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Tag: Pentecost Sunday

  • Holy Spirit-GIFTED

    Holy Spirit-GIFTED

    June 8, 2025 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060825-Day.cfm)

    We do know how it feels to receive gifts from someone special. Receiving a simple token of gift and/or few words of call or posts from someone special could really make our day and even help us get through the day. Because we know that behind each gift-received is not only the given-gift but also the giver of the gift, and the act of giving itself. Meaning, significant in receiving gifts is more than just what we received but also the one who gave it and how it was given  (Gift-Giver-Giving). We really appreciate then even just the simple thought and action of gift-giving from someone special in our life. Such gift-receiving given by someone special could surely promises us inspiration, love and faith in our day to day life.

    During these coming three Sundays we will come to appreciate and value the Gifts of the Risen Lord to us His disciples. Today, the gift of the Holy Spirit, next Sunday is the gift of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Sunday after next is the gift of the His Body and Blood. These are His special gifts to us to live through and inheritances for us to persevere with our faith-life journey in our day to day lives as we are being sent to be His witnesses to the world.

    In the gospels, we hear our risen Lord Jesus saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His ascension), on the day of Pentecost, His disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, faithful people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s faith through our very own native tongues. Because of such experience, today marks the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive.

    The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the church is dead without the movements of the spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our faith-life without the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live & prosper as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer the world salvation, meaning and direction in life, through us.

    As we celebrate today Pentecost Sunday, the day when Lord has given us His gift of Holy Spirit & the birthday of our Church, we are invited as well to ponder on the meaning of the Lord’s offer and gift of Holy Spirit into our lives now. In other words, what does it mean for us in this day & age to receive & live with His Holy Spirit?

    Receiving the Holy Spirit, first of all, is to be IN the Spirit of Jesus, for through the Holy Spirit we acquire the Lord’s inspiration and we are now In the God’s mind. In the Holy Spirit, we are also motivated by the Lord – mindful and inspired (i.e. In-spirit) to believe and follow Him in our lives today. Blessed are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Spirit, and His Spirit is one in us. Sa DIWA, tayo ay nasa kanya at Siya ay nasa atin. Diha sa diwa, kita Iya, ug ato Siya.

    Receiving the Holy Spirit is also to be WITH the Spirit of Jesus for through the Holy Spirit we enjoy the Lord’s love and we are now in the God’s heart. With Holy Spirit, we come to know love and to be in love, for He loves us in our lives. Beloved are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Heart. Sa PUSO, tayo ay Kanyang kasama at siya ay kasama atin. Sa kasingkasing, kita Iyang Kauban, ug ato Siyang kauban.

    Receiving the Holy Spirit is to be FOR the Spirit of Jesus too, for through the Holy Spirit we partake in the Lord’s mission, and we are now in the God’s will and way. For the Holy Spirit, we come to be steadfast and faithful in our missions in life, for He appointed and sent us to be His witnesses in the world. Encouraged are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Will. Sa KALOOBAN, tayo ay para kanya at siya ay para atin. Sa Kinaiya, kita alang Niya ug Siya alang nato.

    Like receiving a gift from special someone, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit offers us then inspiration, love and faith in our daily lives. Blessed, Beloved and Encouraged are we then to receive the Holy Spirit – as our Advocate whom Jesus of told us in the gospel “the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you”, for through the Holy Spirit, we are in one Spirit, Heart and Will of the Lord. Kaisa sa Diwa, Puso at Kalooban ng Panginoon. Usa sa diwa, kasingkasing ug kinaiya sa atong Ginoo.

    Our liturgy today reminds us that we are Holy Spirit-gifted, i.e. the Lord has already given and offered, as well as, will continually give and offer us His gift of Holy Spirit. The challenge for us now is to invite & receive the Holy Spirit into our daily lives these days. Same as way as Easter season calls us to invite the risen Lord to “Come and Stay with us” (Road to Emmaus), Pentecost challenges us to Invite and Be a Host to the Holy Spirit in our daily ordinary lives, and allow the Holy Spirit to bless, love and encourage us and in effect, Recreate, Renew and Recharge our lives always.

