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Dear Friends,
We all know someone who, for whatever reason, has stopped coming to church. Maybe someone said something unkind to them or offended them. Maybe they felt judged and thought they just didn’t belong. Now is the time for us to tell them that we miss them. Now is the time for us to tell them that we are not the same without them.
It is time for us to make the effort to invite people back, to fill our churches with worshipers, so that we can all grow together in our faith by using the gifts God has given us. Pentecost is one of the great feasts on the Christian calendar. It is the birthday of the Church. The Holy Spirit gives us boldness to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection. It gives us strength to serve the needy among us. The Holy Spirit works to help us realize that we are not free agents living our faith on our own, but that we are connected to other Christians who lived before us and, as we pray in the Third Eucharistic Prayer, to Christians scattered throughout the world.
One of the main signs of Pentecost is the color red. It symbolizes joy and the fire of the Holy Spirit. Priests, deacons, and other liturgical ministers wear red vestments when celebrating Mass on this day. In modern times, the custom has extended to lay people in the congregation to wear red clothing as well. Therefore, we ask everyone who will be attending Mass on Pentecost to wear some article of red clothing in celebration of Pentecost.
Yours in the Risen Christ,
Fr. Shawn
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