Pentecost shows the Holy Spirit created the Catholic Church for all
people, Pope Benedict said in his homily to mark Pentecost Sunday June
12.
“From the first moment, in fact, the Holy Spirit created (the
Church) as the Church of all people. It embraces the entire world,
transcending the boundaries of race, class, nation - it breaks down all
barriers and unites people in the profession of the Triune God. From the
beginning, the Church is one, catholic and apostolic,” said the Pope to
a packed congregation within St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Pentecost
is the one of the most prominent feast days in the Christian calendar.
It is often referred to as the “birthday of the Church.”
It marks
the day, nearly 2,000 years ago, when the Holy Spirit descended upon
the Apostles who had been living in fear for 50 days following the
resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.
The Holy Spirit
emboldened them and the same disciples then set forth to tell all people
in Jerusalem of the Resurrection. All nationalities present could
understand them in their own mother tongue.
“With this we are
told something very important: that from the outset the universality of
the Catholic Church is not the result of the inclusion of subsequent
communities,” explained the
Pope.
He added that the Catholic Church refers to itself as holy “not because of the merits of its members, but because God himself, with his Spirit, is always creating and sanctifying.”
He added that the Catholic Church refers to itself as holy “not because of the merits of its members, but because God himself, with his Spirit, is always creating and sanctifying.”
The Pope explained it is the same Holy Spirit –
as the third person of the Holy Trinity – who also reveals God to
humanity firstly through creation, then through the incarnation of
Christ and then through the founding of the Church.
“The Church
does not derive from human will, from reflection, from man’s ability and
organizational capacity, and if that were so it would have become
extinct a long time ago, like all human things,” he said.
Pope Benedict also used his homily to reflect on the nature of creation and revelation.
“For
us Christians, the world is the result of an act of love of God, who
made all things and who is pleased with all things because it is ‘good,’
‘very good,’ as we remember the story of creation.
“God
therefore is not totally ‘Other,’ unnamed and obscured. God reveals
himself, has a face, God is right, God is will, God is love, God is
beauty.
“Faith in the Creator Spirit and faith in the Spirit that
the Risen Christ gave to the Apostles and gives to each of us, then, is
inseparably joined.”
The Pope finished his Pentecost Sunday
liturgy by singing the Regina Coeli – or Queen of Heaven – the
traditional Eastertide anthem to the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of
Jesus, who was also present amidst the disciples on the day of
Pentecost.
In his address to accompany the Regina Coeli he drew
upon the words of the 19th century Italian priest, Blessed Antonio
Rosmini, who explained “in the day of Pentecost, the Christian God ...
promulgated his law of love, writing with the Holy Spirit not on tablets
of stone but in the hearts of the Apostles, and through the apostles,
then communicating it to the whole Church.”
The Pope concluded by
entrusting the Church to “the Virgin Mary, temple of the Holy Spirit”
and then he imparted his apostolic blessing to the departing pilgrims.