PENTECOST – CYCLE B – 2018

Ø  Fifty days have passed since the solemnity of the resurrection of the Lord, when the Church, filled with joy, announced to all men and women who live on this planet that Jesus, the crucified man, is risen. Alleluia

Ø  In our meditation, today, we are going to do something different. We are going to concentrate on the beautiful sequence which we will recite during the Mass on Pentecost Sunday.   

Ø  And afterwards we will reflect on the Gospel.     

SEQUENCE OF PENTECOST – VENI, SANCTE SPIRITUS

v  Veni Sancte Spiritus, sometimes called the "Golden Sequence," is a sequence prescribed in the Roman Liturgy for the Masses of Pentecost and its octave,

v  It is usually attributed to either the thirteenth-century Pope Innocent III or to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal Stephen Langton, although it has been attributed to others as well.

v  Veni Sancte Spiritus is one of only four medieval Sequences which were preserved in the Missale Romanum published in 1570 following the Council of Trent (1545–63).  

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul's most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue's sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen. 

      The Holy Spirit is first mentioned in Scriptures in the Book of Genesis, when God creates by his Word, at the same time that the breath of God hovers over the waters, and transforms the chaos in a wonderfully beautiful universe.    

      This Spirit who is already present in the first creation, will be present again in the new creation, the incarnation of the creating Word, which is the Son of God. 

      And again the Spirit is present at the birth of the Church, the community of the followers.

      And he is the Spirit that Jesus has promised to send and who will remind us and make us understand all the words that Jesus has said to us.    

v  The Church calls upon the Spirit, Come!  Who is this Spirit?

o   It is the Spirit of God, to whom we ask for light  

o   He is the loving father of those who are poor, of those who trust fully and unconditionally in the love of the Triune God.   

o   It is the spirit which with his light comes into our soul and gives a consolation which nobody else can give to us.    

§  A consolation which can go together with the difficulties  

§  To which our limitations is not an obstacle   

§  Neither are our infirmities, nor  our fears   

§  Not even our sins

o   This Spirit is the guest of our soul. Jesus had told us that if someone loves him, the Father will love that person, and they will come to abide in him or her.   

o   The Spirit of Jesus gives rest to our souls; he is also breeze, joy and consolation in all our sufferings and difficulties.      

o   We all have the experience of how good it is when the Lord is present and allows us to experience it. Everything changes, nothing is the same anymore. The three Apostles on Mount Tabor had the experience of the presence of God  and,  Peter in the name of the three of them,  wanted to build three tents in order to remain there, close to God.  

v  The Church who calls on the Holy Spirit invites Him to enter  

o   She opens the doors of her heart, of her deepest self, of her intimacy   

o   So that the divine light may fill her, fill all of us and help us to understand what God wants from  us

o   Yes, O Spirit of God, look at our emptiness, because we are filled with many things which take your place

o   Look how vulnerable we are without you; see how the evil spirit takes hold of us in so many ways, sometimes very obvious, but most of the time so subtle that we do not realize it. 

v  Our soul is dry, as we sing in the psalm “like a dry land without water” 

v  Our heart is sick, sick with pride, with ambition, with emptiness, with sadness… if you are not present, come, come!  

v  And heal our sick heart, which is anxious to love, but which looks for love in the wrong place, like that Samaritan woman you met at the well and,  you filled her empty jug with the living water that wells up to eternal life.  

v  Yes, wash us again, as you washed us at our baptism, baptize us in the Spirit and fire, as the Baptist announced.     

v  Our spirit is rebellious; transform it with your meekness, your mercy, your kindness.  

v  And lead us in the journey of our life toward the eternal abode where you, Lord, will wipe away all tears.     

v  Give us your seven gifts, and give us the faith we need to receive and enjoy them.    

v  Come to our aid, because we do not know how to ask, but you, Holy Spirit, intercede for us.    

v  And we also ask you to give us your joy, the joy to know that we are loved, coddled, taken care by the Triune God, and above all grant us that this joy be transformed into eternal joy when the Lord will come and call us.

GOSPEL – Jn 15:26-27;12-15

 We have two options for the Gospel, both from the Gospel of John, one from chapter 20 and the other one  from chapter 15. We will use the second option for our reflection.    

v  Jesus says to his disciples that the  Spirit will testify to him, and

v  They will also testify because they have been with Him from the beginning

v  Jesus has many more things to tell them, but they could not  bear it then. 

v  But Jesus will send his Spirit who will guide them, guide the community, the Church, throughout history, and He will teach them little by little as the different situations arise. 

v  The Spirit will also glorify Jesus and He will teach us to do the same with our life, which will be the strongest testimony. 

	CLARETIAN CORNER

May the light of the Holy Spirit guide my pen to write with clarity what God our Lord has ordered me several times and now again orders me by means of Holy Obedience.  I beg, then, all the Saints in Heaven, and especially my Most Holy Mother, Mary Most Holy, upon whose feet I lie prostate, plunged in my own vileness and engrossed in the midst of my lowliness, without knowing where to begin.  I cannot remain silent, and to speak is temerity.  Supposing then my God, that you order me to do so, I will speak so that those who will read it will magnify your works, Lord, and seeing the inadequacy of the instrument may remember that to establish the Holy Church you chose twelve poor fishermen and now to revitalize it you deign yourself to give the fundamental plan to another poor creature without more miserable comparison.  Blessed be your Power and Kindness forever. (Venerable María Antonia París, Foundress. Plan for the Renewal of the Church 1)  

We had to cross the river Jojo 35 times because it zigzags between two high mountain ridges, and the traveler has no course open to him other than to cross it. After we made it past the river, we had to climb a stretch of mountains called the Knives of Baracoa. The name fits them perfectly because they really are like a row of knives. A road runs along the crest of the mountains, and there are stretches of it as tortuous as a chambered nautilus. These are divided, so that anyone descending can avoid ascending traffic. Otherwise, if two horses confronted each other, one would have to back up because the road is too narrow to turn around in. The mountains run along the spine of the island for about four leagues, and they are so high that you can see the ocean on both sides. We had to climb and cross these mountains fasting, and the road is so steep that on the way down I slipped and fell twice, although I wasn't badly hurt, thank God. . (Saint Anthony Mary Claret, Founder. Autobiography 541)