May 19, 2024: Pentecost Sunday
Catholic Social Teaching: What aspect of Catholic Social Teaching will the Holy Spirit set you on fire for: https://pvm.archchicago.org/human-dignity-solidarity/our-faith-in-action/catholic-social-teaching
Readings
First Reading: Acts 2:1-11
Psalm: 104: 1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Second Reading: 1st Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25
Gospel:John 20:19-23 or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Catechism of the Catholic Church
On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance. (731) From the Daily Roman Missal, Introduction to Pentecost Sunday, Cycle B
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church:
Psalm 104
The Old Testament presents God as the omnipotent Creator (cf. Gen 2:2; Job 38-41; Ps 104; Ps 147) who fashions man in his image and invites him to work the soil (cf. Gen 2:5-6), and cultivate and care for the garden of Eden in which he has placed him (cf. Gen 2:15). To the first human couple God entrusts the task of subduing the earth and exercising dominion over every living creature (cf. Gen 1:28). The dominion exercised by man over other living creatures, however, is not to be despotic or reckless; on the contrary he is to “cultivate and care for” (Gen 2:15) the goods created by God. These goods were not created by man, but have been received by him as a precious gift that the Creator has placed under his responsibility. Cultivating the earth means not abandoning it to itself; exercising dominion over it means taking care of it, as a wise king cares for his people and a shepherd his sheep.
In the Creator’s plan, created realities, which are good in themselves, exist for man’s use. The wonder of the mystery of man’s grandeur makes the psalmist exclaim: “What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him little less than god, and crown him with glory and honour. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet” (Ps 8:5-7). (255)
Psalm 104:24
The relationship of man with the world is a constitutive part of his human identity. This relationship is in turn the result of another still deeper relationship between man and God. The Lord has made the human person to be a partner with him in dialogue. Only in dialogue with God does the human being find his truth, from which he draws inspiration and norms to make plans for the future of the world, which is the garden that God has given him to keep and till (cf. Gen 2: 15). Not even sin could remove this duty, although it weighed down this exalted work with pain and suffering (cf. Gen 3:17-19).
Creation is always an object of praise in Israel’s prayer: “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all” (Ps 104:24). Salvation is perceived as a new creation that re-establishes that harmony and potential for growth that sin had compromised: “I create new heavens and a new earth” (Is 65:17) — says the Lord — in which “the wilderness becomes a fruitful field … and righteousness [will] abide in the fruitful field … My people will abide in a peaceful habitation” (Is 32:1518). (452)
John 16:13-15
The documents referred to here constitute the milestones of the path travelled by the Church’s social doctrine from the time of Pope Leo XIII to our own day. This brief summary would become much longer if we considered all the interventions motivated, other than by a specific theme, by “the pastoral concern to present to the entire Christian community and to all men of good will the fundamental principles, universal criteria and guidelines suitable for suggesting basic choices and coherent practice for every concrete situation”.
In the formulation and teaching of this social doctrine, the Church has been, and continues to be, prompted not by theoretical motivation but by pastoral concerns. She is spurred on by the repercussions that social upheavals have on people, on multitudes of men and women, on human dignity itself, in contexts where “man painstakingly searches for a better world, without working with equal zeal for the betterment of his own spirit”. For these reasons, this social doctrine has arisen and developed an “updated doctrinal ‘corpus’ … [that] builds up gradually, as the Church, in the fullness of the word revealed by Christ Jesus and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 14:16,26; 16:13-15), reads events as they unfold in the course of history”. (104)
John 16:15
The love that inspires Jesus’ ministry among men is the love that he has experienced in his intimate union with the Father. The New Testament allows us to enter deeply into the experience, that Jesus himself lives and communicates, the love of God his Father — “Abba” — and, therefore, it permits us to enter into the very heart of divine life. Jesus announces the liberating mercy of God to those whom he meets on his way, beginning with the poor, the marginalized, the sinners. He invites all to follow him because he is the first to obey God’s plan of love, and he does so in a most singular way, as God’s envoy in the world.
Jesus’ self-awareness of being the Son is an expression of this primordial experience. The Son has been given everything, and freely so, by the Father: “All that the Father has is mine” (Jn 16:15). His in turn is the mission of making all men sharers in this gift and in this filial relationship: “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (Jn 15:15).
