They received the gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as the gift of tongues so that people could understand them in their native language as they preached the Gospel of Christ. (Acts 2)
Pentecost means the 'fiftieth day' and was the day on which the 'Feast of Weeks' or 'Shevout' was celebrated. On this day, all Jews recalled the day the Commandments were given to Moses 50 days after their Exodus from Egypt. There was a big harvest on this day.
Jesus had promised the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. He told them that the Helper or Paraclete will come to them reminding them of all He has taught them and will guide them in Truth. (John14:15-31) These are important verses that are ignored by our separated brethren who often claim that the Catholic Church is corrupt and apostate. In America's infancy, groups such as the Finneyites rose up preaching a form of "primitivism," or what they called a return to the "original Christianity." We see many of their sects today such as the Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Methodists, Evangelicals, Mormons, Adventists and so on.
Anyone who believes that Christ's Catholic Church became corrupt is basically calling Jesus a liar. If Jesus indeed promised that the Spirit would guide the Church in Truth, how can it become corrupt? How can the Church fall away from Christ? This is a misconception our separated friends must really meditate on and throw away as ignorant rhetoric from the harsh anti-Catholicism that existed in the past - post reformation into America's infancy.
- Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to come once again and renew the Catholic Church and the world.
- Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to rid the Church of scandals; to rid the Church of her Judas's who continue to betray Jesus.
- Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to renew our Faith in this Year of Faith and to restore or give the gift of Faith to those who lost it or never bothered to open it.
- Let us pray to the Holy Spirit to tell us what to do in these trying times. To instruct us how to confront with love and reason the ideas of today such as Relativism, Atheism, Secularism, Homosexuality - Marriage rights issues, Feminism, Indifferentism, Personhood distortions.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love, sent forth your spirit and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for reading and for your comment. All comments are subject to approval. They must be free of vulgarity, ad hominem and must be relevant to the blog posting subject matter.