PENTECOST

Vigil Mass

Years A B C

Readings

First Reading Option A
Gn 11:1–9

First Reading Option B
Ex 19:3–8a, 16–20b

First Reading Option C
Ez 37:1–14

First Reading Option D
Jl 3:1–5

Responsorial Psalm
Ps 104:1–2, 24, 35, 27–28, 29, 30

Second Reading
Rom 8:22–27

Gospel
Jn 7:37–39

Meditation on Today’s Readings

Taken from the Vatican II Sunday and Weekday Missal
Written by Celia Sirois

Today’s readings prepare us for tomorrow’s feast with a profusion of images. Each of the four suggested readings from the Hebrew Scriptures underscores some aspect of the Pentecost event. The story of Babel prepares us for the confusion of the devout Jews from every nation when each one hears the disciples speaking in his own language (Acts 2:5–6). The theophany on Mount Sinai prepares us for the loud noise and the fiery tongues that filled the place where the disciples were gathered (2:2–3). The resurrection of the dry bones of exiled Israel in Ezekiel’s vision prepares us for the creation of the Church by the Spirit of the risen Jesus. And the outpouring of the spirit upon all humanity announced by Joel prepares us for the conferral of the Spirit on each person in the upper room (2:3–4).

The two New Testament readings speak more directly of our lived experience of the Holy Spirit. Jesus in the Gospel promises that the Spirit will be within us as a source of divine vitality, while Paul in Romans tells us that the indwelling Spirit will continue to long within us for the completion of the harvest of which we have as yet only the first fruits.

The copyright for the Sunday Missal Introductions is:
Copyright (c) 2001, Daughters of St. Paul
The copyright for the Weekday Missal Introduction is:
Copyright (c) 2002, Daughters of St. Paul