Pentecost and St. Dominic

Come Holy Ghost!

Happy feast of Pentecost! The feast of Pentecost, like the feast of Easter, is tied to the Jewish Feast of  Harvests, which happened 50 days (Pentecost in Greek) after the feast of First-fruits, which was celebrated around the same time as Passover. The feast day was one of the many that Jews from around the world had to visit Jerusalem, and was therefore a perfect occasion for Christ's word to be spread and the preaching of the Apostles to start.

"Suddenly, there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting"(Epistle). Tradition tells us that the Apostles and Our Lady had been sitting in prayer in the same room that Our Lord had hired for the Last Supper. Before the Holy Ghost came, the apostles were timid, scared to preach the Gospel, and waiting for an earthly leader. After He came, they were filled with courage, given the power of tongues to preach to everyone, and realized that the Kingdom of God was truly not of this earth, but existed in Heaven. This is truly a miracle, but it's the same miracle we get as Catholics when we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, which gives us the sacramental grace to stand up for our faith, in the face of every hardship.

Let us pray for the courage to stand up for our faith. Today's gift of the Holy Ghost is Wisdom; "The gift of Wisdom is an illumination of the Holy Ghost, thanks to which our intellect is able to look at revealed truths in their more sublime light, to the greater joy of our souls" (St. Andrew's Missal).

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St. Dominic, by Fra Angelico

Today is also the feast of the Translation of St. Dominic's relics: the day that they were re-interred for the public to be able to pray at. This is the feast day of my alma mater, St. Dominic School in Post Falls, and so it holds a special place in my heart. Happy feast day to all my fellow alumni!