Last week, Coptic Christians in Egypt celebrated the memory of the Holy Family’s Flight into Egypt, when Mary, Child Jesus, and Joseph fled to Egypt to take refuge from the persecution of King Herod, during which they visited more than two dozen places, from Arish through the Delta and Cairo, to Assiut in Upper Egypt.
Pentecost is the celebration, not simply the event, that occurred in the Upper Room when the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It is the celebration of the presence and action of that Holy Spirit, alive and animating the Church today. That presence and action of the Spirit were on display in Times Square, the Crossroads of the World, on Friday, June 3, in an imaginative and exciting way.
Juan Pablo Quiceno, Juan Camilo Pérez, and Nineth Pinzón, lead a night of songs and praises on May 19. Pérez, the founder of the God’s Fire International Music Ministry, said Times Square is the perfect spot for singing and rejoicing while waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
The Holy Spirit’s gift of comfort and solace is meant to unite all men and women and not take sides with any ideology, Pope Francis said on Pentecost.
Pope Francis will celebrate Pentecost in Malta, the Mediterranean island-nation where St. Paul was shipwrecked and where thousands of migrants and refugees continue to seek welcome and shelter.
Francis noted that even though the Spirit is both the first and final thing the Church needs, it only goes where He is invited.
On the birthday of the Church, seven students gathered at St. James Cathedral-Basilica in Downtown Brooklyn for their own personal Pentecost.
Bishop John Stowe is calling for a new emphasis on encountering the diverse communities within the diocese of central and eastern Kentucky.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio announced the creation of a new seminary in the Diocese of Brooklyn during the Pentecost Vigil with members of the Neo-catechumenal Way at St. James Cathedral-Basilica, Downtown Brooklyn, on Saturday, May 19.
A group of nearly 400 members of St. Pancras parish, Glendale, celebrated Pentecost at the Red Steps in Manhattan’s Times Square.
