Fifty days after the Resurrection and ten days after the Ascension, we celebrate the Descent of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. In the days after the Ascension, Mary and the disciples are locked in their room together, praying the first of all novenas.
On the tenth day Jesus appears among them and says, Peace be with you. He shows them his wounds. Again He says, “Peace be with you.” Then he commands, “As the Father sent me, so I send you,” which is a companion for “as the Father loves me, so I love you.”
After Pentecost, being loved and being sent forth are inseparable. So we ask, sent forth to do what exactly?
One answer is to share the Gospel. Immediately after Pentecost, Peter preached his first homily and about 3,000 people were baptized.
But even before that, before we can share, we must forgive. As Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit in them, He tells them “whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” We know this is the origin of the sacrament of reconciliation.
But Christ anoints all of his followers to forgive. He teaches us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” In Pentecost, God literally gives each one of us the power and authority to dispense heavenly mercy and justice. We can forgive sins. Unlike His priests, we cannot forgive sins one person commits against another. Only God can do that. But, if we want God’s forgiveness, we can and we must forgive sins against us. To escape the tragically endless cycle of vendetta, revenge, and “eye for an eye” of justice in the old covenant, the Holy Spirit gives us the power to grant mercy and justice by forgiving sin. And every time we do, we not only give a blessing to the one who is forgiven, but we receive God’s blessing as well. By this tremendous gift we give mercy on earth as it is given in heaven.
Among the many powers poured on us by the Holy Spirit, this power to forgive is central to our justification, and from it grows our mission to share this power with all the world.
“Forgive us our trespasses.” Alleluia! Alleluia!
WHEN: Monday, June 1, 2020, at 7:00 p.m.
Everyone is invited to start by making an intention to join in prayer. Meditating upon the Descent of the Holy Spirt, we give thanks for power to forgive, grant mercy, and justify the ones who sin against us as we pray the Glorious Mysteries. We pray also for those who suffer with and those who have died from the Covid virus, as well as all those who suffer financially from the shut-in conditions.
Thank you and God bless you,
Saint Cecilia Congregation in the Rosary