Pentecost Sunday 2023

    Happy Birthday to the Church! Today, Pentecost Sunday, is considered "The Birthday of the Church"

Why the Birthday? Because on the first Pentecost the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to all the members of the Church, the followers and believers in, Jesus Christ. (Just to back track a little: Pentecost refers to five weeks, 50 days from Easter Sunday.) Until the gift of the descent of the Holy Spirit, the first Christians were huddled together, praying? Yes! Out announcing the Good News about Jesus? No, they were hiding for fear of death and persecution for their belief in the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. They were praying, together with Mary the Mother of Jesus, awaiting the next move they should make as followers of the Man from Nazareth. As they were praying they heard a sound like wind blowing. Then miraculously "tongues as of fire" descended on each of them! Then they began to speak to a crowd of people, Jewish believers in the the God of Revelation, who came from various parts of the Roman Empire. The book of The Acts of the Apostles," in the New Testament of the Bible, relates the story of the "Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and Mary."

With the strength and boundless enthusiasm that accompanied the gift of the Holy Spirit, the doors where the Apostles were sheltered were thrown open. No longer cowering for fear, Jesus' followers began to loudly proclaim who Jesus is with boundless enthusiasm! That same day the Apostle Peter, who not long before had denied that he even knew Jesus, was the first to proclaim, to Jews and to all who would listen that Jesus is the One to adore and listen to. In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, beginning with Chapter 2 and following, we read the first history of the beginnings of the Church.

We who are Christians and Catholics today are the spiritual descendants of that first believers in Jesus who left the protection of the closed doors to move out of their comfort zone to let people know the person who is "The Way, the Truth and the Life." Jesus had told the disciples when he ascended to Heaven, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you". 

Today, my friends, we celebrate the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to send the Holy Spirit. Let's invoke the Holy Spirit that we too can burst open the doors of our fear to talk about Jesus; to let people know that you are a believer in Christ; to speak up when some people around you may revile the Church, her pastors, and all of us believers. We are called to be humble, not arrogant; convinced, not petulant; prayerful and pleasant. Let our lives proclaim "The Good News!" Amen!

PS Now may be a good time to read the beginning chapters of "The Acts of the Apostles."

    

                                            A NEW BEGINNING! 

Our Celebration of May, the Month of Mothers' Day and a Month Dedicated Honoring Mary, Queen of Apostles, Mother of Jesus Christ.

For me, it is a re-entering of Blogger world !

Welcome back to any of my readers who may have missed me!

May is a beautiful time to begin again. I apologize for any reader who was expecting news from me. I may have "fallen off the grid" but I am still firmly rooted on this earth for now! For those who may not know me, I am a Catholic religious Sister (some call us nuns, however we are an active Order founded to evangelize with all forms of communications media). I am a member of the "Daughters of St. Paul", media missionaries established back in 1915 in Alba, northern Italy. Now we Pauline Sisters are present in close to 50 nations. I live in our Boston, Massachusetts, USA, convent.  This is also where our Novitiate is. That is, before a young woman makes her final vows to become a "professed Sister"--that is, one who solemnly promises God and our Superiors to serve the Lord as a Daughter of St. Paul, she spends two years of more intense study of the rules of our particular congregation of Sisters. That is she studies what it means to vow to live chastity, poverty and obedience in our religious community. For a few years she vows to live these vows for one year at a time. Then she makes her final profession. That is, she vows to remain in the congregation for the rest of her life, living in community with fellow Sisters.  This promise seals her commitment to living in community, under the authority of our  religious Superiors. This may seem restrictive but it is a liberation from the difficulties people may face who are not promised to God and who live, sometimes many days and years lonely. There is a little prayer that our Mother Thecla Merlo, the woman who co-founded the Daughters of St. Paul, prayed very often: "By myself I can do nothing, but with God, I can do all things. To Him honor and glory, and to me the heavenly reward!"

Besides studying the religious vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, novice Daughters of St. Paul learn various phases of our media mission. This may include writing articles, getting familiar with working in  one of our Pauline Book & Media Centers, and, depending on the media available, posting media messages on various internet sources. When possible Sisters use TV and radio outlets. 

Who was the Founder of the Daughters of St. Paul? The priest who founded the Daughters of St. Paul is now addressed as Blessed James Alberione, SSP. These initials stand for the Society of St. Paul, consisting of vowed priests and religious brothers. The Pauline priests and brothers share the same mission as the 

Daughters of St. Paul, that is to be missionaries of the communications media. In the USA their publishing house is also known as "Alba House" referring to the city of our Pauline Family's origin.

Wow! This ended up being a much longer intro to my message than I had planned. I guess I wanted to re-acquaint my readers with my religious family 's roots! Or a better word would be: the miraculous story of how one lone priest from Italy's Piedmont area laid the foundation for an entire family of religious orders and lay institutes. 

Devotion to Jesus, especially Eucharistic devotion, is a hallmark of the Pauline Family: All the editorial, liturgical and other efforts are consecrated to the glory of God. A daily hour of Eucharistic adoration is part and parcel of the life of most members of the Pauline Family. In fact, the second feminine order which Alberione began, the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master promise two hours of Eucharistic adoration every day. In fact, these Sisters who are devoted to promoting the Sacred Liturgy, offer prayers each day for the rest of us members of the Pauline. 

If you are reading this post, I say "thank you!"  May your weekend and the days ahead be

blessed. My prayer is that during this month of a more intense devotion

to Jesus in the Holy Eucharist accompanied by the Mary, Queen of the Apostles, you may enjoy good health, plenty of sunshine, May flowers and an abundance of the graces of God.