The feast of Pentecost allows us to relive the beginnings of the Church. The Book of Acts recounts that, fifty days after Easter, in the house where Jesus' disciples were gathered, "a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven… and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (2:1-2). This outpouring completely transformed the disciples: fear was replaced by courage, closed-mindedness gave way to openness, and a loving faith dispelled all their doubts. This was the "baptism" of the Church, which thus began its journey through history, guided by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This event changed the hearts and lives of the apostles and the other disciples, immediately reverberating beyond the upper room. Indeed, the door, kept closed for fifty days, was finally thrown wide open, and the first Christian community, no longer withdrawn into itself, began to recount to crowds from all over the world the wonders of God (cf. v. 11), that is, the resurrection of Jesus, who had been crucified. And everyone present heard the disciples speaking to them in their own language. The gift of the Spirit restored the unity of language, lost after Babel, and foreshadowed the universal dimension of the apostles' mission. The Church was not born in isolation; it was born universal, one, Catholic, with a precise identity, but one open to all, not closed, an identity that embraces the whole world, excluding no one. Mother Church closes her door to no one, to no one! Not even to the greatest of sinners, to no one! And this by the power, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Mother Church opens, she opens her doors wide to all because she is a mother.

The Holy Spirit, descending into the hearts of the disciples on the day of Pentecost, marks the beginning of a new season: the season of witness and fraternity. A season that comes from above, from God, like the tongues of fire that rested upon the head of each disciple. It was the flame of love that burned away all bitterness; it was the language of the Gospel that crosses the borders drawn by men and touches the hearts of multitudes, without distinction of language, race, or nationality. As on that day, the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends today upon the Church and upon each one of us so that we may emerge from our mediocrity and our closed-mindedness, and communicate to the whole world the merciful love of the Lord. To communicate the merciful love of the Lord—that is our mission! The "language" of the Gospel and the "fire" of the Holy Spirit have been given to us also so that, when we proclaim the risen Christ, living and present in our midst, we may warm our hearts and the hearts of the people by drawing them closer to Him, the way, the truth and the life.

We entrust ourselves to the maternal intercession of Mary, who was present as Mother in the midst of the disciples in the Upper Room: she is the Mother of the Church, the Mother of Jesus who became Mother of the Church. We entrust ourselves to her so that the Holy Spirit may descend in abundance upon the Church of our time, fill the hearts of all the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of his love.

Pope Francis

REGINA CAELI

Saint Peter's Square

Solemnity of Pentecost

Sunday, May 24, 2015