Beloved in Christ,
"Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth" (Ps. 104: 30). Today, the Mother Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Mary, Mother of Jesus. The feast of Pentecost is also considered the birthday of the Church. It signifies a new beginning, a breath of new life for the church. What happened in the Upper Room on this day fulfills the psalmist's prayers for God to send his spirit upon the earth to renew it. The Church is constituted and renewed by the Holy Spirit to testify to the truth about the Lordship and Gospel of Jesus. St. Paul recognizes the necessity of the sending and empowerment by the Holy Spirit to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior to the world: "No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12: 3). This is true. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to testify to Jesus and His Gospel in the world effectively. We must carry out the demands of Jesus in the world, but only with the help and power of the Holy Spirit.
Renewal in the Spirit is what this feast reminds us about. What we need to do, and what we already started doing by our novena to the Holy Spirit, is invite anew the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us to revive and renew His gifts and fruits in us. With this purpose in mind, that is, the renewal of the Church, I invite you to return to church at 6 pm for our parish extended celebration of Pentecost. We will hear the Word of truth, pray for a new outpouring of the spirit and healing, and, like the apostles on Pentecost, speak of "the mighty acts of God" (Acts 2:11) in praise and worship led by our parish-based band, Forgven. It will also allow us to fellowship and share in light refreshments as we celebrate the birthday of the Catholic Church and the two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of our historic St. Peter Catholic Church! Yes, we are that old!!
This past week, we celebrated our parish's annual forty-hour—the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Most. Reverend Ronald W. Gainer gave us excellent sermons on the Holy Eucharist as a mystery to believe, adore, and live. His deeply theological and pastoral reflections richly blessed us. Let's use all we learned from his teachings in our individual and parish lives. I must once again offer words of appreciation to all those who participated actively in our forty hours, especially those who committed to a period of Adoration late into the night, Michael Checco and the choir, St. Michael's Guard, altar servers, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, CCW, Men's Club, the parish office staff and others. I am proud of you all. We pray that our parish may experience revival in Eucharistic Worship. In my understanding, without the Eucharist, there is no Catholic Church. Period! We need Eucharistic revival.
As Eastertide draws to a close today with the celebration of Pentecost Revival at 6 p.m., let us prepare for two significant feasts coming in succession: the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi. These fabulous feasts are going to keep us spiritually on our toes!
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
"Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth" (Ps. 104: 30). Today, the Mother Church celebrates the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Mary, Mother of Jesus. The feast of Pentecost is also considered the birthday of the Church. It signifies a new beginning, a breath of new life for the church. What happened in the Upper Room on this day fulfills the psalmist's prayers for God to send his spirit upon the earth to renew it. The Church is constituted and renewed by the Holy Spirit to testify to the truth about the Lordship and Gospel of Jesus. St. Paul recognizes the necessity of the sending and empowerment by the Holy Spirit to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior to the world: "No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12: 3). This is true. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to testify to Jesus and His Gospel in the world effectively. We must carry out the demands of Jesus in the world, but only with the help and power of the Holy Spirit.
Renewal in the Spirit is what this feast reminds us about. What we need to do, and what we already started doing by our novena to the Holy Spirit, is invite anew the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us to revive and renew His gifts and fruits in us. With this purpose in mind, that is, the renewal of the Church, I invite you to return to church at 6 pm for our parish extended celebration of Pentecost. We will hear the Word of truth, pray for a new outpouring of the spirit and healing, and, like the apostles on Pentecost, speak of "the mighty acts of God" (Acts 2:11) in praise and worship led by our parish-based band, Forgven. It will also allow us to fellowship and share in light refreshments as we celebrate the birthday of the Catholic Church and the two hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of our historic St. Peter Catholic Church! Yes, we are that old!!
This past week, we celebrated our parish's annual forty-hour—the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Most. Reverend Ronald W. Gainer gave us excellent sermons on the Holy Eucharist as a mystery to believe, adore, and live. His deeply theological and pastoral reflections richly blessed us. Let's use all we learned from his teachings in our individual and parish lives. I must once again offer words of appreciation to all those who participated actively in our forty hours, especially those who committed to a period of Adoration late into the night, Michael Checco and the choir, St. Michael's Guard, altar servers, Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion, CCW, Men's Club, the parish office staff and others. I am proud of you all. We pray that our parish may experience revival in Eucharistic Worship. In my understanding, without the Eucharist, there is no Catholic Church. Period! We need Eucharistic revival.
As Eastertide draws to a close today with the celebration of Pentecost Revival at 6 p.m., let us prepare for two significant feasts coming in succession: the Holy Trinity and Corpus Christi. These fabulous feasts are going to keep us spiritually on our toes!
Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
Fr. Bernard Alayode, OP
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