Selected quotes of Pope Benedict XVI offered daily for prayer and reflection….

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Feast, Pentecost
 


The words “Jesus is Lord” can be interpreted in two ways. They mean: Jesus is God, and, at the same time: God is Jesus. The Holy Spirit illuminates this reciprocity: Jesus has divine dignity and God has the human face of Jesus. God shows himself in Jesus and by doing so gives us the truth about ourselves. Letting ourselves be enlightened by this word in the depths of our inmost being is the event of Pentecost.

 
Homily
Solemnity of Pentecost
Vatican Basilica
12 June 2011

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


“O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures….May the glory of the Lord endure for ever, may the Lord rejoice in his works” (Ps 104[103]). This is what the Church wants to tell us: the Spirit Creator of all things and the Holy Spirit whom the Lord caused to come down from the Father upon the community of the disciples are one and the same. Creation and redemption belong to each other and constitute, in depth, one mystery of love and of salvation. The Holy Spirit is first and foremost a Creator Spirit, hence Pentecost is also a feast of creation. For us Christians, the world is the fruit of an act of love by God who has made all things and in which he rejoices because it is “good”, it is “very good”, as the creation narrative tells us (cf. Gen 1:1-31).

 
Homily
Solemnity of Pentecost
Vatican Basilica
12 June 2011

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


The Bible says first of all, that the Spirit of God was moving over the chaos, over the waters of the abyss. The world in which we live is the work of the Creator Spirit. Pentecost is not only the origin of the Church and thus in a special way her feast; Pentecost is also a feast of creation. The world does not exist by itself; it is brought into being by the creative Spirit of God, by the creative Word of God.For this reason, Pentecost also mirrors God's wisdom…it elicits reverential awe.

 
Prayer Vigil
Solemnity of Pentecost
St. Peter's Square
3 June 2006

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


Faith, precisely because it is a free act, also demands social responsibility for what one believes. The Church, on the day of Pentecost, demonstrates with utter clarity this public dimension of believing and proclaiming one’s faith fearlessly to every person. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that makes us fit for mission and strengthens our witness, making it frank and courageous.

 
Apostolic Letter
'MOTU PROPRIO DATA'
PORTA FIDEI
For the indication of the Year of Faith

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


If we want to prevent Pentecost from being reduced to a mere rite or even an evocative commemoration but want it to be an actual event of salvation, we must prepare ourselves in devout expectation for the gift of God through humble and silent listening to his Word.

 
Homily
Solemnity of Pentecost
Vatican Basilica
31 May 2009

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


The Holy Spirit is first and foremost a Creator Spirit, hence Pentecost is also a feast of creation. For us Christians, the world is the fruit of an act of love by God who has made all things and in which he rejoices because it is “good”, it is “very good”, as the creation narrative tells us (cf. Gen 1:1-31).

 
Homily
Solemnity of Pentecost
Vatican Basilica
12 June 2011

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


Jesus always lives his intercessional priesthood on behalf of the people of God and humanity and so prays for all of us, asking the Father for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

 
Homily
Solemnity of Pentecost
St Peter's Basilica
23 May 2010

 
 
 
Feast, Pentecost
 


With faith and joyful hope let us repeat today, through the intercession of Mary: "Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth".

 
Homily
Solemnity of Pentecost
Vatican Basilica
31 May 2009

 

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