Veni creator spiritu, “come Creator Spirit.” With this invocation of the Holy Spirit, the Pentecost Mass mass that was celebrated on Sunday, May 15, at St. Savior's Church in Jerusalem, began. The Father Custos Pierbattista Pizzaballa presided over the celebration. Many parishioners came to attend the celebration.
In his homily, the pastor Br. Feras Hejazin described Pentecost as “a new Babel.” Unlike the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, when men no longer understood each other, the Holy Spirit now enables men to be unified, thanks to the different languages. “Pentecost invites us to live according to the teachings of the Church and of Jesus Christ, who is with us and in us," he added. “If one is aware of the importance of the two major Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter, we must not forget that Pentecost is the day when the Church was born. She is unafraid and she is on a mission to bring the Good News to all.”
After mass, the friars and parishioners gathered in the lobby of the Curia together to celebrate “the Church's birthday.”
Then, escorted by kawas and police, the Franciscans then proceeded to the Upper Room for solemn vespers. Prayer took place peacefully despite Jewish demonstrators outside who were protesting against the friars' presence. Some volunteers in fluorescent yellow vests tried to give another witness. “We are part of a multicultural center. We are here to show that this is not only a place of antagonism but that we want to encourage coexistence,” said one of the volunteers.
Vespers began with an Alleluia, so as to remind everyone about the Easter season that ended on the same day. In the place where the apostles were gathered and where “there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them,” (Acts 2: 3), and each of the faithful was given a candle. They all passed the fire of the Holy Spirit to each other in commemoration of this event. The traditional recitation of the Our Father, each in his or her own language, was a moving moment, reminding everyone of the universality of the Christian message and the ability of Christ's Church to adapt to each for that he understands.
“The heat and the noise made by the protesters outside could have disturbed us in prayer, but we persevered,” smiled a friar in the garden of the monastery at the Little Cenacle, where refreshments were offered. They were especially overjoyed that the thermometer cheerfully displayed a temperature 37 degrees Celsius, the fire of the Spirit, no doubt!
HM
In his homily, the pastor Br. Feras Hejazin described Pentecost as “a new Babel.” Unlike the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, when men no longer understood each other, the Holy Spirit now enables men to be unified, thanks to the different languages. “Pentecost invites us to live according to the teachings of the Church and of Jesus Christ, who is with us and in us," he added. “If one is aware of the importance of the two major Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter, we must not forget that Pentecost is the day when the Church was born. She is unafraid and she is on a mission to bring the Good News to all.”
After mass, the friars and parishioners gathered in the lobby of the Curia together to celebrate “the Church's birthday.”
Then, escorted by kawas and police, the Franciscans then proceeded to the Upper Room for solemn vespers. Prayer took place peacefully despite Jewish demonstrators outside who were protesting against the friars' presence. Some volunteers in fluorescent yellow vests tried to give another witness. “We are part of a multicultural center. We are here to show that this is not only a place of antagonism but that we want to encourage coexistence,” said one of the volunteers.
Vespers began with an Alleluia, so as to remind everyone about the Easter season that ended on the same day. In the place where the apostles were gathered and where “there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them,” (Acts 2: 3), and each of the faithful was given a candle. They all passed the fire of the Holy Spirit to each other in commemoration of this event. The traditional recitation of the Our Father, each in his or her own language, was a moving moment, reminding everyone of the universality of the Christian message and the ability of Christ's Church to adapt to each for that he understands.
“The heat and the noise made by the protesters outside could have disturbed us in prayer, but we persevered,” smiled a friar in the garden of the monastery at the Little Cenacle, where refreshments were offered. They were especially overjoyed that the thermometer cheerfully displayed a temperature 37 degrees Celsius, the fire of the Spirit, no doubt!
HM