    As people of Lord’s resurrection and of the Holy Spirit, we now invoke and invite the Holy Spirit into our lives as we pray:

    Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

  • The Birth of the Church

    May 19, 2024 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfm)

    Have you ever experienced a time when you are so caught up with the wonders of the moment that made you say how great it is in our own native language? And then…, a foreigner caught up with the same experience as you are having, utter words of how great it is, and also in your own native language?

    Like once, my Pilipino friend and I were walking sight-seeing in a street of Brussels, Belgium. We caught sight of a beautiful painting being done in the plaza. In our amazement, we both loudly utter words: “Ang Ganda, ano.” “Ohh, Such a beauty”. And then a Belgian guy also in wonder say: “Oo nga, napakaganda” (Oh Yes, Beautiful). All of us (Pinoy and Belgian) where not only caught up with the beauty of the painting, but also with the beauty of the moment where we can communicate and understand each other our appreciation of our momentary experience with the painting.

    Perhaps the same experience could be said about a French man who tries to eat kumtang – a famous Korean beef stew, inside a Korean restaurant with among Koreans, and after tasting it, said: “Masizoyo” (Delicious, Sarap). All understand how tasty kumtang is, and even a foreigner is able to appreciate it through in the local native language and tongue. In other words, Napa-Koreano sa Sarap. O Napa-Tagalog sa Ganda.

    Our shared experiences of wonders and mutual understanding among diverse cultures somehow describes us the experience of the people and the disciples during the day of Pentecost. Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His Ascension), on the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s Christian faith in each other’s own native tongues.

    Because of such experience, today marks not only the culmination of Easter season but moreso, the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the Church is dead without the movements of Holy Spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our life without body, the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer us meaning and direction in life. For how does the Holy Spirit may somehow work in our lives?

    First, the Holy Spirit makes us experience and witness the present moment. Like being caught up with the beauty of a painting or scenery, with the delicious taste of food, with the wonders of the architectures & building, cooking, or working processes, with the intensity of a good book read, a good drama play or telenovela, and like the risen Lord made Himself known to his disciples, the Holy Spirit inspires us to situate and appreciate ourselves in the present experience. In other words, the Holy Spirit offers us PRESENCE in the here and now.

    Second, the Holy Spirit compels us to share our inspiration of the present moment with others. Our inspiration then is not ours to keep but to be shared with others. Like falling and being in love, the Holy Spirit moves us to proclaim and communicate our life and inspiration with others in a way that we can understand each other. In other words, the Holy Spirit provides us the LANGUAGE to articulate and communicate our inspiration of the present moment.

    And lastly, the Holy Spirit makes us respond rightly and accordingly to the inspiration-given and shared. Like Jesus giving us the mandate and mission to witness and proclaim our faith to all nations, the Holy Spirit encourages us to lead our lives according to our faith-life inspirations. In other words, the Holy Spirit obliges us a LIFESTYLE – a way of being and becoming human in life.

    Like, as Love is one of its gift, the Holy Spirit inspires us to love and be loved, to express humanly such love with an-other and others, as well as to live our lives as loving and beloved person. In the same way with faithfulness, the Holy Spirit inspires us to have faith and trust in the risen Lord in life, to express, proclaim, and share our faith with others (regardless of culture and race), and to practice and live out such faith in our daily lives.

    The Holy Spirit thus concretely offers us PRESENCE – LANGUAGE – LIFESTYLE of Love and Faith in life. That is how essential Holy Spirit is into our day to day lives as Christian and as Church.

    We can only receive what is being offered. And it will be offered us in our life, if and when we allow and invite the Holy Spirit into our very lives now. We can only share what we already have. We welcome then the Holy Spirit into our lives now so that others may feel its presence, relate with its language, & live its lifestyle in our world today.

    As we celebrate the birthday of the Church, we especially once again invite the Holy Spirit into our lives, as we pray: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.” Amen.

  • GIFTED

    GIFTED

    May 28, 2023 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052823-Day.cfm)

    We do know how it feels to receive a gift from someone special. Receiving a simple token of gift and/or few words of call or posts from someone special could really make our day and even help us get through the day. Because we know behind each gift-received is not only the given-gift but also the giver of the gift, and the act of giving itself. Meaning, significant in receiving gift is more than just what we received but also the one who gave it and how it was given. (Gift-Giver-Giving) We really appreciate then even just the simple thought and action of gift-giving from someone special in our life. Such gift-receiving given by someone special could surely offer us inspiration, love and faith in our day to day life.

