Pentecost Sunday & Memorial Day Weekend

May 23

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. We welcome back so many who have been away for the season as well as many visitors who are here for the weekend. Welcome!

Since it has been 50 days since we celebrated Easter, today we also celebrate Pentecost. We recall the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, Mary, and the other followers of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks.

This past Tuesday I received an email from Rabbi Michael from the Jewish Community Center of LBI. He
mentioned that he is preparing to celebrate Chag Shavuot, or the Festival of Weeks, with his community. Rabbi Michael wrote, “We count 49 days from the second day of Passover and on the 50th day we celebrate the reception of the Torah; 49 days is seven weeks; hence it is called, The Festival of Weeks.”

The math is almost exactly the same as ours. It is this Festival of Weeks that we hear about in today’s first
reading from the Acts of the Apostles, “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.” They are referring to the Jewish celebration of “Pentecost” – 50 days after Passover.

As our Jewish brothers and sisters celebrate Chag Shavuot, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit and birth of the Church as Jesus commissions them and us to go out and baptize in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. With this charge to go forth to proclaim the Good News, we bring to an end the great season of Easter.

On Monday, we will remember those men and women who died while in service of our country in battle or as a result of wounds sustained in battle. We will be praying for them at all of our Masses this weekend, as well as at the 9 AM Mass on Memorial Day.
Let us also remember the families who continue to carry the pains of war in the loss of their son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother. We must never forget the scars of war remain and run deep. Let us also
fervently pray for an end to all wars. May we never add another name to the very long list of those who died in war.

May God grant us peace and all good.
Come Holy Spirit