For Jesus, recognizing the Father’s love means modelling his actions on God’s gratuitousness and mercy; it is these that generate new life. It means becoming — by his very existence — the example and pattern of this for his disciples. Jesus’ followers are called to live like him and, after his Passover of death and resurrection, to live also in him and by him, thanks to the superabundant gift of the Holy Spirit, the Consoler, who internalizes Christ’s own style of life in human hearts. (29)
John 20:19, 21, 26
The promise of peace that runs through the entire Old Testament finds its fulfilment in the very person of Jesus. Peace, in fact, is the messianic attribute par excellence, in which all other beneficial effects of salvation are included. The Hebrew word “shalom” expresses this fullness of meaning in its etymological sense of “completeness” (cf. Is 9:5ff; Mic 5:1-4). The kingdom of the Messiah is precisely the kingdom of peace (cf. Job 25:2; Ps 29:11; 37:11; 72:3,7; 85:9,11; 119:165; 125:5, 128:6; 147:14; Song 8:10; Is 26:3,12; 32:17f.; 52:7; 54:10; 57:19; 60:17; 66:12; Hag 2:9; Zech 9:10; et al.). Jesus “is our peace” (Eph 2:14). He has broken down the dividing wall of hostility among people, reconciling them with God (cf. Eph 2:14-16). This is the very effective simplicity with which Saint Paul indicates the radical motivation spurring Christians to undertake a life and a mission of peace.
On the eve of his death, Jesus speaks of his loving relation with the Father and the unifying power that this love bestows upon his disciples. It is a farewell discourse which reveals the profound meaning of his life and can be considered a summary of all his teaching. The gift of peace is the seal on his spiritual testament: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you” (Jn 14:27). The words of the Risen Lord will not be any different; every time that he meets his disciples they receive from him the greeting and gift of peace: “Peace be with you” (Lk 24:36; Jn 20:19,21,26). (491)
Acts 2:5-11
Professionals in the field of media are not the only people with ethical duties. Those who make use of the media also have obligations. Media operators who try to meet their responsibilities deserve audiences who are aware of their own responsibilities. The first duty of media users is to be discerning and selective. Parents, families and the Church have precise responsibilities they cannot renounce. For those who work, in various capacities, in the area of social communications, the warning of St. Paul rings out loud and clear: “Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another … Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:25, 29). Serving the human person through the building up of a human community based on solidarity, justice and love, and spreading the truth about human life and its final fulfillment in God remain at the heart of ethics in the media[1178]. In the light of faith, human communication can be seen as a journey from Babel to Pentecost, or rather, as the personal and social commitment to overcome the collapse of communication (cf. Gen 11:4-8), opening people to the gift of tongues (cf. Acts 2:5-11), to communication as restored by the power of the Spirit sent by the Son. (562)
Acts 2:6
The Lord Jesus is the prototype and foundation of the new humanity. In him, the true “likeness of God” (2 Cor 4:4), man — who is created in the image of God — finds his fulfilment. In the definitive witness of love that God has made manifest in the cross of Christ, all the barriers of enmity have already been torn down (cf. Eph 2:12-18), and for those who live a new life in Christ, racial and cultural differences are no longer causes of division (cf. Rom 10:12; Gal 3:26-28; Col 3:11).
Thanks to the Spirit, the Church is aware of the divine plan of unity that involves the entire human race (cf. Acts 17:26), a plan destined to reunite in the mystery of salvation wrought under the saving Lordship of Christ (cf. Eph 1:8-10) all of created reality, which is fragmented and scattered. From the day of Pentecost, when the Resurrection is announced to diverse peoples, each of whom understand it in their own language (cf. Acts 2:6), the Church fulfils her mission of restoring and bearing witness to the unity lost at Babel. Due to this ecclesial ministry, the human family is called to rediscover its unity and recognize the richness of its differences, in order to attain “full unity in Christ”. (431)
1st Corinthians 12:13
“God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34; cf. Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eph 6:9), since all people have the same dignity as creatures made in his image and likeness[281]. The Incarnation of the Son of God shows the equality of all people with regard to dignity: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28; cf. Rom 10:12; 1 Cor 12:13, Col 3:11).
Since something of the glory of God shines on the face of every person, the dignity of every person before God is the basis of the dignity of man before other men[282]. Moreover, this is the ultimate foundation of the radical equality and brotherhood among all people, regardless of their race, nation, sex, origin, culture, or class. (144)
For complete text visit: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html
Reflection
Podcast link:https://open.substack.com/pub/peaceonjustice/p/peace-on-justice-379?
