, and makes us dread, above all
things, to offend Him.
As to the inner nature of these gifts, theologians
consider them to be supernatural and permanent qualities, which make us
attentive to the voice of God, which render us susceptible to the workings of
actual grace, which makes us love the things of God, and consequently, render
us more obedient and docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.
The second type of gifts, or charismata, are
“manifestations of the Spirit”. Some of
those mentioned in Scripture are:
1. The gift of
speaking with wisdom
2. The gift of
speaking with knowledge
3. Faith
4. The grace of
healing
5. The gift of
miracles
6. The gift of
prophecy
7. The gift of
discerning spirits
8. The gift of
tongues
9. The gift of
interpreting speeches
10. The gift of
government
11. The gift of
helps
12. Direction and
comfort of neighbors
FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The fruits of the Holy Spirit are not habits, permanent
qualities, but acts. They are acts or
operations of active principles to produce something else. There should be satisfaction resulting from
the good accomplished. They are:
1. Charity
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Benignity
6. Goodness
7. Longanimity
(long-suffering)
8. Mildness
9. Faith
10. Modesty
11. Continency
12. Chastity
There are six sins against the Holy Spirit listed in
Christ’s various addresses to the Pharisees:
despair, presumption, impenitence (or a fixed determination not to
repent), obstinacy, resisting the known truth and envy of another’s spiritual
welfare.
We are reminded during the celebration of Pentecost, that
the Holy Spirit is a Person really distinct as such from the Father and the
Son. We know that He is God and
consubstantial with the Father and the Son.
He possesses with Them one and the same Divine Essence or Nature. We pray that our hearts, souls and minds be
full of the Spirit, as were those of the Apostles, in that we may follow more
closely to God.
v
ODDS and Ends
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Spring is an excellent time to consider
a summer time spiritual retreat or perhaps a pilgrimage to one of the shrines
of our Catholic faith. The CPC website has information on both.
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Pentecost marks the end of the 50 day
Easter Season. Let us endeavor to live the rest of the year in the spirit of
the Risen Christ.
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Spring brings forth the beauty of
God’s creation – take some time to slow down, observe and appreciate the beauty
of that which is all around us!
The
CPC Prayer Intention for This Month
May the
message of hope and peace which the Holy Father conveyed during his recent
visit to the
Are you looking for a way to draw closer to Christ and to carry the
message to others?
Why
not start and lead a prayer group in your home area? Details are available on the next page……
You can help us spread the good word of our Lord…by becoming a CPC
Prayer Ministry Leader in your home area.
As a CPC Prayer
Minister (PM) you will form and lead a small Home Based Prayer Community (HBPC)
in your hometown.
It’s easy to
get started. All you need to do is invite several friends, co-workers or family
members to join your HBPC. Local communities are generally comprised of from 3
to 15 members who gather in community every other week to pray, reflect and
share our faith. The Catholic Prayer Club will provide you with all of the
materials you need to form organize and lead your ministry and Home Based
Prayer Community.
So if you feel
called to a ministry in the service of the Lord, please contact Steve Macy or
Aurora Ragaza Co-Stewards of The Catholic Prayer Club at
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