Happy birthday to the Catholic Church!
Happy birthday to you, who are the body of the
Church!
We're all familiar with our own
birthdays, and we celebrate them because they mark the day of the year in which
we entered into this life. But did you know you have a second birthday?
Because you are part of the body of the
Church, Pentecost is the Church's birthday, and yours as well. And like any
birthday, it's a cause for celebration.
The word Pentecost is Greek and it means
"50th day." Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming
of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of
their Earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations.
Pentecost is also a Jewish holiday,
which the Jews use to celebrate the end of Passover. Jews celebrate the gift of
the law to Moses at Mt. Sinai on this day. But we, as Catholics celebrate the
birth of our Church.
At Pentecost, the Apostles and their followers
were gathered in a room. Jews from all over the world were gathered with Peter,
the leader of the Apostles and the Eleven. At this time, a great wind blew and
a flame appeared as a tongue of fire, which split itself into many individual
flames above the heads of all those present. The Holy Spirit came upon these
people and each began to speak in tongues. Despite the fact many had no common
language, they were perfectly able to understand one another.
Others who were not so blessed, accused
those speaking in tongues of being drunk, but Peter arose and addressed the
crowd, explaining that it was only 9 o'clock, and that this phenomenon was not
intoxication, but rather this was the work of the Holy Spirit, prophesized in
the scripture.
Peter then called all those present to
be baptized and about three thousand people were baptized that day.
These people were among the first
Catholics, and Peter is the first pope of the Catholic Church.
The symbols of Pentecost are the flame,
wind, and the dove, which represents the Holy Spirit. The color of Pentecost is
red and the priest wears red vestments on this day. Parishioners are also
invited to wear red on this day. Red decorations as well as celebrations are
appropriate, similar to any other birthday. Special prayers are often said just
for Pentecost.
731 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.
732 On that day, the Holy Trinity is fully
revealed. Since that day, the Kingdom announced by Christ has been open to
those who believe in him: in the humility of the flesh and in faith, they
already share in the communion of the Holy Trinity. By his coming, which never
ceases, the Holy Spirit causes the world to enter into the "last
days," the time of the Church, the Kingdom already inherited though not
yet consummated.
We have seen the true Light, we have
received the heavenly Spirit, we have found the true faith: we adore the
indivisible Trinity, who has saved us.
The Holy Spirit - God's gift
733 "God is Love" and love is his
first gift, containing all others. "God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
734 Because we are dead or at least wounded through
sin, the first effect of the gift of love is the forgiveness of our sins. The
communion of the Holy Spirit in the Church restores to the baptized the
divine likeness lost through sin.
735 He, then, gives us the "pledge" or
"first fruits" of our inheritance: the very life of the Holy Trinity,
which is to love as "God [has] loved us." This love (the
"charity" of 1 Cor 13) is the source of the new life in
Christ, made possible because we have received "power" from the Holy
Spirit.
736 By this power of the Spirit, God's children can bear much
fruit. He who has grafted us onto the true vine will make us bear "the
fruit of the Spirit: . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." "We live by the
Spirit"; the more we renounce ourselves, the more we "walk by the
Spirit."
Through the Holy Spirit we are restored
to paradise, led back to the Kingdom of heaven, and adopted as children, given
confidence to call God "Father" and to share in Christ's grace,
called children of light and given a share in eternal glory.
The Holy Spirit and the Church
737 The mission of Christ and the Holy Spirit is brought to
completion in the Church, which is the Body of Christ and the Temple of the
Holy Spirit. This joint mission henceforth brings Christ's faithful to share in
his communion with the Father in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit prepares men
and goes out to them with his grace, in order to draw them to Christ. The
Spirit manifests the risen Lord to them,
recalls his word to them and opens their minds to the understanding of his
Death and Resurrection. He makes
present the mystery of Christ, supremely in the Eucharist, in order
to reconcile them, to bring
them into communion with God, that they may "bear much fruit."
738 Thus the Church's mission is not an addition to that of
Christ and the Holy Spirit, but is its sacrament: in her whole being and in all
her members, the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and
spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity (the topic of the next
article):
All of us who have received one and the
same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, are in a sense blended together with one
another and with God. For if Christ, together with the Father's and his own
Spirit, comes to dwell in each of us, though we are many, still the Spirit is
one and undivided. He binds together the spirits of each and every one of us, .
. . and makes all appear as one in him. For just as the power of Christ's
sacred flesh unites those in whom it dwells into one body, I think that in the
same way the one and undivided Spirit of God, who dwells in all, leads all into
spiritual unity.
739 Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is
Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to
nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life,
send them to bear witness, and associate them to his self-offering to the
Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments,
Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body.
(This will be the topic of Part Two of the Catechism.)
740 These "mighty works of God," offered to
believers in the sacraments of the Church, bear their fruit in the new life in
Christ, according to the Spirit. (This will be the topic of Part Three.)
741 "The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not
know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with sighs too
deep for words."134 The Holy Spirit, the artisan of God's works, is the
master of prayer. (This will be the topic of Part Four.)
IN BRIEF
742 "Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his
Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!"' (Gal
4:6).
743 From the beginning to the end of time, whenever God sends
his Son, he always sends his Spirit: their mission is conjoined and inseparable.
744 In the fullness of time the Holy Spirit completes in Mary
all the preparations for Christ's coming among the People of God. By the action
of the Holy Spirit in her, the Father gives the world Emmanuel
"God-with-us" (Mt
1:23).
745 The Son of God was consecrated as Christ (Messiah) by the
anointing of the Holy Spirit at his Incarnation (cf. Ps
2:6-7).
746 By his Death and his Resurrection, Jesus is constituted in
glory as Lord and Christ (cf. Acts
2:36). From his fullness, he poured out the Holy Spirit on the apostles
and the Church.
747 The Holy Spirit, whom Christ the head pours out on his
members, builds, animates, and sanctifies the Church. She is the sacrament of
the Holy Trinity's communion with men.