Since we are travellers and pilgrims in the world, let us ever ponder on the end of the road, that is of our life, for the end of our roadway is our home (St Columban, 8th sermon).
Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul. Solemnities take precedence over Sundays in Ordinary Time.
At the Vigil Mass (Saturday evening)
NB: The Vigil Mass has its own prayers and readings. Those for the Mass During the Day on Sunday should not be used – though some priests seem to be unaware of this. It is incorrect to refer to the Vigil Mass as an ‘anticipated Mass’. It is a celebration proper to the evening before. The Vigil Mass also fulfills the Sunday obligation.
Vigil Mass
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan,)
Readings (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: England & Wales, India, Scotland)
GospelMatthew 16:13-19(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
At that time: When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’
Jesus says to Peter in today's gospel: You are Peter,and on this rockI will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Those same words are sung as the Gospel Acclamation.. The first part of that verse is sung again as part of the Communion Antiphon.
St Augustine speaks very eloquently in one of his sermons on the reasons Jesus chose this fisherman to be the first leader of his Church:
If Christ had first chosen a man skilled in public speaking, such a man might well have said: 'I have been chosen on account of my eloquence.' If he had chosen a senator, the senator might have said: 'I have been chosen because of my rank.' If his first choice had been an emperor, the emperor surely might have said: 'I have been chosen for the sake of the power I have at my disposal.' Let these worthies keep quiet and defer to others; let them hold their peace for a while. I am not saying they should be passed over or despised; I am simply asking all those who can find any ground for pride in what they are to give way to others just a little.
Christ says: give me this fisherman, this man without education or experience, this man to whom no senator would deign to speak, not even if he were buying fish. Yes, give me him; once I have taken possession of him, it will be obvious that it is I who am at work in him. Although I meant to include senators, orators, and emperors among my recruits, even when I have won over the senator I shall still be surer of the fisherman. The senator can always take pride in what he is; so can the orator and the emperor, but the fisherman can glory in nothing except Christ alone.
I was particularly struck by St Augustine's observation that perhaps a senator mightn't bother to speak to a fisherman even when buying fish from him. I remember being at a birthday party in the Philippines for a boy aged ten or eleven, an only child. His paternal grandmother, a wealthy woman, whom I'll call 'Lydia', had invited me when we happened to cross each other's path in the city where her son's family lived. Her late husband had lingered for ten years after a stroke that left him totally incapacitated. During those years Lydia joined a prayer group, most of the members of which were people who had to struggle financially from day to day. They prayed regularly with Lydia's husband and gave her great support.
At her grandson's birthday party she asked her daughter-in-law if her driver had eaten. Then she turned to me and said, Before, I wouldn't even have noticed him. She had been changed by the faith community in her parish, especially by the members of the prayer group.
Benedict XVI with Pilgrims, World Youth Day 2011, Madrid
At the closing Mass of World Youth Day in Madrid on 21 August 2011 today's Gospel was proclaimed. In his homily Pope Benedict XVI spoke about what I see as the experience of Lydia [emphases added]:
Dear young friends, as the Successor of Peter, let me urge you to strengthen this faith which has been handed down to us from the time of the Apostles. Make Christ, the Son of God, the centre of your life. But let me also remind you that following Jesus in faith means walking at his side in the communion of the Church. We cannot follow Jesus on our own. Anyone who would be tempted to do so 'on his own', or to approach the life of faith with that kind of individualism so prevalent today, will risk never truly encountering Jesus, or will end up following a counterfeit Jesus.
Having faith means drawing support from the faith of your brothers and sisters, even as your own faith serves as a support for the faith of others. I ask you, dear friends, to love the Church which brought you to birth in the faith, which helped you to grow in the knowledge of Christ and which led you to discover the beauty of his love. Growing in friendship with Christ necessarily means recognizing the importance of joyful participation in the life of your parishes, communities and movements, as well as the celebration of Sunday Mass, frequent reception of the sacrament of Reconciliation, and the cultivation of personal prayer and meditation on God’s word.
