Biyernes, Mayo 22, 2015

THE SENDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

SCRUTATIO SCRIPTURAE

Scrutatio 
for 
the 
CHRISTIAN FEAST OF SHAVUOT
(PENTECOST)
 
Readings from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer
Acts 2:1-11 / Psalm 104:25-37 or 33:12-15 and 18-22 / I Corinthians 12:4-13 / John 20:19-23

Readings for the Pauline/Vatican II Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Acts 2:1-11 / Psalm 104:1+24, 29-30 and 31+34 / Galatians 5:16-25 / John 15:26-27 and 16:12-15

Readings for the Tridentine Rite of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Introit: Wisdom 1:7 and Psalm 68:1 
Epistle: Acts 2:1-11
Gradual and Alleluia: Psalm 104:30

Gospel 
John 14:23-31

Offertory: 
Psalm 68:28-30
Communion Antiphon: Acts 2:2 and 4



An excerpt taken from the Adversus Haereses, the work of the valiant Bishop of Lyon in the 2nd Century of our MOST BLESSED CHRISTIAN ERA, His Excellency, the Most Reverend Father Irenaeus, entitled:



THE SENDING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

When the Lord told his disciples to go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, he conferred on them the power of giving men new life in God.

He had promised through the prophets that in these last days he would pour out his Spirit on his servants and handmaids, and that they would prophesy. So when the Son of God became the Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with the human race, to living in men and to inhabiting God’s creation. The Spirit accomplished the Father’s will in men who had grown old in sin, and gave them new life in Christ. Luke says that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost, after the Lord’s ascension, with power to open the gates of life to all nations and to make known to them the new covenant. So it was that men of every language joined in singing one song of praise to God, and scattered tribes, restored to unity by the Spirit, were offered to the Father as the first-fruits of all the nations.

This was why the Lord had promised to send the Advocate: he was to prepare us as an offering to God. Like dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven. And like parched ground, which yields no harvest unless it receives moisture, we who were once like a waterless tree could never have lived and borne fruit without this abundant rainfall from above. Through the baptism that liberates us from change and decay we have become one in body; through the Spirit we have become one in soul.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of God came down upon the Lord, and the Lord in turn gave this Spirit to his Church, sending the Advocate from heaven into all the world into which, according to his own words, the devil too had been cast down like lightning.

If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the dew of God. Since we have our accuser, we need an advocate as well. And so the Lord in his pity for man, who had fallen into the hands of brigands, having himself bound up his wounds and left for his care two coins bearing the royal image, entrusted him to the Holy Spirit. Now, through the Spirit, the image and inscription of the Father and the Son have been given to us, and it is our duty to use the coin committed to our charge and make it yield a rich profit for the Lord.


Come, Holy Ghost, Creator blest,
and in our hearts take up Thy rest;
come with Thy grace and heav'nly aid,
To fill the hearts which Thou hast made.

O Comforter, to Thee we cry,
Thou heav'nly gift of God most high,
Thou Fount of life, and Fire of love,
and sweet anointing from above.

O Finger of the hand divine,
the sevenfold gifts of grace are thine;
true promise of the Father thou,
who dost the tongue with power endow.

Thy light to every sense impart,
and shed thy love in every heart;
thine own unfailing might supply
to strengthen our infirmity.

Drive far away our ghostly foe,
and thine abiding peace bestow;
if thou be our preventing Guide,
no evil can our steps betide.

Praise we the Father and the Son
and Holy Spirit with them One;
and may the Son on us bestow
the gifts that from the Spirit flow.

Now to the Father and the Son,
Who rose from death, be glory given,
with Thou, O Holy Comforter,
henceforth by all in earth and heaven.
Amen.

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