During the celebration in St. Peter’s basilica, Pope Francis emphasizes that the Spirit is the "teacher of life", not just of doctrine. He "reminds us” of all that Jesus did and pushes us to respond. Christians without memory, "prisoners of the moment." The Spirit gifts us prayer and prophecy to speak to men "frankly, to openly show contradictions and injustices, but always with gentleness and constructive intent". Without the Spirit there is no mission. Mary and the Church.

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, is not limited to one moment in time, "but it is an event which renews itself again and again. Glorified Christ at the right hand of the Father continues to fulfill His promise, sending the life-giving Spirit upon the Church, which teaches us, reminds us, makes us speak".

This is how Pope Francis summed up the mystery of today's feast, in the celebration held in St. Peter's Basilica this morning. Dozens of cardinals, bishops and priests concelebrated with the Pope, as well as thousands of faithful and pilgrims from all over the world.

First of all, the Pope pointed out that "the Holy Spirit teaches us: He is our interior Master. He guide us along the right path through life's situations. He teaches us the path, the street .... He is more than just a teacher of doctrine The Spirit is a teacher of life. Certainly  knowledge, understanding is also a part of life but within the broader and more harmonious horizon of Christian existence".

Secondly, "the Holy Spirit reminds us, He reminds us of all that Jesus said. He is the living memory of the Church." "The Spirit of truth and charity - he added - reminds us of all that Christ has told us, so that we can enter more fully into the meaning of His words. And we all have this experience ... This calls for a response from us, and the more generous our response is, the more the words of Jesus become life in us, they become attitudes, choices, actions, testimony. Basically the Spirit reminds us of the commandment of love, and calls us to live it".

"A Christian without memory is not a true Christian, only half Christian: a man or a woman held prisoner to the moment, who does not know to treasure their history, how to read it and live it as a history of salvation."

And speaking off the cuff, the Pope added: "On that day [Pentecost] there was the Woman of memory, the one who initially pondered all these things in her heart. May Our Lady help us to remember".

Finally, the Holy Spirit "makes us talk to God in prayer. Prayer is a free gift that we receive, it is dialogue with Him in the Holy Spirit, who prays in us and allows us to turn to God as Father, Abba (cf. Rom 8:15, Gal 4:4), and this is not just a "figure of speech", it is reality".

And again moving away from his prepared text the Pope added: "[The Spirit] makes us speak in the act of faith: No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' without the Holy Spirit."

"But the Holy Spirit - he explained - even helps us to talk to men in prophecy, that is, making us  humble and obedient 'channels' for the Word of God. Prophecy is made with frankness, to openly show the contradictions and injustices, but always with meekness and constructive intent. Penetrated by the Spirit of love, we can be signs and instruments of God who loves, who serves, who gifts life".

The pontiff then returned to one of his most cherished themes, that of the "outward bound" Church: "The day of Pentecost, when the disciples" were filled with the Holy Spirit, "was the baptism of the Church, that was born 'to move outwards' to 'go' to announce the Good News to everyone. "

Pausing for a moment, then he added spontaneously: "The Mother Church that departs to serve. And let us remember the other Mother who promptly went to serve [cf. Luke 1, 39-56]. Mother Church and Mother Mary: both virgins, both holy, both women.

Jesus was peremptory with the Apostles: They were not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1,4.8). Without Him there is no mission, there is no evangelization. This is why together with the whole Church we invoke: Come, Holy Spirit. "

 

• Vatican
• pope
• francis
• feast
• of
• pentecost
• st
• peter's
• basilica
• holy
• spirit