Veni Creator – An Interruption to my Pentecost Story

Pentecost. Jarring. Unnerving. Compelling. Ultimately – uniting.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x3wkqu

I highly, highly recommend reading Austin Fleming’s blogpost about Pentecost and this video by clicking here.

Austin says, “if Pentecost teaches us anything, it’s that the Spirit comes in every language, upon all peoples and with a desire to brings us together as one. Some will argue that this means we all need to sing the same song, in the same language, but I doubt the Spirit is so limited.” 


I am always reminded of a Pentecost homily that I heard about 20 years ago… “Easter makes me unafraid to die. Pentecost makes me unafraid to live.”

Pentecost is so unlikely… and if you read me regularly, you know that unlikely is the theme of my life.

Now please… Go and read Austin’s post – it is brilliant.

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Pentecost Novena 2010 – Day 1

Last year I was able to offer a novena for these days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost. This is an important and powerful time of prayer – the post resurrection Jesus has ascended into heaven and has promised us the Holy Spirit, which we know will come on Pentecost.

If you are from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany you know that we just had our annual catechetical event, Spring Enrichment. This week kept me pretty busy and as a result I have not been able to prepare a novena this year.

One of the gifts of the internet and blogging is community and one of the gifts of community is that we can share.

Great friend of the blog, Father Austin Fleming, who blogs at A Concord Pastor Comments, is offering a novena on his blog. I am linking to it here and will keep a link to it on the sidebar of the blog until Pentecost.

Thank you Father Austin for giving us a chance to pray with you and your readers.

From his blog:

The oldest novena is the prayer of the first disciples (Mary, the apostles and other believers) from the time Jesus ascended to his Father (40 days after Easter) to the feast of Pentecost. These nine days are a time for us to pray for the coming of the Spirit upon the Church and upon each of us. Each day of the novena you will find a post with scripture and prayer for that day. For your prayer, I’ve added a widget at the top of the sidebar with 17 musical selections for Pentecost.

Pentecost Novena to the Holy Spirit – Day 1

From the scriptures:

Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices;
you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.
When a woman is in labor,
she is in anguish because her hour has arrived;
but when she has given birth to a child,
she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world.
So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice,
and no one will take your joy away from you.John 16:20-23

For reflection…
 Continue reading at the link….

Very, Very Hard To Watch, But Should Not Be Missed

I just saw this video at The Deacon’s Bench and at A Concord Pastor Comments. It is not a church video.

Wow. I had a hard time getting up the nerve to watch it. It is very, very graphic and I don’t think you can watch it and be unmoved in some way. I felt nauseous and I cried.

Divided attention is a malady of our time and it impacts our practical lives and our souls as well.

This is a very startlingly clear view of what can happen. And it is not just kids either. I am guilty of looking down at my phone more than I care to admit.

http://d.yimg.com/static.video.yahoo.com/yep/YV_YEP.swf?ver=2.2.46