Pentecost, Greek connotation for fiftieth. The name for the Hebrew festival of Weeks, celebrated fifty days after Passover. What started out as an agricultural festival, at the end of grain harvest, evolved to remember the giving of The Law to Moses on Mt Sinai. One of the three pilgrim feasts along with Passover and Booths. For the disciples, they would experience a new Pentecost. An awaited day the Lord directed them to patiently anticipate, not days at the culmination of a festival. A time prophets forecast. The continuum of mission empowered by the dynamics of the Holy Spirit. An awakening to unfounded, preconceived notions, bordering on crafting a conspiracy theory, only generating fear. Entrapping people in confined spaces, physically and mentally, so they were unable to go into the whole world and proclaim the Good News. Locked minds unable to fathom heavenly glory the Lord ascended to. Only liberated by ruah…breath, wind, spirit.. that God used to create them anew, like creation in Genesis. Fire and clouds metaphors prefigured on Mt Sinai. The imparting of different tongues, but all expressing the mighty acts of God. A chorus to all the devout Hebrew people, from every nation gathered in Jerusalem, where each person heard the utterances in their own language. A transition from the characterizations as the House of Israel, to every nation in the spirit of beyond ethnicity to universality. Places listed from east to west, isles, contents and peoples of various ethnicities and spiritual paths. But strikingly places the disciples would go to, like Macedonia and Syria, were not delineated. An enormity of experience that dispelled the Babel experience, a word which in Hebrew means confusion, by imparting to all the ability to hear as an empowering foundation to form a new community and fulfill John the Baptist’s prophecy that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Tongues of fire coming to rest on disciples, to spiritually consume them, so they would be light in the world, as representatives of Jesus. A mission to live by the Spirit in how one conducts their life. To go beyond cataloging vices and virtues, as deeds of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit, as an ideology of checklists needing detailed laws. For works of the flesh and ensuing consequences are obvious, while good deeds manifest the first fruit of the Spirit, love. A place of being united with Christ’s mission from the indwelling of the Spirit beyond a psychological attentiveness to the Lord. Signs of a synergy of our testimony synching with the Paraclete. To remain with a belief in Jesus as revelation of God in the flesh manifesting Divine precepts in the Spirit of truth and declare all things that are coming. Declare inferencing mysteries in the glorifying unity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as a guide to truth and ensuing freedom to venture forth on mission, instead of hunkering down in foreboding despair. A place Jesus invited the disciples into by exposing His humanity with scars of crucifixion and words of peace, in the wholistic, encompassing greeting of Shalom desiring the good of another. A mission He was given by His Father for the sake of the world, so others come to faith, live in love and bear the Spirit to ignite the world. To dispel the darkness formed from a lack of mercy, for in receiving the Holy Spirit all believers have the power to forgive sins. A communal decree Jesus imparted when sending believers, as the Father had sent Him. Will we take that charge or grasp onto every infidelity we observe in the world, so they become a deterrent, preoccupation instead of doing good with the healing of forgiveness? A way of authentically Spirit inspired to say Jesus is Lord, as believers living in unity, as the Body of Christ. Dinking of the one Spirit, as we drink of the One Cup, Paul honed in on from baptismal affirmations when he observed spiritual elitism in Corinth. For all gifts are given by the same Spirit, from the same Divine source, so none are inferior to others, but serve the same common purpose. Gifts bestowed to serve one another, not for self-glorification or advancement in a competitive mindset. A mode Paul stressed as interdependent within diversity to sustain the One Body, unlike political thought in antiquity seeking to maintain the status quo where everyone knew their subservient role to quell dissent under emperors’ rule. To live with variety in the interdependence of creation, where the rains were set forth to renew vegetation, provide food and bring joy to the people, so too the Holy Spirit is sent forth to renew the face of the earth today. A mission we are invited to participate in by using the gifts the Holy Spirit has rained down on us.
Individual Reflection: John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Reflect on the Pentecost Sequence you might hear proclaimed during the Pentecost liturgy and write a version of your personal reflection on the Holy Spirit : https://www.marquette.edu/faith/veni-sancte-spiritus.php
Come, Holy Spirit, come.
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine.
Come, Father of the poor.
Come, source of all our store.
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill.
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.
Amen. Alleluia.
Family Reflection: John 20:19-23
How will your family celebrate Pentecost? https://onefestivemama.com/6-simple-ways-to-celebrate-pentecost-at-home/
Prayer: The day after Pentecost is the memorial of Mary, Mother of the Church that Pope Francis established in 2018. https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20180211_decreto-mater-ecclesiae_en.html
Reflect on the liturgical prayer for that day:
O God, Father of mercies,
whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also,
grant, we pray, that with her loving help
your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Blogs to Visit:
http://marynow.wordpress.com/
As we reflect upon Mary’s presence in the mysteries of the Rosary, we are blessed to know her. For her journey, a timeless trek, calls us to surrender, continuing conversion, humbleness and justice now.
https://peaceonjustice.wordpress.com/
Weekly lectionary reflections, for faith sharing groups, parish bulletins, newsletters or personal prayer, from the synergy of the Word we hear and the rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching.
https://cst74life.wordpress.com/
Catholic Social Teaching offers seven principles for upholding life in our thoughts, decisions and actions.
http://idocst.wordpress.com/
How we do Catholic Social Teaching.
https://csmresources.wordpress.com/
Creation sustainability ministry resources in the spirit of the St Francis Pledge.
https://smrep.wordpress.com/
Social Ministry Resources Engaging Parishes: Monthly and liturgical seasons resources for use with parish websites, bulletins and newsletters
Involvement Opportunities
List one or two upcoming events, legislative action alerts or social justice websites
By Barb Born May 17, 2024 The reflection maybe used in parish bulletins, newsletters or for faith sharing groups without copyright concern.