Celebrating Pentecost Cycle A

These highlights from our service on May 24, 2026, are shared here as a resource for your prayer, reflection, and continued spiritual practice. 

Background on Pentecost:

In the Jewish religion, Shavuot is celebrated 50 days after Passover. It’s one of three major Jewish harvest festivals when in ancient times, people returned to the Temple in Israel to offer the first of their grain harvest. After the fall of the temple, the focus of the holiday shifted to the giving of The Torah, the Ten Commandments on two tablets to Moses. Moses received The Torah 50 days after the Israelites escaped Egypt. 

Jesus’ Jewish followers – like Peter – were gathered with thousands of others – at the Temple to celebrate the Feast of Shavuot. Something different happened on this Shavuot - after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension – His return to heaven. There was a strong wind, “flames of fire” and a change in the people.  Throughout the Judeo-Christian Scriptures we hear about God appearing – and getting our attention – through breath, wind and fire.

Expanding Our Images of the Trinity

YHWH God

Jesus – God made Human

Holy Spirit – Breath, Wind and Fire

Praying with Songs

• Come Holy Spirit Fill This Place – CeCe Winans

• Glory to God

• Psalm 104 – Lord Send out Your Spirit by Bukas Palad Music Ministry, Song  and Lyrics 

• Veni Sanctae Spiritus

• Let the Fire Fall - traditionally sung at Charismatic services

• Ruth Fazal’s music – she has the gift of healing and listening to her inspired music can bring about healing

• City of God 

Opening Prayer

Oh Beloved God – We come to you, grateful for generations of believers, for our Jewish roots, for our Catholic-Christian traditions and for the ways you empowering us to build your KinDom on earth. Thank you for being every present with us. Today, please open our hearts and souls to receive your grace in new and wondrous ways. Through this service, may we know your love more intimately and be transformed to share it more abundantly. Amen. 

Transformation Rite 

Our Beloved God – we come to you today, recognizing that we are both human and holy. 

• For all the times we haven’t recognized you: Beloved God, thank You for Your mercy.

• For all the times we have failed to follow Jesus’ example of LovingKindness, Jesus thank You for Your mercy.

• For all the times we have not used the gifts that God has given us: Holy Spirit, thank You for Your mercy.

Sisters and Brothers – Jesus came to show us the way and to liberate us. The Holy Spirit comes to transform us. Our sins are forgiven. God’s mercy and forgiveness endure forever. Amen.

From The Bible

Intro: Today, we have several short readings that chronicle God’s constant presence – Divine Echoes. We will use the original Hebrew names for God – which often get translated simply as God or Lord, erasing the beauty and vibrancy of the original names.

Genesis: In Genesis, we hear two accounts of God creating the world and people. In Genesis 1, God is called Elohim – which conveyed a multifaceted Godhead. In Genesis 2 and beyond, God is often referred to as YHWH – in Hebrew, the vowels are not written. God says that YHWH is: I AM WHO AM.   Scholars believe that Genesis 1 was written after Genesis 2, as an introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures – so we’ll hear that reading first. Read and notice God’s breath and movement. 

• Genesis 2:5-7: God formed an earthling - a human being - from the soil of the earth. Into the earthling’s nostrils, God breathed the breath of life; and the earthling became a living being.

• Genesis 1:1-2: First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit – Ruah – God’s breath and wind - fluttered above the watery abyss.

Exodus 3: One of the first times that we read about God appearing as fire is with Moses and the burning bush. It’s also when God reveals its own name of YHWH. There is an invitation to us to notice God in nature, to notice YHWH’s constant presence AND to notice how we finish the statement I AM… Are we reflecting our divinity – the Great I AM – when we say I AM… . 

Moses was tending the flock belonging to Zipporah’s family. Zipporah was Moses’ wife. Moses led the flock deep into the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There, an angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that, although the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. He thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 

When God saw that Moses had gone to look, God called to him from within the flaming bush, “Moses! Moses!” 

