Sunday, 19 May 2013

At Pentecost we celebrate the birth of the Church which exists to evangelise. ¹ On this day, with the descent of the Holy Spirit, Christ's mission is completed. Every baptised person is invited to be a missionary, proclaiming their faith in God’s unconditional love and mercy, through prayer, word and action. The Solemnity reminds us to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit so that we are not only sustained in our Christian life, but also able to respond ever more generously to the call to evangelise.

Definition: A feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks" or Pentecost (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10).

Prayer

Come, O Holy Ghost, the Lord and Lifegiver; take up Thy dwelling within my soul, and make of it Thy sacred temple.
Make me live by grace as an adopted son of God.
Pervade all the energies of my soul, and create in me a fountain of living water springing up into life everlasting.
Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be, etc.

Source: catholicculture.org  

Pentecost Novena

Diocese of Northampton

Friday 10 May and Saturday 18 May 2013

The Diocesan Evangelisation team has created a template for an order of service in order to help parishes or prayer groups organise a prayer service as part of a Pentecost novena. On each of the nine days of the novena there will be at least one group praying somewhere in the Diocese of Northampton. You may wish to do something similar in your parish and/or deanery.

Taken from the resource:

"Like those early disciples we too in our day need to be clothed with power from on high, we too need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. For this reason the Church presents us with an opportunity in preparation for Pentecost to ‘return to the Upper Room’ in order to pray for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, upon the Church and the whole world."
 
"In our own Diocese of Northampton the Diocesan Evangelisation Team in partnership with others are seeking to encourage simple prayer services around the Diocese during the nine days leading up to Pentecost. Just as Pope John XXIII and the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council did we ask that the Lord would 'renew his wonders in this our day as by a new Pentecost.'"

The Novena begins on Friday of the 6th Week of Easter, (even though the Solemnity of the Ascension is transferred to the 7th Sunday). This year therefore the Novena will take place between Friday 10th May and Saturday 18h May 2013 inclusive.

Download

Download the prayer service resource by using the link in the top right-hand corner of this page.

Contact

Alex Heath
Chair of the Diocesan Evangelisation Team
NORES
Holy Ghost RC Parish Centre
Westbourne Road
Luton
LU4 8JD

Tel: 01582 723312
Email: heath@nores.org.uk

Links

Catechism of the Catholic Church

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit (mp3)

Liturgy Office - May 2013

Pope: A worldly Church cannot transmit the Gospel

Pope Francis to visit Rome's basilicas before Pentecost

Footnote

  ¹ Evangelii Nuntiandi 4

Image

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles and Mary at Pentecost
© Elizabeth Wang, radiantlight.org.uk