Pentecost: Fire and Mission

We read today in the Acts of the Apostles of this great day, which in a certain way we can celebrate as the birthday of the Church:

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
And suddenly there came from the sky
a noise like a strong driving wind,
and it filled the entire house in which they were.
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,
which parted and came to rest on each one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem.
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd,
but they were confused
because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
They were astounded, and in amazement they asked,
“Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?
Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?
We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia,
Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene,
as well as travelers from Rome,
both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues
of the mighty acts of God.”

(Acts 2:1-11)

Today, for the first time since the last Mass at Holy Rosary, I served at Mass. Father Tuan at Saint Ann graciously accepted my offer to be an altar server for him at this morning’s Pentecost Mass. In the parking lot, we ran into one of our Holy Rosary altar server families. It was so good to see them again!

After I vested, Father asked if we could have incense at the Mass. I of course agreed, and asked him if we couldn’t recruit a couple of servers as candle bearers. He readily agreed, and so I immediately walked out into the nave and asked the parents: would your children be willing to serve? They were and they did. And it was glorious.

Sure, we made some mistakes – after all we were all about a year or more out of practice and in an entirely new space – but overall it went very well. I’m very pleased with their decorum and reverence. I only wish I’d gotten a photo afterwards.

I wish all who read my words a truly happy Pentecost. May the fire of the Holy Spirit be your light in the darkness. Remember the words of Abba Joseph of Panephysis!

Abba Lot went to see Abba Joseph and said to him, ‘Abba, as far as I can, I say my little office. I fast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in peace and as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’

Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven. His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, ‘If you will, you can become all flame.’

Perhaps it is best to close with the traditional Pentecost Sequence, which is chanted before the Gospel on this day.

Original Latin

An English version

Edited to add: a photo!