Greetings on this Pentecost Sunday
Readings: Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23
Notes: Jesus is the harvest. The Holy Spirit is the first fruit of the wheat harvest.
Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill (and again) I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses [the superficial]. (Matt 5:17, 20a).
The Jewish feast of Shavuot “Festival of the Weeks” (Pentecost, the 50th day) is a thanksgiving for the first fruits of the wheat harvest. It is also a remembrance of the Law given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is directly linked to the Passover/Eucharist. It is aligned perfectly this year with the Christian calendar.
- Together as one body.
- All of us.
- Divine Gift for us.
- Renewal of all creation.
- Unlocking the Door of the Soul.
- New Breath within us.
- Peace upon us.
- Forgiveness for and from us.
First reading
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
Together we receive the outpouring of the Third Person of the Trinity.
The gift Jesus promised.
Responsorial Psalm
Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
Second reading
For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,
and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.
We are all meant to receive the Spirit!
The Sequence
https://deacongerrypalermo.blog/2022/06/05/veni-sancte-spiritus/
Alleluia Verse
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Gospel Portion
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were.
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
(and again)
Peace be with you.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Peace be with you,
Deacon Gerry
Deacon Gerry Palermo 