    For these coming three Sundays we will come to appreciate and value the Gifts of the Risen Lord to us now His disciples. Today, the Gift of the Holy Spirit, next Sunday is the gift of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Sunday after next is the gift of the His Body and Blood. These are His special gifts to us and inheritances for us to live through and persevere with our faith-life journey in our day to day lives as His witnesses to the world. Remember Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. The gift of Holy Trinity as our Way, the gift of the Holy Spirit as our Truth, & the gift of the Body and Blood is our Life.

    In the gospel today, we hear Jesus saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His ascension), on the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s faith in their own native tongues. Because of such experience, today marks the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the church is dead without the movements of the spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our faith-life without the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer us salvation, meaning and direction in life.

    As we celebrate today Pentecost Sunday, the day when Lord has given us His gift of Holy Spirit & the birthday of our Church, we might ponder as well on the meaning of the Lord’s offer and gift of Holy Spirit into our lives now. In other words, what does it mean for us today to receive & live with His Holy Spirit?

    Receiving the Holy Spirit, first of all, is to be IN the Spirit of Jesus, for through the Holy Spirit we acquire the Lord’s inspiration and we are now In the God’s mind. In the Holy Spirit, we are also motivated by the Lord – mindful and inspired (i.e. In-spirit) to believe and follow Him in our lives today. Blessed are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Spirit. Sa DIWA, tayo ay nasa kanya at Siya ay nasa atin. Sa diwa, kita Iya, ug ato Siya.

    Receiving the Holy Spirit is also to be WITH the Spirit of Jesus for through the Holy Spirit we enjoy the Lord’s love and we are now in the God’s heart. With Holy Spirit, we come to know love and to be in love, for He loves us in our lives. Beloved are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Heart. Sa PUSO, tayo ay Kanyang kasama at siya ay kasama atin. Sa kasingkasing, kita Iyang kauban, ug ato Siyang kauban.

    Receiving the Holy Spirit is to be FOR the Spirit of Jesus too, for through the Holy Spirit we partake in the Lord’s mission, and we are now in the God’s will and way. For the Holy Spirit, we come to be steadfast and faithful in our missions in life, for He appointed and sent us to be His witnesses in the world. Encouraged are we then for through the Holy Spirit, we are one in His Will. Sa KALOOBAN, tayo ay para kanya at siya ay para atin.  Sa Kinaiya, kita alang Niya ug Siya alang nato.

    Like receiving a gift from special someone, receiving the gift of the HS offers us inspiration, love and faith in our daily lives. Blessed, Beloved and Encouraged are we then to receive the Holy Spirit – as our Advocate in our lives, for through the HS, we are in one Spirit, Heart and Will of the Lord. Kaisa sa Diwa, Puso at Kalooban ng Panginoon. Usa sa diwa, kasingkasing ug kinaiya sa atong Ginoo.

    Our liturgy today reminds us that the Lord has already given and offered, as well as, will continually give and offer us His gift of Holy Spirit. The challenge for us now is to invite & receive the Holy Spirit into our daily lives these days. Same as way as Easter season calls us to invite the risen Lord to “Come and Stay with us”, Pentecost challenges us to Invite and Be a Host to the Holy Spirit in our daily ordinary lives, and allow the Holy Spirit to bless, love and encourage us and in effect, Recreate, Renew and Recharge us always.

    As people of Lord’s resurrection and of the Holy Spirit, we now invoke and invite the Holy Spirit into our lives as we pray:

    Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and Enkindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and we shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

  • RE-LIVE AND RE-EXPERIENCE THE FIRST PENTECOST

    RE-LIVE AND RE-EXPERIENCE THE FIRST PENTECOST

    June 5, 2022 – Pentecost Sunday 

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm)

    What keeps us from truly expressing ourselves? What prevents us from sharing ourselves to others? What stops us from being truly free? Fear of being not accepted, of being rejected and thus, of being hurt prevents us from being free, from sharing and opening up ourselves to and for others.

    This is how our traumatic and painful experiences of abuse in whatever form that is, or of betrayal, of failures, shame and guilt, or of separation and death – could paralyze our relationships, damage our self-esteem and hamper our maturity in all aspects of life.

