On Saturday, May 23, the 4pm Mass will be a little different than normal. We will be celebrating the full Vigil of Pentecost. There will be a few extra readings, the Gloria will be in a slightly different spot, and we will be celebrating a Baptism and a couple Confirmations. That means, practically, that Mass will be a little longer than usual. I encourage you to join us for this beautiful Mass, though, for two reasons. The first: it would be a good and wonderful gift to give God an extra half hour of our time. Just from a math perspective: one hour a week (Mass on Sunday) is 0.6% of our week, which is not much time to give our creator! (Many spend at least 25% of their week sleeping!) An extra half hour bumps that up to 0.9%. Most of us want to spend eternity with God, so why not get to know him a little better now?
The second reason: Pentecost is, for the Church, the second most important feast of the year. Only Easter outranks it. The older liturgical calendars demonstrated this a little more clearly. Both Easter and Pentecost have the highest ranks and full octaves. (Epiphany and Corpus Christi had octaves too, and they “outranked” Christmas!) Pentecost is the date that the Father breathed the Holy Spirit through his Son into the Church, giving it life. It is the day when Christ sent us on the mission he had told about during all those years he walked on this earth: to go forth and make disciples, so that everyone around us can learn that they have been saved and invited to an eternity of joy in Heaven! Pentecost is completion and the fulfillment of the Easter mystery, and it is the day when God fulfilled the promise of the New Covenant: to write his law of love onto our hearts.
May Christ always reign in your hearts and bring you peace!
Fr. Matt