What did Mary do? She said “yes” to the Holy Spirit. And in that “yes,” the Holy Spirit filled her with new life. The Early Church called Mary Theotokos, which is Greek for “God-bearer.”   She allowed her Creator to act in her and accomplish great things through her. In giving birth to God’s son, Mary gave new life to the whole world. We’re called to follow her example, each of us in his or her own way. Hearing the Gospel isn’t enough. Talking about our faith isn’t enough. We have to do something about it. Each of us, in a personal way, needs to be a kind of Theotokos, a God-bearer. The seed of faith has to bear fruit in a life of Christian action, a life of personal

This is why this Pentecost celebration is so important. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.  Pentecost is our birthday as a believing people. The Church, like Mary, is about new life. The Holy Spirit filled Mary with new life at the Annunciation, and Mary gave birth to Jesus. The Holy Spirit filled the Apostles with new life at Pentecost, and they immediately gave birth to a new era through their preaching and example.

God relentlessly creates new life through each of us - if we allow Him to. We’re meant to be fertile. We’re meant to bring others to new life in Jesus Christ. The “Acts of the Apostles” should continue today in the witness of our own lives.

Pope John Paul II explained Pentecost in the following way in his 1986 encyclical Lord and Giver of Life: The “new `coming’ of Christ, this continuous coming of [the Lord] in order to be with His Apostles [and] with the Church, this `I am with you to the close of the age’ . . . occurs by the power of the Holy Spirit, who makes it possible for Christ, who has gone away, to come now and forever in a new way . . . In [the Eucharist and the other sacraments], Christ, who has gone away in His visible   humanity, comes, is present and acts in the Church in such an intimate way as to make it His own body. As such, the Church lives, works and grows `to the close of the age.’ All this happens through the power of the Holy Spirit” (61).

Pentecost is not just the birthday of the Church. It’s also the feast day of the Holy Spirit, who set the Apostles on fire with zeal in the Upper Room and who opened the minds in the crowd which first heard them preach . and who has guided and renewed the life of the Church for 2,000 years. We can only celebrate this Great Jubilee because the Holy Spirit first conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary. We can only celebrate the Great Jubilee because the Holy Spirit has never stopped sustaining the mission of the Church. Furthermore, just as He strengthened and encouraged the first Apostles, so too He will strengthen and encourage each of us - if we let Him.     

God Bless,
    Fr. Dan