Moses replied, “Yes. Here I am.” God said, “Take off your sandals. The place where you stand is holy ground. I am the God of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob, Leah and Rachel.” 

At this, Moses hid his face. He was afraid to look at God.

God continued: “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cry against their taskmasters. I know their suffering... The outcry of the Israelites has reached me. I have seen how they are oppressed. Now, go! I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.

Moses responded to God: “But if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is this god's name?’, what do I tell them?” 

God replied: “YHWH: I AM WHO I AM. This is what you will tell the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you…. This is My name forever, My title for all generations.”

Job 32:8: Recently, we explored the feminine title of El Shaddai – as God Who Has Breasts and Is Enough. That title is used in conjunction with God as giving breath. I can’t help but think of a woman who gives birth and assures that her baby takes a breath. 

But it is the Spirit in a person, the breath of El Shaddai – God-who-has-Breasts-and-is-Enough – that gives them understanding.

Isaiah 43:5&6: The prophet Isaiah reminds us that YHWH created us, gives us breath and calls us to be a covenant – a promise of God’s loving presence – and a light for all people! 

Thus says YHWH, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who fashioned the earth and all that grows in it, who gives breath to the people who dwell on itand spirit to those who walk upon it:I, YHWH, have called you for a righteous purpose; I have taken you by the hand. I have formed you and established you to be a covenant to the people and a light to the nations.

Christian Pentecost:  There are actually two accounts of Jesus’ disciples receiving the Holy Spirit. The Acts of the Apostles – with the familiar Pentecost story – was probably written between 60 and 90 AD by the evangelist known as Luke – as a continuation of his gospel. John’s gospel was written closer to the turn of the first century. Let’s listen…   

A reading from John 20 verses 20-23

The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were awestruck. Jesus repeated his greeting: “Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you.”

Then Jesus took a deep breath and breathed into them. “Receive the Holy Spirit,” he said. “If you forgive someone’s sins, they’re gone for good. If you don’t forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?”

A reading from Acts 2

When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them…

There were many Jews staying in Jerusalem just then, devout pilgrims from all over the world. When they heard the sound, they came on the run. Then when they heard, one after another, their own mother tongues being spoken, they were blown away. They couldn’t for the life of them figure out what was going on, and kept saying, “Aren’t these all Galileans? How come we’re hearing them talk in our various mother tongues?... 

“They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!”… 

That’s when Peter stood up and, backed by the other eleven, spoke out with bold urgency: “Fellow Jews, all of you who are visiting Jerusalem, listen carefully and get this story straight. These people aren’t drunk as some of you suspect. They haven’t had time to get drunk—it’s only nine o’clock in the morning. This is what the prophet Joel announced would happen:

“In the Last Days,” YHWH says, “I will pour out my Spirit on every kind of people: Your sons will prophesy also your daughters; Your young [people] will see visions, your old [people] dream dreams. When the time comes, I’ll pour out my Spirit on all people who serve me and they’ll prophesy. I’ll set wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below, Blood and fire and billowing smoke, the sun turning black and the moon blood-red...”

Fellow Israelites, listen carefully to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man thoroughly accredited by YHWH to you—the miracles and wonders and signs that God did through him are common knowledge—this Jesus, following the deliberate and well-thought-out plan of God, was betrayed by men who took the law into their own hands, and was handed over to you. And you pinned him to a cross and killed him. But YHWH untied the death ropes and raised him up. Death was no match for him…

This Jesus, YHWH raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of YHWH and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from YHWH, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear…. 

Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to YHWH and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”

AndreaGrace’s Reflection:

I was born on Sunday – God’s day – into a family of Catholics who prayed – even if they didn’t go to Mass regularly. 

In elementary school, I was drawn to God and to service in the Church. You’ve probably heard that I wanted to be both married with four children and leading a formally consecrated life – as a nun – being a priest was unthinkable. And obviously – at the age of 10 – I couldn’t figure out how to make those both happen… but God had a plan that She planted in my heart.