    However, God desires that we become fully human according to God’s image, and that is by being truly free and having developed our full potentials as persons in all aspect of our life.

    Today, as we celebrate the Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit into the Church, we are being reminded today of this desire of God for us to have peace, to be free, to be filled with all the good things that God offers us as individuals and as a Church.

    So, allow me now to bring you a bit deeper into our readings today that we may also be able to see and claim what God has prepared for us today, on this Pentecost Sunday.

    The Gospel that has been proclaimed to us today would tell us about the terrified situation of the disciples. The disciples were in hiding. They were terrified and so they locked themselves because of so much fear. They did not want to go out anymore, to socialize with their other friends and relatives or to continue preaching about the kingdom of God and healing people’s illnesses. They were rather filled with fear.

    This tells us that fear can actually paralyze us. Fear can prevent us in making movements and in making decisions. Consequently, when we become fearful we also settle to what is only minimal and comfortable for us, then, this makes us complacent. We wont take risks because we are afraid of rejection and failure or of the possibility of another pain and hurts.

    But then, such attitude could also make us controlling and demanding in our relationships to the point that we direct others on how they should treat us, or accommodate us and love us according to how we want it. We do not think of others then, because we do not want any compromise. We only think of ourselves, locked in those painful past but terrified of the present. This was how the terrified disciples kept themselves in a locked room. It was a paralysis to love and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven.

    This is the very reason why Jesus appeared in the midst of his fearful disciples. Jesus wants them to get out from the attitude of fear. Jesus penetrated those fearful and closed hearts of the disciples and gave them PEACE. And that peace filled their hearts with the Holy Spirit. With that, it completely changed all of them.

    The Holy Spirit indeed calmed and gave confidence to their terrified hearts, healed their wounded hearts, forgave their hearts that were found guilty, freed their imprisoned and locked hearts, and filled their hearts longing for love.

    In fact, in the Acts of the Apostles, it was proclaimed to us how the Holy Spirit changed the disciples. That is why, aside from the noise that sounded like a violent wind and the tongues of fire that rested on each of them, there was a more interesting expression of the Spirit that happened there. The disciples of the Lord who were mostly Galileans proclaimed the goodness and power of God. Though they spoke in their own native language yet strangers and foreigners understood what the disciples were proclaiming about.

    Yes, foreign peoples grasped what the disciples of Jesus had proclaimed because at that moment, they became confident and unafraid. They were able to get out from their fears of being persecuted, from their doubts about Jesus and from their insecurities of the coming days. They realized how good God is. They truly believed that “Jesus is Lord.”

    All of these realizations were fruits of their journey with Jesus. With the Holy Spirit, the disciples found peace in their hearts, meaning, these fearful and doubtful disciples had at last found and recognized God in their life, in their human experiences. This is how the Holy Spirit creates and renews us, as the Psalm proclaims to us today. As we are being renewed by the Spirit then we shall begin to see and recognize God’s indwelling presence in everyone and in everything, and in every circumstance of our life.

    Jesus said, “Peace be with you!” which also means, “I am with you!” because Jesus is the Prince of Peace. The Lord who is with his disciples sends them now. And so, they have become witnesses of Jesus – witnesses who convey God’s offer of salvation and love not just to a particular group of people but to all, to Jews and Greeks, to rich and poor, to you and to me.

    This is also how the foreigners understood the disciples of the Lord and in effect were converted to believe in Jesus. Thus, a church was born, a church that is not fearful of persecutions and a church that joyfully sings God’s goodness and love.

    What is it to you and to me now, as a church gathered here today?Our birthday celebration today is not meant to be a mere remembering of the distant past. This feast of the Pentecost calls us rather to relive and to re-experience the first Pentecost – and that is to experience again that confidence with God, being secured by his love, by being courageous and honest enough to share the kindness of God and his love to others.Because you and I, have already received the Holy Spirit.

    We may be constantly aware, then, of the Holy Spirit in all of our human experiences and relationships. In that way, we may be renewed by the Spirit who is ready to free a heart locked in fear and insecurities, ready to calm and give confidence to our terrified heart, ready to heal our wounded heart, ready to forgive our heart that has been found guilty, and ready to fill a heart longing for love. Kabay pa.

