THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

(Acts 2: 1-4)

The Evangelists, the four official biographers,

end their narratives with the Ascension or just before it.

But the Ascension does not terminate the Savior's mission.

He had frequently promised them that the

Holy Spirit would come upon them and help them

in the extension of the Church which He had founded.

Echoing in their ears are His words:

" And I will ask the Father

and he will give you another Advocate to dwell with you

forever, the Spirit of Truth."

Later again Jesus assures them:

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your mind whatever I have said to you."

And in His last visit with them in the Upper Room,

called also the Cenacle, He said: "you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence."

The descent of the Holy Spirit upon them is therefore

necessary before they are properly qualified and equipped

to launch their momentous crusade to carry

the Gospel of Christ to all nations.

They need the help, guidance, direction,

and inspiration of the Paraclete.

His action will continue and complete the work of Christ.

Pursuant then to the instructions of their Divine Master,

they wait in Jerusalem for this momentous event.

They spend their days in prayer, meditation,

and preparation for their mission.

Peter assembles all the faithful,

numbering about 120, to choose a successor to Judas.

Two of the disciples, Joseph, called Barsabbas, and Matthias meet the requirements.

"Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all," the assembled faithful pray,

"show which of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away to go to his own place."

" And," relates Acts, "they drew lots between them,

and the lot fell upon Matthias;

and he was numbered with the eleven apostles;"

He therefore became the twelfth Apostle.

The Apostles gathered together in the Cenacle

on the morning of Pentecost.

This feast, one of the three principal solemnities

of the liturgical cycle, was observed fifty days

after the Passover, which accounts for the Greek name of

Pentecost, meaning fiftieth day.

It was about nine o'clock in the morning when the Savior's promise received its dramatic and spectacular fulfillment.

THE ApOSTLES SPEAK IN MANY TONGUES

" And suddenly," relates Acts, "there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

and began to speak in foreign tongues,

even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak.

"Now there were staying at Jerusalem Jews, devout men from

every nation under heaven.

And when this sound was heard,

the multitude gathered and were bewildered in mind,

because each heard them speaking in his own language."

"Behold," say the amazed people,

"are not all these that are speaking Galileans?

And how have we heard each his own language in which he was born— Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, andCappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, Jews also and proselytes, Cretans, and Arabians,

we have heard them speaking in our own languages

of the wonderful works of God.

"What does this mean?" they ask one another.

"Men of Israel," says Peter, "hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth was a man approved by God

among you by miracles and wonders and signs,

which God did through him in the midst of you,

as you yourselves know.

Him, when delivered up by the settled purpose

and foreknowledge of God,

you have crucified and slain by the hands of wicked men.

But God has raised him up,

having loosed the sorrows of hell,

because it was not possible that he should be held fast by it."

"Brethren," they say to Peter and the rest of the Apostles, "what shall we do?"

"Repent and be baptized everyone of you," replies Peter,

"in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For to you is the promise and to your children

and to all who are far off,

even to all whom the Lord our God calls."

"Now," relates Acts, "they who received his word

were baptized, and there were added that day

about three thousand souls."

That Pentecostal Sunday was the birthday of the universal

Church.

On that epochal day the Church,

dowered with the

Pentecostal fire and the gifts of the Holy Spirit,

launched her worldwide mission which is to continue

with unabated zeal until the last soul is gathered I

nto the arms of the Good Shepherd in the kingdom of God.

A few days later the number of believers

reaches five thousand.

Here is the visible evidence of the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit within the Church.

Scarcely less spectacular than the miracle of the Resurrection is the miracle of her phenomenal growth and expansion

as a result of the descent of the Paraclete,

the Spirit of Truth, in the form of tongues of fire upon her.

Thus the Church, founded on Peter, mystically united to Christ and vivified by the Holy Spirit, begins to live its new life.

The holy season of Pentecost begins this year on

May 15