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The Light of the World
In our reception of Holy Communion the events of Pentecost will take visible form. The Holy
Ghost comes to each of us and fills us with His fire and His power. He does not come to us in
the form of fiery tongues, but in the form of a fragile host which is the glorified body of Christ
and contains also the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Ghost. When we receive Holy Communion, we
receive again the baptism of the Spirit. Having been filled with the Holy Ghost, having become
bearers of the Spirit and apostles of the Lord, we announce the marvelous works of the Lord.
During the distribution of Holy Communion the Church sings: “Suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a mighty wind coming, . . . and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking
the wonderful works of God, alleluia, alleluia.” Pentecost has been repeated in the present.
“If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to
him and will make Our abode with him” (Gospel). Thus our Lord describes the love of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the love which binds us all together. God is never
very far from us; He is actually within us. This is the joyful message of Pentecost: God is within
us! The Father loves us, not only for today or for tomorrow, but for all eternity. God is within
us and we are filled with light and warmth. We must let His rays shine into our hearts; we must
let Him come and make His abode within us. We are filled with His power and fire, which will
consume all evil and all sin within us. This fire is our holy zeal to serve God and our Savior.
Pentecost is the seal and the perfection of the mystery of Easter. If Easter is baptism,
Pentecost is confirmation. Easter gives us a new birth; Pentecost brings us to maturity. At
Pentecost we reach our full stature, we are brought to man’s estate, to perfection by the power of
the Holy Ghost. The baptism of the Spirit prepares us for heroic deeds, sanctifies our thoughts,
purifies our motives. It makes us perfect Christians.
Prayer
O God, who hast this day taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost; grant
that by the same Spirit we may always be truly wise and ever rejoice in His holy consolation.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Monday
Today the Church addresses herself to the newly baptized and the newly confirmed, and also
to the rest of us who renew the grace of our baptism and confirmation. She calls us together at
the church of St. Peter in Chains.
St. Peter once had a vision in which he saw a great linen sheet, as it were, being let down
from heaven, which contained all kinds of beasts of the earth and birds of the sky. A voice
from heaven addressed him saying: “Arise, Peter: kill and eat. But Peter said: Far be it from
me, for I never did eat any thing that is common and unclean” (Acts 10:13 f.). But while he
was thinking of these things, legates came from a Roman officer, Cornelius, begging him
to come to Cornelius, who was a pagan. Now Peter understood the meaning of the vision,
for God showed him that no man may be called common or unclean. Even the pagan has
value in the eyes of God. Cornelius informed Peter that he had been bidden in a vision to
summon the apostle. Then Peter preached the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ.
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