In high school, I was miserable – trying to figure out who I was and how I could fit into my family and community. In the fall of my sophomore year, my mom invited me to attend a Life in the Spirit retreat. Laying on of hands, praying for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues (as we heard at the first Christian Pentecost) has been kept alive in the greater Christian Church. The Pentecostal Church is founded on these practices and gifts. Within the Catholic Church, we call this “the Charismatic movement.” Up until the 1990s, the Boston Archdiocese had staff dedicated to this. Fr. Paco at St. Stephen’s in Framingham regularly leads Charismatic, healing Masses.

So the Life in the Spirit retreat was a Charismatic retreat – focused on well, life in the spirit, healing of body, mind and spirit - and using the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

At that retreat, I came to understand in the depths of my being – that God designed me with the gift of joy… that God wanted to be in a two-way relationship with me – and that God was communicating with me. Someone had a prophecy that I “would do great things” – which was echoed by two other people in the following months. 

My life was changed. My mom brought me back to the monthly healing Masses with Fr. Bob and Fr. DeGrandis. I cried through every one of them…. Releasing my pent-up pain… until my tears turned to laughter and I found my place as a child of God.

At the retreat, I met Charlotte D. – who was a spiritual mentor for my mom, the foundress of the Christ Alive Prayer Group to which my mom belonged… and I later joined… and from which some of our BeLoved members came. Charlotte started a teen Charismatic group which met monthly – and I attended that, also. 

Since then, I have cultivated the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I often pray in tongues – even through our BeLoved Masses. The gift of tongues is the gift of ancient languages and those of the angels. Our soul prays in words that we do not understand… liberating us to be one with God without our minds getting involved and mucking up the waters. 

I have also sought out opportunities to pray with Charismatic groups and learn from their leaders. I regularly attended Fr. Paco’s prayer services. I went on retreats with and through three levels of Schools of Healing with the MacNutts who are globally renown for their Charistmatic work. 

At my niece’s Confirmation, the bishop suggested that if we were only to pray for one gift each day – pray for the gift of courage. I heeded that advice… and saw a world of difference in me… and my world. 

The Holy Spirit – is the grace – the breath of God, the animator. My maiden name Fonte means “fountain.” The Holy Spirit is a fountain of gifts… and grace.  She is the fire that burns inside us – fire which can be a spark that starts a big fire... a little flame that burns in the darkness… a candle that shines the way… a bonfire at which people gather.

By the laying on of hands, we receive an outpouring of grace. We may pray in tongues. Some people are able to understand others’ tongues. We may receive a prophetic word, or picture or sensation. Healings happen – in bodies, relationships, thoughts, feelings and spirit. Sometimes we receive gifts like administration, organization, evangelization…. We’ll explore these more in the coming weeks. 

Stephanie Goldfarb, a Jewish author reflects: "Shavuot marks the exact moment when the Israelites transformed from a band of wandering refugees escaping Egypt  into a people with self-determination, a collective purpose, a promised land (Israel), a communal identity, and a covenant with one God. Shavuot marks the day we transitioned from a scrappy start-up concept to an enterprise."

The same can be said of the first Christian Pentecost. Jesus’ disciples went from being a bunch of people trying to figure out their way without their Beloved Leader to what is now known as the Christian Church. Think of the transformation in Simon Peter who denied Jesus on Good Friday – to the one who spoke so boldly at Shavuout-Pentecost that more than 3000 people committed to following Jesus’ Way! Pentecost is considered the Birthday of the Church – so we will celebrate with a birthday cake at our brunch!

The Holy Spirit – Ruah - God’s breath and flame – are in each of us. The laying on of hands – fans the flame. 

Be sure to check out the Pentecost prayer-poem I penned in seminary. 

Eucharistic Liturgy

Read our standard prayers here.

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