Global Courant 2023-05-10 04:55:59
The celebration of Pentecost was originally the “feast of weeks” and was related to agriculture, since it took place seven weeks after the first fruits were produced. It was a movable date since it depended on when the harvest arrived. However, currently, for the Catholic Church it has another meaning referring to the arrival of the Holy Spirit.
In the Old Testament it is the harvest festival, which was given at the end of the barley harvest and before the wheat harvest began. Later, the Israelites joined the Alliance on Mount Sinai, 50 days after leaving Egypt, details the Catholic.net site.
“Pentecost” comes from the word “penta” which means fifty. For Catholic believers it means 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, making it one of the most important celebrations of the year, after Easter.
The day it takes place depends on the date on which the resurrection of Jesus is celebrated, so each year it is celebrated on a different day and month. This 2023 will take place on Sunday, May 28.
“It is also a celebration that appears in the biblical text, in the book of Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2. It is the feast of the Holy Spirit, which comes 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The text indicates that on the apostles and the Virgin Mary there was a breath and tongues of fire appeared. They began to speak in other languages and tongues, in such a way that all those present from different regions understood the message of Jesus. From there the preaching and evangelization of the church begins, because before they were hidden, but with the coming of the Holy Spirit they began to preach”, explains the priest Manuel Abac.
For this reason, it is said that Pentecost for the Catholic Church is the commemoration of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles of Jesus and, in a certain way, marks the birth of the church.
That Sunday, in the celebration of Pentecost, said reading is read. Acts 2:1-11
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all gathered in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a gust of mighty wind, which filled the whole house in which they were.
Tongues like fire appeared to them, which were distributed and rested on each one of them; They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit allowed them to express themselves.
There were pious men in Jerusalem, who resided there, coming from all the nations that are under heaven. When that noise was produced, the people gathered and were filled with astonishment to hear them speak each in their own language.
Stupefied and amazed, they said: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? For how did each of us hear them in our own native tongue? Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; Inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the part of Libya bordering Cyrene, foreign Romans, Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we all hear them speak in our language the wonders of God. .
It is considered that the Virgin Mary was with the apostles when the Holy Spirit appeared. (Free Press Photo: Shutterstock).
Catholic.net emphasizes that it is not a stand-alone festival and cannot remain just the festival in honor of the Holy Spirit. Rather, it is the second most important Sunday of the liturgical year where Christians have the opportunity to live intensely the relationship between the Resurrection of Christ, his Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit.
According to the priest Manuel Abac, this Sunday they also pray for dedications. That is to say, for the future priests and the offerings that are received that day are destined to support the seminarians.
