Sunday, May 19, 2013 [Pentecost Sunday (Solemnity)]

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY
The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents, especially when they have instructed them and given good example. Our Lord, in His wonderous Providence, allows children to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers. Thus the decisions your children have made don't make you a failure as a parent in God's eyes. You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt. Do not cease praying for your children; God's grace can touch a hardened heart. Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When parents pray the Rosary,at the end of each decade they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,"With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart", she will attend to their souls.
-- St. Louise de Marillac

READINGS FOR TODAY
Sunday, May 19, 2013 [Pentecost Sunday (Solemnity)]
First Reading: Acts 2:1-11
The Coming of the Holy Spirit
1When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place. 
2 Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 
3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there. 
4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world. 
6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because all of them heard the believers talking in their own languages. 
7 In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, “These people who are talking like this are Galileans! 
8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages? 
9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia, 10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome, 11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia—yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!”
Psalm: Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34
1 O Lord, my God, how great you are!
You are clothed with majesty and glory;
24 Lord, you have made so many things!
How wisely you made them all!
The earth is filled with your creatures.
29 When you turn away, they are afraid;
when you take away your breath, they die
and go back to the dust from which they came.
30 But when you give them breath,  they are created;
you give new life to the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last forever!
May the Lord be happy with what he has made!
34 May he be pleased with my song,
for my gladness comes from him.
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
3 I want you to know that no one who is led by God's Spirit can say “A curse on Jesus!” and no one can confess “Jesus is Lord,” without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them. 
5 There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served. 
6 There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service. 
7 The Spirit's presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.
<b>One Body with Many Parts</b>
12 Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. 
13 In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
OR
Romans 8:8-17
8 Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.
9 But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to—if, in fact, God's Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 
10 But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you  because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because of sin.   
11 If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you.
12 So then, my friends, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to. 
13 For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live. 
14 Those who are led by God's Spirit are God's children.
15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!” 
16 God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children. 
17 Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory.
Gospel: John 20:19-23
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
(Matthew 28.16-20; Mark 16.14-18; Luke 24.36-49)
19 It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.
20 After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.”
22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive people's sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”