Pentecost Sunday

We pray through Pentecost Sunday and sit with Saint Irenaeus as he explains how the Holy Spirit gives new life, unites the Church, and opens the gospel to every nation. We end by asking God to pour out the Spirit again today, so our hearts become fruitful and our faith becomes steady. 
• opening prayers and a full-day offering through the Immaculate Heart of Mary 
• Saint Irenaeus on baptism, new life in God and the Spirit dwelling with humanity 
• Pentecost as unity across languages and the first fruits of the nations 
• images of dry flour, parched ground and “rain from above” for spiritual fruitfulness 
• the Holy Spirit as Advocate against the accuser and the call to “yield a rich profit” with the gifts we receive 
• Scripture scene of the mighty wind and the Pentecost collect asking for renewed grace 
If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications, now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org. 

Transcript

Opening Prayer And Offering

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Pentecost Sunday. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the remission of my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father. Amen.

Saint Irenaeus On Pentecost

SPEAKER_00 0:47

From the Treatise Against Heresies by Saint Irenaeus, Bishop. When the Lord told his disciples to go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, he conferred on them the power of giving men new life in God. He had promised through the prophets that in these last days he would pour out his spirit on his servants and handmaids, and that they would prophesy. So when the Son of God became the Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with the human race, to living in men, and to inhabiting God's creation. The Spirit accomplished the Father's will in men who had grown old in sin, and gave them new life in Christ. Luke says that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost after the Lord's ascension, with power to open the gates of life to all nations, and to make known to them the new covenant. So it was that men of every language joined in singing one song of praise to God, and scattered tribes, restored to unity by the Spirit, were offered to the Father as the first fruits of all the nations. This was why the Lord had promised to send the Advocate. He was to prepare us as an offering to God, like dry flour which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread without moisture. We who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven. And like parched ground which yields no harvest unless it receives moisture, we who were once like a waterless tree could never have lived and borne fruit without this abundant rainfall from above. Through the baptism that liberates us from change and decay, we have become one in body. Through the spirit, we have become one in soul. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of God came down upon the Lord, and the Lord in turn gave this spirit to his church, sending the advocate from heaven into all the world, into which, according to his own words, the devil too had been cast down like lightning. If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the due of God. Since we have our accuser, we need an advocate as well. And so the Lord, in his pity for man, who had fallen into the hands of brigands, having himself bound up his wounds and left for his care two coins bearing the royal image, entrusted him to the Holy Spirit. Now through the Spirit, the image and inscription of the Father and the Son have been given to us, and it is our duty to use the coin committed to our charge and make it yield a rich profit for the Lord.

The Sound Of A Mighty Wind

SPEAKER_00 4:00

On the day of Pentecost, they had all gathered together in one place. Out of the heavens suddenly there came the sound of a great wind, which filled the whole house. The disciples had gathered together in one room. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, the sound of a great wind which filled the whole house.

Pentecost Collect And Closing Prayers

SPEAKER_00 4:32

O God, who by the mystery of today's great feast sanctify your whole church in every people and nation, pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit across the face of the earth, and with the divine grace that was at work when the gospel was first proclaimed, fill now once more the hearts of believers, through our Lord Jesus Christ your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. Let us praise the Lord and give him thanks. All that I have and all that I am I give to your hands, Jesus, through the heart of Mary, your blessed mother. Amen. Sacred heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Invitation To Join The Cristeros

SPEAKER_00 5:32

If you found this time of prayer and reflection fruitful and would like more opportunities to grow in your faith, consider joining the Cristeros and purchasing our publications, now available on Amazon.com. The Cristeros app is available on the Apple app and Google Play Store. More information on the Cristeros can be found at theCristeros.org.