Sunday June 1st – Sunday August 31st
Vigil Mass Saturday 4pm
Sunday Mass 8:30 and 11 am
pentecost sunday
Today we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. Saint Luke tells us that the Spirit came upon the Apostles with a “strong driving wind and with “tongues as of fire.”
As we read Chapter 2 of Acts, it is clear that something radical happened in the lives of the Apostles when they were filled with the Spirit. They were filled with excitement and began speaking all about Jesus and His resurrection. Their hearts were burning with love for the Lord and a desire to share His good news with everyone. They were so excited that many of the people who saw them assumed that they were drunk!
Then Peter took the lead. He told the people how Jesus was nailed to a cross, “But God raised Him up, releasing Him from the throes of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24). Peter’s words cut the people to the heart, and they asked what they should do. Peter’s answer was simple and direct: “Repent and be Baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Many of the people took His words to heart and were filled with the Spirit that day. And so the Church was born!
This story reminds us that Pentecost is meant to be experienced. The Spirit wants to form the knowledge of God’s love and mercy into our hearts. He wants to fill us with the same joy that the apostles knew – the joy of salvation and the joy of knowing Jesus.
You and I have received the Holy Spirit. Let us open our hearts and souls to His power, so he can fill us with the same joy.
Happy Pentecost!
Msgr. Powell
sixth sunday of easter
Jesus came to reveal to us the ultimate truth, the truth of the Father’s love experienced by Jesus and manifested in His life, death and resurrection. We are invited to participate in this truth by becoming one with Jesus through faith. This is accomplished through the work of the Holy Spirit, who Jesus calls “the Spirit of Truth” and the “Advocate.” The role of the Holy Spirit is to assist us in discovering all the real and practical implications of the profound truth revealed by Jesus.
Though Jesus taught His followers many things throughout His public ministry, they were unable to understand much of what he said because the heart of His truth was revealed in His death and resurrection. Jesus told His disciples that the role of the Holy Spirit is to “teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
The Spirit of Truth will continue the teachings of Jesus in light of the transforming reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Spirit will enable believers to experience Jesus days, years and even centuries after Jesus earthly life. The effect of the Spirit’s work within the believer is a profound sense of peace, well-being, and confidence. This is the kind of peace that the world cannot give and that does not go away in the midst of life’s most difficult struggles. It is the greatest gift we can imagine. It is a gift that Jesus gives to you and me.
God Bless,
Msgr. Powell