  • To Be-Relate-Live with the Holy Spirit

    To Be-Relate-Live with the Holy Spirit

    May 23, 2021 – Pentecost Sunday

    Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052321-Day.cfm)

    Have you ever experienced a time when you are so caught up with the wonders of the moment that made you say how great it is in your own native language? And then, a foreigner caught up with the same experience as you are having, utter words of how great it is, and also in your own native language?

    Like once, my Filipino friend and I were walking sight-seeing in a street of Brussels, Belgium. We caught sight of a beautiful painting being done in the plaza. In our amazement, we both loudly utter words: Ang Ganda, ano. “Ohh, Such a beauty”. And then a Belgian guy also in wonder say: “Oo nga, napakaganda” (Oh Yes, Beautiful).  All of us (Pinoy and Belgian) where not only caught up with the beauty of the painting, but also with the beauty of the moment where we can communicate and understand each other our appreciation of the experience.

    Perhaps the same experience could be said about a French man who tries to eat Kumtang – a famous Korean beef stew, inside a Korean restaurant with among Koreans, and after tasting it, said: “Masizoyo” (Delicious, Sarap). All understand how great it is, and even a foreigner is able to appreciate it through in the local native language and tongue. In other words, Napa-Koreano sa Sarap. O Napa-Tagalog sa Ganda.

    Our shared experiences of wonders and mutual understanding among diverse cultures somehow describes us the experience of the people and the disciples during the day of Pentecost.

    Church tradition has it that fifty days after His resurrection (ten day after His ascension), on the day of Pentecost, the disciples received the promised gift of Holy Spirit to the church, and inspired them to speak in different languages to proclaim the Good News of God’s salvation. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, people from different cultures then and until now are able to speak, hear and understand each other’s faith in each other’s own native tongues. Because of such experience, today marks the birthday of the Church – the day of birth, the day when the church becomes alive. The gift of the Holy Spirit is thus very essential in the life of the Church. Like a soul to a body, the church is dead without the movements of spirit, as well as the spirit cannot inspire our life without body, the church. We, the church needs the Holy Spirit to live as well as the Holy Spirit needs our Church to offer us meaning and direction in life. For how does the Holy Spirit works in our lives?

    First, the Holy Spirit makes us experience and witness the present moment. Like being caught up with the beauty of a painting or scenery, with the delicious taste of food, with the wonders of the architectures & building, cooking, or working processes, with the intensity of a good book read, a good drama play or movie, and like the risen Lord made Himself known to his disciples, the Holy Spirit inspires us to situate and appreciate ourselves in the present experience. In other words, the Holy Spirit offers us PRESENCE in the here and now.

    Second, the Holy Spirit compels us to share our inspiration of the present moment with others. Our inspiration then is not ours to keep but to be shared with others. Like falling and being in love, the Holy Spirit moves us to proclaim and communicate our life and inspiration with others in a way that we can understand each other. In other words, the Holy Spirit provides us the LANGUAGE to articulate and communicate our inspiration of the present moment.

    And lastly, the Holy Spirit makes us respond rightly and accordingly to the inspiration-given and shared. Like Jesus giving us the mandate and mission to witness and proclaim our faith to all nations, the Holy Spirit encourages us to lead our lives according to our faith-life inspirations. In other words, the Holy Spirit obliges us a LIFESTYLE – a way of being and becoming human in life.

    Like, as Love is one of its gift, the Holy Spirit inspires us to love and be loved, to express humanly such love with an-other and others, as well as to live our lives as loving and beloved person. In the same way with Faithfulness, the Holy Spirit inspires us to have faith and trust in the risen Lord in life, to express, proclaim, and share our faith with others (regardless of culture and race), and to practice and live out such faith in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit thus concretely offers us PRESENCE – LANGUAGE – LIFESTYLE of Love and Faith in life. That is how essential Holy Spirit is into our day to day lives as Christian and as Church.

    We can only receive what is being offered. And it will be offered us in our life, if and when we allow and invite the Holy Spirit into our very lives now. We can only share what we already have. We welcome then the Holy Spirit into our lives now so that others may feel its presence, relate with its language, & live its lifestyle in our world today. 

    As we celebrate the birthday of the Church, we especially once again invite the Holy Spirit into our lives during these pandemic times, as we pray: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the Earth.” Amen.