Friendship with Jesus will also lead you to bear witness to the faith wherever you are, even when it meets with rejection or indifference. We cannot encounter Christ and not want to make him known to others. So do not keep Christ to yourselves! Share with others the joy of your faith. The world needs the witness of your faith, it surely needs God. I think that the presence here of so many young people, coming from all over the world, is a wonderful proof of the fruitfulness of Christ’s command to the Church: 'Go into all the world and proclaim the Gospel to the whole creation' (Mk 16:15). You too have been given the extraordinary task of being disciples and missionaries of Christ in other lands and countries filled with young people who are looking for something greater and, because their heart tells them that more authentic values do exist, they do not let themselves be seduced by the empty promises of a lifestyle which has no room for God.
During the ten years of her husband's illness where he couldn't do anything for himself, Lydia was drawing support from the faith of her brothers and sisters, even as they drew support from hers.
Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram
aedificabo ecclesiam meam.
You are Peter, and on this rock I will
build my Church.
This
text from today’s Gospel is used in both the Gospel Acclamation and the
Communion Antiphon.
Traditional Latin Mass
Saints Peter and Paul
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 06-29-2025 if necessary).
All [the apostles] with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers . . . When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.(Acts 1:14; 2:1).
Pentecost Sunday, at the Vigil Mass
(Saturday evening), Years ABC
NB: The Vigil Mass has its own prayers and readings. Those for the Mass During the Day on Sunday should not be used – though some priests seem to be unaware of this. It is incorrect to refer to this Vigil Mass as an ‘anticipated Mass’. It is a celebration proper to the evening before Pentecost Sunday and may be celebrated in an extended form. It also fulfils the Sunday obligation.
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
GospelJohn 7:37-39 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Mass During the Day, Year B
Readings(Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
GospelJohn 15:26-27, 16:12-15(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
Jesus said to his disciples:
“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”
OR
GospelJohn 20:19-23(English Standard Version, Anglicised)
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
This week I'm using what I used three years ago. I'm focusing on the central role of our Blessed Mother in God's plan for our salvation. I cannot imagine a painting of the Annunciation, a painting of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth, a painting of the Birth of Jesus without Mary. I cannot imagine a painting with people at the foot of the Cross without Mary being among them. Michelangelo's Pietá without Mary would be ludicrous. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Mary was with the Apostles from Ascension Thursday as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. Any of the great paintings of Pentecost show Mary with the Apostles. El Greco catches all of this in the paintings I have used here. I've used his painting of Pentecost above and below.
The Annunciation
El Greco, painted 1596-1600, Museo del Prado, Madrid
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God . . . And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:35, 38).
Frank Duff, founder of the Legion of Mary, wrote the following in 1937 in his foreward to Mary, Mother of Divine Grace by Fr Joseph Le Rohellec CSSp, translated by Fr Stephen Rigby and Fr Denis Fahey CSSp.
God has set [Mary] in the beginning of our ways. From the first, the idea of Her was present to His mind along with that of the Redeemer. He only looked at poor fallen humanity through Her. When, in the fulness of the ages, She was born and came to maturity, He sent to Her His high angel, and to Her proposed the Divine plan of Redemption for which the world had waited for forty dismal centuries. That plan invited Her participation. Nay, more, He was pleased to make it necessary, so that if Her consent is not forthcoming, that plan will not be put into effect, and the dream of those forty centuries will not pass into actuality, will not come true, will not even continue as a dream. For there is to be no fruition. In Mary, all humanity withers because in Her it has not known the time of its visitation.
. . . Mary was formed by the Holy Trinity for the work She had to do. 'She was the fruit of an eternal deliberation,' says St Augustine.
Mary is central to God's plan for our salvation. When she said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word the Holy Spirit came upon her, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her.
When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:41-43).
Here is part of his Regina Caeli address on Pentecost Sunday 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Dear friends, this year the Solemnity of Pentecost occurs on the last day of the month of May on which the beautiful Marian feast of the Visitation is normally celebrated. This fact invites us to let ourselves be inspired and, as it were, instructed by the Virgin Mary, who was the protagonist of both these events.
In Nazareth she received the announcement of her unique motherhood and, immediately after conceiving Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, she was impelled by the same Spirit of love to go and help her elderly kinswoman Elizabeth, who had reached the sixth month of a pregnancy that was also miraculous. The young Mary who is carrying Jesus in her womb and, forgetting herself, hurries to the help of her neighbour, is a wonderful image of the Church in the perennial youthfulness of the Spirit, of the missionary Church of the incarnate Word called to bring him to the world and to witness to him especially in the service of charity.
Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit after his Ascension. But while still in the womb of Mary, the Mother of God, he brought the Holy Spirit to St Elizabeth and the baby in her womb, St John the Baptist.
And while they were there, the time came for
[Mary] to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son
and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because
there was no place for them in the inn.
And the angel said to [the shepherds], “Fear not,
for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the
people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will
be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and
lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:6-7, 10-12).
Mary, the Mother of God, presents her new-born Son,
Jesus, God who became Man, to the shepherds and, through them, to us. This is
the mission given her by God: to bring Jesus, God who became Man, to us and to
bring us to him.
The Crucifixion
El Greco, painted 1596-1600, Museo del Prado, Madrid
Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 25-27).
Jesus, God who became Man, as he is dying on the Cross because of God's great love for us, because of God's desire that we spend eternity with him, gives His mother, Mary, to us as our mother so that she will draw us to him.
At the moment of the Annunciation / Incarnation the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. In Bethlehem Mary gave birth to our Saviour Jesus Christ, God who became Man. At Pentecost, the moment of the birth of the Church, the Holy Spirit came upon Mary once again as he came upon the Apostles. In a very real sense Mary is giving birth to the Church.
In 2018 Pope Francis decreed that every year the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, be celebrated by the Universal Church on the Monday after Pentecost Sunday. Here is the Collect or Opening Prayer of that Mass.
O God, Father of mercies,
whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross,
chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother,
to be our Mother also,
grant, we pray, that with her loving help
your Church may be more fruitful day by day
and, exulting in the holiness of her children,
may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
This collect reflects that of the Mass on Pentecost Sunday: sanctify your Church in every people and nation. It is in our baptism that we find our deepest identity as sons and daughters of God the Father, as brothers and sisters of Jesus and therefore of one another, with Mary given to us by God himself as our Mother.
The phrase Veni Sancte Spiritu is constantly repeated. This is 'Come Holy Spirit' in Latin, the official language of the Roman (Latin) Catholic Church, the largest of the more than 20 Catholic churches, all in communion with the Pope, all equally Catholic. Individuals sing verses in their own language. There are young people from every continent, a fulfilment of the verses from the First Reading of the Mass on Pentecost Sunday.
And they were amazed and astonished, saying, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?— we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God' (Acts 2:7, 11).
Traditional Latin Mass
Pentecost
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 05-19-2024 if necessary).
NB: The Vigil Mass has its own prayers and readings.
Those for the Mass During the Day on Sunday should not be used – though some
priests seem to be unaware of this. It is incorrect to refer to this Vigil Mass
as an ‘anticipated Mass’. It is a celebration proper to the evening before
Pentecost Sunday and may be celebrated in an extended form. It also fulfils the
Sunday obligation.
Readings,
(Jerusalem
Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel, John 7:37-39 (English Standard Version, Anglicised)
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up
and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let
him come to me and drink.Whoever believes in
me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow
rivers of living water.’”Now this he
said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for
as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet
glorified.
Mass During the Day, Year C
Readings, (Jerusalem Bible:
Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand,
Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel, John 14:15-16, 23-26 (English Standard
Version Anglicised: India)
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If you love me, you will keep my
commandments.And I will ask the Father, and he will give you
another Helper, to be with you for ever,
‘If
anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we
will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me
does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the
Father's who sent me.
‘These things I
have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you
all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’
Or
Gospel, John 20:19-23 (English
Standard Version Anglicised: India)
On the evening of that day, the
first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples
were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to
them, “Peace be with you.”When he had said this, he showed them his hands and
his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am
sending you.”And when he had said this, he breathed on them and
said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Here is what Pope Benedict XVI said in his Regina Caeli talk on Pentecost Sunday, 27 May 2007, to the people in St Peter's Square. The emphasesare mine.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, in which the liturgy has us relive the birth of the Church, according to what St Luke narrates in the book of the Acts of the Apostles (2: 1-13).
Fifty days after Easter, the Holy Spirit descended on the community of disciples - 'with one accord devoted themselves to prayer'- gathered with 'Mary, the mother of Jesus' and with the Twelve Apostles (cf. Acts 1: 14; 2: 1). We can therefore say that the Church had its solemn beginning with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
In this extraordinary event we find the essential and qualifying characteristics of the Church: the Church is one, like the community at Pentecost, who were united in prayer and 'concordant': 'were of one heart and soul' (Acts 4: 32).
The Church is holy, not by her own merits, but because, animated by the Holy Spirit, she keeps her gaze on Christ, to become conformed to him and to his love.
The Church is catholic, because the Gospel is destined for all peoples, and for this, already at the beginning, the Holy Spirit made her speak all languages.
The Church is apostolic, because, built upon the foundation of the Apostles, she faithfully keeps their teaching through the uninterrupted chain of episcopal succession.
What is more, the Church by her nature is missionary, and from the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit does not cease to move her along the ways of the world to the ends of the earth and to the end of time.
This reality, which we can verify in every epoch, is already anticipated in the Book of Acts, where the Gospel passage from the Hebrews to the pagans, from Jerusalem to Rome, is described. Rome represents the pagan world, and hence, all people who are outside of the ancient People of God. Actually, Acts concludes with the arrival of the Gospel to Rome.
It can be said, then, that Rome is the concrete name of catholicity and missionary spirit, it expresses fidelity to the origins, to the Church of all times, to a Church that speaks all languages and extends herself to all cultures.
Dear brothers and sisters, the first Pentecost took place when Mary Most Holy was present amid the disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem and prayed. Today, too, let us entrust ourselves to her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit may descend in abundance upon the Church in our day, fill the hearts of all the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of his love.
+++
Pope Benedict notes: the first Pentecost took place when Mary Most Holy was present amid the disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem and prayed. In the three paintings I chose Mary is in the centre. We must never forget that from all eternity God the Father had chosen Mary to be the one to bring the Divine Word, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, into the world as Jesus Christ, God who became Man. John 1: 14 tells us: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In Luke 1:34-35 Mary asks How will this be, since I am a virgin? and the angel replies, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. Luke 2:51 states: And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them, 'them' being Mary and her husband St Joseph.
The Nicene Creed and the Apostles' Creed are shared by all Christians. In the former we pray and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man; in the latter we proclaim I believe . . . in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary . . .
God's
Grandeur
by Gerard
Manley Hopkins SJ, read by Samuel West
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.
(Thanks to Rachel Hoover at Crisis Magazine for putting this poem into my mind in the context of Pentecost.)
Ordinary Time resumes on 6 June: Monday in the Tenth Week of Ordinary Time. That day is the Memorial of Mary Mother of the Church, established by Pope Francis in 2018. The special readings are here and here.
Traditional Latin Mass
Pentecost or Whitsunday
The Complete Mass in Latin and English is here. (Adjust the date at the top of that page to 06-05-2022 if necessary).
Saints Peter and Paul 
