Pentecost means "fifty days" and is one of the major Jewish Feasts, which takes place 50 days after the Passover. It is also known as the "Feast of the Weeks" or "Shavout", a holiday from work at the end of the wheat harvest when the Jews would gather in Jerusalem to celebrate. Therefore, in the time of the Disciples there were thousands of pilgrims in Jerusalem on this date.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven he told the Disciples: I am sending the promise of my Father upon you (the gift of the Holy Spirit); but stay in the city until you are clothed in power from on high (Luke 24:49). Jesus tells them that John baptized with water and in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). Today on Pentecost Christians commemorate the descent and indwelling of the Holy Spirit upon the men and women who were Jesus' disciples. The disciples were empowered with the spirit in order to go out and proclaim the Gospel to all peoples and to baptize those who believed (Acts 2). All those Jewish pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost were from many nations and spoke many different languages, but they all understood as the disciples spoke. This is why Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church.
Pentecost is one of the most important feasts in the Christian calendar, only after Easter and Christmas. The liturgical color is RED, representing the tongues of fire that appeared over the Disciples heads (Acts 2:3) and symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit and the joy of those who open their hearts to the Spirit.
There are two times in my life that I felt "baptized in the Holy Spirit". One is during my friendship with people in the People of Praise Community, especially from 2004-2011 when three of my children attended Trinity School at Meadow View, an outreach of the People of Praise community. The mission of this charismatic and ecumenical community is to further the mission of the church under the direction of the Holy Spirit. The Christian model that these friends provided to me as they prayed with me changed me and helped me to discern my ministry in the Church. Before meeting these friends I had never considered saying "would you like to pray together" instead of "I will pray for you". These friends would empower me to go and do this with others and eventually be one of the reasons for getting my Masters in Pastoral Studies, which led to my current ministry in the Church. Through my friends I discovered the power of the Holy Spirit. If you are interested in finding out more about People of Praise go to: https://peopleofpraise.org/
Secondly, in 2011 I attended a Cursillo weekend at Missionhurst Retreat Center in Arlington, VA. On this weekend I was renewed again by the Holy Spirit as the witness talks, love and prayers of the Cursillo team washed over me. More importantly, the weekly group reunions have strengthened my faith more than any other spiritual tool I have experienced. On Tuesdays six of us gather in my office during lunch and share our Encounters with Christ and how we have made progress in our piety, study and action. This awareness has also changed my life. Below is the prayer that we start our meetings with. If you are interested in finding out more about the Cursillo movement in Arlington, VA go to: http://www.arlingtoncursillo.org/
