Solemnity: Pentecost Sunday

From: John 20:19-23

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

[19] On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors
shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and
stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." [20] When He
had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the
disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. [21] Jesus said to them
again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, even so I send
you." [22] And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to
them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. [23] If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Commentary:

19-20. Jesus appears to the Apostles on the evening of the day of which
He rose. He presents Himself in their midst without any need for the
doors to be opened, by using the qualities of His glorified body; but
in order to dispel any impression that He is only a spirit He shows
them His hands and His side: there is no longer any doubt about its
being Jesus Himself, about His being truly risen from the dead. He
greets them twice using the words of greeting customary among the Jews,
with the same tenderness as He previously used put into this
salutation. These friendly words dispel the fear and shame the
Apostles must have been feeling at behaving so disloyally during His
passion: He has created the normal atmosphere of intimacy, and now He
will endow them with transcendental powers.

21. Pope Leo XIII explained how Christ transferred His own mission to
the Apostles: "What did He wish in regard to the Church founded, or
about to be founded? This: to transmit to it the same mission and the
same mandate which He had received from the Father, that they should be
perpetuated. This He clearly resolved to do: this He actually did.
`As the Father hath sent Me, even so I send you' (John 20:21). `As
Thou didst send Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world'
(John 17:18). [...] When about to ascend into Heaven, He sends His
Apostles in virtue of the same power by which He had been sent from the
Father; and He charges them to spread abroad and propagate His
teachings (cf. Matthew 28:18), so that those obeying the Apostles might
be saved, and those disobeying should perish (cf. Mark 16:16). [...]
Hence He commands that the teaching of the Apostles should be
religiously accepted and piously kept as if it were His own: `He who
hears you hears Me, and he who rejects you rejects Me' (Luke 10:16).
Wherefore the Apostles are ambassadors of Christ as He is the
ambassador of the Father" ([Pope] Leo XIII, "Satis Cognitum"). In this
mission the bishops are the successors of the Apostles: "Christ sent
the Apostles as He Himself had been sent by the Father, and then
through the Apostles made their successors, the bishops, sharers in His
consecration and mission. The function of the bishops' ministry was
handed over in a subordinate degree to priests so that they might be
appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the
episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission
that had been entrusted to it by Christ" (Vatican II, "Presbyterorum
Ordinis", 2).

22-23. The Church has always understood--and has in fact defined--that
Jesus Christ here conferred on the Apostles authority to forgive sins,
a power which is exercised in the Sacrament of Penance. "The Lord then
especially instituted the Sacrament of Penance when, after being risen
from the dead, He breathed upon His disciples and said: "Receive the
Holy Spirit...' The consensus of all the Fathers has always
acknowledged that by this action so sublime and words so clear the
power of forgiving and retaining sins was given to the Apostles and
their lawful successors for reconciling the faithful who have fallen
after Baptism" (Council of Trent, "De Paenitentia", Chapter 1).

The Sacrament of Penance is the most sublime _expression of God's love
and mercy towards men, described so vividly in Jesus' parable of the
prodigal son (cf. Luke 15:11-32). The Lord always awaits us, with His
arms wide open, waiting for us to repent--and then He will forgive us
and restore us to the dignity of being His sons.

The Popes have consistently recommended Christians to have regular
recourse to this Sacrament: "For a constant and speedy advancement in
the path of virtue we highly recommend the pious practice of frequent
Confession, introduced by the Church under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit; for by this means we grow in a true knowledge of ourselves and
in Christian humility, bad habits are uprooted, spiritual negligence
and apathy are prevented, the conscience is purified and the will
strengthened, salutary spiritual direction is obtained, and grace is
increased by the efficacy of the Sacrament itself" ([Pope] Pius XII,
"Mystici Corporis").

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

Mass Readings

First reading	Acts 2:1 - 11 ©
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

First reading

Acts 2:1 - 11 ©

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.
Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 103

Second reading	Galatians 5:16 - 25 ©
Let me put it like this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you. When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit.

Second reading

Let me put it like this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you. When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires.
Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit.

Gospel	John 15:26 - 16:15 ©
Jesus said: ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset. ‘I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.’

Gospel

Jesus said:
‘When the Advocate comes,
whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father,
he will be my witness.
And you too will be witnesses,
because you have been with me from the outset.

‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.’