SHAPED BY THE WIND OF GOD
INTRODUCTORY RITES
Gather as a family/ community; create an environment appropriate for prayer (dress appropriately - switch off your phones...).
We are conscious that Christ is present not only in the Blessed Sacrament but also in the Scriptures and in our hearts. Even when we are on our own, we remain part of the Body of Christ.
Place lighted candles, a crucifix, and the Bible on a covered table. These remind us of the sacredness of our time of prayer and could help us feel connected with our local worshipping communities.
You may sing or play an appropriate hymn. For instance:
The Sign of the Cross
Greeting and Introductory Words
L: The Lord invites us to the table of his Word: let us bless him for his goodness.
A: Blessed be God forever.
L: Pentecost celebrates the unseen, immeasurable presence of God: the wind of God that is within us and shapes us so that we might bring his life and love to our broken world.
We pray that we may allow the Spirit to shape us: to love selflessly and totally as God loved us; to move beyond divisions of “mine” and “yours” to create a community of compassion, reconciliation, and justice; to re-create our world in the peace and mercy of God.
Penitential Rite
L: For not allowing the Spirit to shape us, we ask the Lord’s pardon.
Pause
L: Lord Jesus, you give us the Spirit who removes fear.
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: Jesus Christ, you give is the Spirit who forgives and heals.
Christ, have mercy.
A: Christ, have mercy.
L: Lord Jesus, your give us the Spirit who renews us in your love.
Lord, have mercy.
A: Lord, have mercy.
L: May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins,
and bring us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
Gloria
Opening Prayer
L: O God,
who by the mystery of today’s great feast
sanctify your whole Church in every people and nation,
pour out, we pray, the gifts of the Holy Spirit
across the face of the earth
and, with the divine grace that was at work
when the Gospel was first proclaimed,
fill now once more the hearts of believers.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
A: Amen.
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
Readings
The readings are those assigned for the day in the Lectionary.
Preferably use a Bible/ Lectionary for reading.
Reading 1 Acts 2:1-11
Psalm Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Response Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or: Alleluia.
Reading 2 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13
Acclamation
Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.Gospel John 20:19-23
Reflection on the Readings
Use one of the following ways to reflect on the readings.
Lectio Divina
Be with the disciples in that upper room behind locked doors. Become aware of your fears and anxieties. Then become aware of the Lord’s presence in your midst and hear him say: “Peace be with you.” Stay with your thoughts and feelings.
Sunday Snippets
A parish priest narrates a conversation he had with a funeral director about the effect the wind has on things! The director said that, over time, trees that stand out in the open become shaped in the direction the wind is blowing. Unless there are other trees around to block it, a tree will eventually be shaped by the force and direction of the wind. Then, the funeral director began to point out tree after tree that had been shaped in this way; the cemetery was filled with them! All shaped by the wind!
Something similar happened to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. They were shaped by the wind of God—the Holy Spirit.
The apostles were afraid after Jesus’ crucifixion and confused after his resurrection. They shut themselves “in one place together”; there’s safety in numbers, I guess!
At Pentecost, the wind of God blew “like a strong driving wind” and shaped the disciples in three ways:
- from being fearfully behind closed doors, they moved with bold freedom into the open;
- from being silent spectators, they became vibrant and fearless preachers of the gospel;
- from being a cluster of individuals, they became a community and a church with a definite mission and mandate to be agents of peace and reconciliation.
The same Spirit—which Jesus “breathed on” the apostles and which descended on them “like a strong driving wind”—is with us. He helps us move from fear to freedom; from silence to proclamation; from being individuals to being community; from division to reconciliation… when we stand out in the open and allow ourselves to shaped by the wind of God.
Do I as an individual, and we as a congregation, show any evidence of being shaped by the wind of God’s Spirit? If not, what blocks the action of the Spirit in my life?
Questions to Ponder
Reflect on some (or all) of the following questions:
Reading 1: Everyone understood in his/ her own language what the apostles were saying. If/ when I am open to the Holy Spirit, would I have a deeper understanding of all that I hear? Am I open to “God’s surprises” or am I closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit?
Reading 2: What gifts has the Spirit given me and for what have they been given to me?
Gospel: The disciples were a transformed group after the Spirit’s arrival. Has the coming of the Spirit transformed me? In my life, do I see the Holy Spirit as dynamic and constant or only occasional?
The Creed
Prayer of the Faithful
L: Sisters and brothers, God endows us with the gift of his own life by imparting the Holy Spirit. Let us come to him, alive and free in the divine presence, and pray: Lord, hear our prayer.
R: For the Church: that we may allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to continue the mission of Christ in our time, we pray…
R: For the world: that God may destroy the divisions that separate the human family, and restore our ability to work together against disease, famine, injustice, and violence, we pray…
R: For all who are ill: that God’s Spirit of healing may touch them, strengthen their minds, bodies, and spirits, and restore them to wholeness, we pray…
R: For all who are overwhelmed by life: that, through the Spirit of hope, they may find new reasons to live this day and be gifted with a vision of all that could be tomorrow, we pray…
R: For all of us: that God may help us recognize and use the gifts which he has given us so that the Body of Christ may be strong in serving his kingdom, we pray…
L: Father all-powerful, send your Spirit on each of us. Let him set us afire with his love and make all your people one body and one spirit. Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
SPIRITUAL COMMUNION
The Lord’s Prayer
Spiritual Communion
A: Jesus, I know and believe in your real presence in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is you I desire to love and receive above all things. As I am unable to receive your sacramental presence now, come and be with me in heart and soul. Let my entire self be united with you as I welcome you again and know your loving embrace. Amen.
Post Spiritual Communion Reflection
John Foley’s hymn, One Bread One Body, celebrates our oneness in Christ, a oneness wrought by the Holy Spirit. Regardless of our birth or earthly status, we are equal in God’s eyes. We pray that we may truly be one bread and one body.
CONCLUDING RITE
Concluding Prayer
L: O God,
who bestow heavenly gifts upon your Church,
safeguard, we pray, the grace you have given,
that the gift of the Holy Spirit poured out upon her
may unite her children
and may gain her abundance of eternal redemption.
Through Christ our Lord.
A: Amen.
Blessing
L: The Lord bless us, protect us from all evil, and lead us to everlasting life.
A: Amen.
L: Go in the peace of Christ.
A: Thanks be to God.
Conclude with a hymn. For instance:
