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Pentecost "Fifty Days

As the apostles once did, the community of St Joan of Arc gathers for the celebration of Pentecost, praying that the Holy Spirit is revealed afresh to us and in receiving (or reactivating) His gifts, we may experience a spiritual transformation, one that informs and sustains our pilgrimage to heaven. Originally, Pentecost was a celebration that occurred fifty days after the Passover, a thanksgiving for the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. And after their liberation, God’s People received the gift of the Law, given to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Thus, the celebration found its expression as a thanksgiving festival for the harvest, an offering of first fruits; but Pentecost is not just an historical event but one that continues to find its expression in the Church, as the New Israel. Pentecost, then, is celebrated fifty days after Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ ‘pass-over’ from death into life at his Resurrection. From Jesus Christ, the Church has received a New and Eternal Covenant, a New Commandment to Love, which finds its ultimate expression in the Eucharist, again a thanksgiving festival, but of the Lord’s sacrificial offering, his body and blood given for the salvation for the world.

Pentecost is a recognition of our empowerment to take part in and continue the Mission of Christ, that of showing to the world that Christ’s Death and Resurrection reveal the depth of God’s love for us, that he has freed us from the tyranny of sin and death. Our participation in the Holy Mass each Sunday, unleashes in us heavenly gifts which have the power to change us and through our commission to announce the gospel, to change the world also.

What is upcoming in the next few weeks in the Community of St Joan of Arc?

• 6.30pm Mass on Friday 29th May for the Patronal Feast of St Joan of Arc.
• First Holy Communion Mass at 10.00am on Saturdays 6th & 13th June.
• Mass for the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Vigil Mass at 6.30pm on Thursday 11th June and 11am on Friday 12th June.
• Buddy Masses for St Polycarp’s School at 11am on Thursdays 4th, 11th & 18th June.