This story of Pentecost tries to express something of a profound experience that in fact goes beyond any words. But what we know is that, without the event of Pentecost, which led the apostles out of the Upper Room to announce the Good News of the Risen Christ to the Jewish pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem, we would not have received the Gospel. We would not be here today celebrating this great feast of Pentecost in our parishes, communities, and families.
If we are Christians today, if we are meditating on these readings given to us by the liturgy, it is because we ourselves, like the first apostles, have experienced inner Pentecost which has brought us out of the cenacle of our fears and confinement to gather as Church, a communion-in-mission. We are connected today because we have welcomed in our lives an experience of the Spirit that made us feel the gift of faith, the strength of God's love, the peace of heart when we turn to Him, the missionary impulse to go out to meet others and announce to all the hope that life is always stronger than death. Yes, if the Church still exists today, it is because so many baptized have experienced and recognized these true fruits of the Spirit which are joy, love, peace, goodness, faithfulness, forbearance…
--Sr. Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ
Image source: Michael Stevens, Pentecost, created for the Word on Fire Bible. Prints available at: https://bookstore.wordonfire.org/products/the-pentecost-after-maino. Read the story of the creation of this image here: https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/fellows/fully-alive-at-the-easel-a-conversation-with-michael-stevens-part-i/?fbclid=IwAR0mxsEId7jfj-1jPDv8cSqbvDCd312H8TSSWkpvkCit7zU9CFQKEY6Bsqo
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