“When celebrating the Eucharist, the Church proclaims Christ’s resurrection; she does so by virtue of the testimony of the apostles who personally saw their Master alive again.

Their eyewitness account is the most important source of faith for the Church, which proclaims Christ’s resurrection as an event that really happened, the foundation of faith and a reason for hope for all those seeking salvation.” Benedict XVI

The solemnity of Pentecost ignites this eyewitness account with the Spirit of Truth Who rests as tongues of fire on each of the chosen apostles, thus “fusing the divine and human witness into one saving reality.”

From this fusion flows the work of evangelization, renewed again today for each of us and entrusted to the Church of which we are members.

Pentecost then enlivens our sense of who we are as preachers of the Word and by example. This Feast enables us to see more clearly the road we have been asked to walk. In a sense, Pentecost is our agony in the garden where Jesus’ work is completely revealed and where we are asked to humbly surrender our will to His to continue that work until the end of our lives. With this solemnity, we end our Easter celebration as we began it, with the cross, our holy gift from Jesus.

Carry the Light of Easter into the world with confidence and hope, that whatever we say or do will breathe new life in others and together, in the end, we will proclaim together the reality that has changed our lives: He is alive, He is not here, he has been raised, alleluia!