Feast of Pentecost, Cycle B

General Intercessions

Celebrant: The Spirit of God continues to unite us as a people and enables us to pray and intercede for the needs of others. Drawn together in God's love, we offer our prayers to the Father.

Deacon/Lector:

That the Church may continue to be a bright light of knowledge and truth throughout the world, leading people to faith, salvation, and eternal life, we pray to the Lord...

That the apostolic ministry of the Church carried out by the pope, bishops, priests and deacons, may bring many to know Christ and seek forgiveness of sins, we pray to the Lord...

That there may be a greater unity among nations seeking to halt the threat of war and terrorism, and that the common good of all humanity be served by their efforts, we pray to the Lord...

That the Holy Spirit, who gives Life, may breathe over our nation and create a new Culture of Life that welcomes the stranger, feeds the poor, and cherishes every child, born and unborn, we pray to the Lord...

That this Pentecost may bring our parish community a renewed sense of unity in the body of Christ with all Christians around the world, we pray to the Lord...

Celebrant:

God of power and might, you sent your Holy Spirit, the giver of gifts, for the good of your people. We open our hearts that all creation may be renewed by your love. We offer these prayers in the name of Jesus, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. 

Bulletin Insert 

Pentecost Voice

The Holy Spirit, who came on Pentecost, gave voice to the apostles to proclaim the truth of the Gospel. The Spirit, the Soul of the Church, continues to enable the Church to speak, and enables us to speak in our individual capacity. As Bishop Elio Sgreccia, Vice-President of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life has said, “The Church must speak out in today's context on fundamental rights, the right to justice, the right to peace, but above all and in the first place, the right to life. If the Church did not speak, did not proclaim the truth, it would be abandoning its duty; it would be unfaithful to society, to the good of society. Therefore, its precise duty is the very liberty to intervene with word, and also with example -- the example of promoting human life, of intervening for the salvation of mankind." 

Homily Suggestions on Pro-life Themes  

Fifty days after the Passover, the People of Israel celebrated “Pentecost,” observing the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, when God wrote the law with his own finger on the tablets of stone. The feast was originally rooted in the celebration of the harvest. It was on that Pentecost Day that the apostles reaped the harvest of the Lord’s Passover of suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection, and received the Holy Spirit, who writes the law on our hearts. 

This same Holy Spirit who came mightily on Pentecost comes to us. The same Spirit is in us, by our baptism and confirmation – the same Spirit who transformed the apostles, who raises the dead, and who changes bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood. That same Spirit is in us, and this should give us tremendous confidence in following Christ. 

The Holy Spirit, the “Lord and Giver of Life,” brings us back to our truest selves as he illumines us regarding the sanctity of life. The Spirit brings many gifts, and one of them is to enable us to see creation in its proper relationship to God – including the crowning of his creation, the gift of human life. 

When we do not have this light of the Holy Spirit, the law we have to follow seems like an imposition from the outside that limits our freedom. That’s what people in the world sometimes feel about our attitude toward abortion and euthanasia. They think we are “restricting rights.” But when the Holy Spirit fills us, he gives us an inner attraction to all that is right and good, so that we do not feel pushed where we would rather not go, but rather pulled by the attractiveness of what is good and right.

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