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The Real Meaning of Pentecost
by Anthony Gorgia Ii

“Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest, and in our hearts take up Thy rest, and with Thy grace, and Heavenly aid to fill the hearts which Thou hast made.” This, the hymn of Pentecost, resounds the meaning of Pentecost. For, it is Pentecost that the Holy Spirit came most fully alive in our Church, for on that day the Church became born.

Before ascending into Heaven, Jesus promised to His apostles: “I will send the Paraclete.”

The Paraclete is a title of the Holy Spirit, referring to Him as the Advocate or the Helper. It was most fully made known upon that Pentecost day that our Catholic Faith became the Temple of the Holy Spirit. We are His instruments, bringing the Word of God to all of humanity. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are inspired, our souls are nurtured with His Work within us.

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit bestowed upon the apostles seven gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord. In the Presence of the Holy Spirit, the apostles became fully aware of the Love of God active in their lives, and in the lives of the faithful. And so, they emerged as new people, no longer afraid, and they began to preach and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.

On that Pentecost day, there were many people present from many nations. When the apostles emerged from the upper room in which they stayed in fear of being killed, they began to preach the Word of God. And, each person present, each of different background and language, had understood the words of the apostles, as if they were speaking in each person’s language. The apostles had the ability from the Holy Spirit to speak in Tongues. The Scriptures say: “We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”- Acts:2:9-11

The language in itself, Tongues, is the Language of the Holy Spirit. To a human ear, it is not understood, for it comes upon the tongue only at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit came upon the Church on Pentecost, we became born into the love and Light of Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit is still present in the Church today. Through the Sacraments, we are enriched in His love, He guides us and as the Nicene Creed with firm belief states: “proceeds from the Father and the Son.” It was all indeed in God’s plan of loving goodness that mankind should be saved in renewed in the Covenant in this sequence. The Father created the world and kept all things in its loving existence. He created mankind and kept all of His Creation in Divine Providence. The Son was begotten from the Father, and the Son died for our sins, granting to us the gift of the Father’s salvation.

Through death on the Cross, Christ saved us from death. From rising in the glory and splendor of the Resurrection, we, the faithful are renewed in His Easter joy, as we are triumphant; Christ conquers death. As Christ Jesus ascends into Heaven, He sends to us the Holy Spirit, to watch over us and guide the Church in its pilgrim way towards the Kingdom of God in the celestial courts.

The Holy Spirit is indeed still present in the Church, and renews us in His Pentecost each and every day. Through the Sacrament of Confirmation, we, in our Catholic life, are fully initiated into the liturgy of the Church, and we receive the Holy Spirit and His seven gifts. These gifts help us to lead good Christian adult lives, and make us better witnesses to Jesus Christ in the world. The Holy Spirit also inspires the Pope, who is the Vicar of Christ. The Pope, who is the representative of Christ on earth, leads the Church towards the Loving Arms of Jesus Christ. We, the faithful, receive the inspiration and promptings of the Holy Spirit daily. In our vocations, we best apply our talents to our work, which were given to us by God. The Holy Spirit continues to renew us and refresh us in our daily work, so that we may do all things for the greater glory of Jesus Christ. As Catholics, we are baptized in being “born of water and the Spirit.” The water that is poured over us in the Sacrament of Baptism is symbolic of the Father’s love for us. Many times in the Old Testament, water becomes a symbol. The best example occurs in the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt. Water takes on the symbol of freedom. As Moses lead the Jewish people away from Egypt, so does God lead us from our sin. In Baptism, God, in His Infinite Mercy, removes original sin from our soul, and we are freed from original sin. Although our human frailty of sin is not removed, we are strengthened and welcomed into the liturgy of the universal Catholic Church as children of God.

The Holy Spirit takes on the role as Guider and Protector, as He sanctifies the Church. Out of love for mankind, we are lead in the Light of His Inspiration. It is best to close, invoking the Holy Spirit, with thanksgiving for His many blessings upon mankind: “Come, Holy Spirit, refresh and bless the souls of Thy faithful, renew us in Thy love, and lead us unto the celestial Kingdom, where we shall adore Thee for all eternity. In Thy sanctifying grace, Thy Hand of Creation and love extends to all people. In Thee, a broken people become healed; a human race becomes one. O Holy Spirit of unity and justice, flourish upon our Church, and seek the hearts of Thy faithful, so that in Thy everlasting Light we shall become the abode of Thine endless mercy for the world, the temple of Thy glorious works, for all eternity, forever and ever. Amen.”

Text to the first quote used above: “Come Holy Ghost...Thou hast made” was from the song “Come Holy Ghost”, written by Rabanus Maurus