Come, Holy Spirit!

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

John 20:21-23

Today we celebrate Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. He said He would send His Spirit, and indeed he did. The promise was fulfilled!

But this is something which lives with us today. WE are commissioned to go forth in the world, spreading the Good News.

Those same tongues of fire related in Acts 2 are with us today. Or perhaps as a dove. Or inner voice in prayer.

I wondered what people called “Christianity” before that was a word. Because, of course, Jesus never used the word Himself. And I don’t think any of the Apostles did either.

It was called, simply, The Way.

The Way to eternal life with God.

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labour, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.

Sequence for Pentecost

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