Pentecost - The Descent Of The Holy Spirit Upon The Apostles

Yesterday, June 9, 2019, was the day of the Pentecost.  There is no modern day equivalent of what took place over two millennia ago when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit; yet, in one's imagination it still could happen but not this blogger's.  Therefore, he has to select quotes from Francis I's homily given at St Peter's Square, Sunday, 9 June 2019 [1]:

1.  It is the Spirit who makes Jesus live within us; he raises us up from within. That is why when Jesus appears to his disciples, he repeats the words, “Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19.21), and bestows the Spirit.  That is what peace really is, the peace bestowed on the Apostles.  That peace does not have to do with resolving outward problems – God does not spare his disciples from tribulation and persecution.  Rather, it has to do with receiving the Holy Spirit.  The peace bestowed on the apostles, the peace that does not bring freedom from  problems but in  problems, is offered to each of us. [Emphasis  original.]

2.  The Spirit is peace in the midst of restlessness, confidence in the midst of discouragement, joy in sadness, youth in aging, courage in the hour of trial.  Amid the stormy currents of life, he lowers the anchor of hope.

3.  Repaying evil for evil, passing from victims to aggressors, is no way to go through life.  Those who live by the Spirit, however, bring peace where there is discord, concord where there is conflict.  Those who are spiritual repay evil with good.  They respond to arrogance with meekness, to malice with goodness, to shouting with silence, to gossip with prayer, to defeatism with encouragement.

The last paragraph quoted above was composed eloquently except that Bergoglio has neither brought peace where there has been discord nor concord where there has been conflict.

Furthermore, there is no lie that can be camouflaged as goodness, or be hidden by silence, or be prayed away.  Contrast Bergoglio's unrealistic eloquence to another voice that belongs to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, saying that "'it is immensely sad' that the pope is 'blatantly lying to the whole world to cover up his wicked deeds.'" These words came from e-mail correspondences between Viganò and "The Washington Post over two months, writing 8,000 words in response to nearly 40 questions." [2]



[1] http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/homilies/2019/documents/papa-francesco_20190609_omelia-pentecoste.html
[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/this-archbishop-called-on-the-pope-to-resign-now-hes-in-an-undisclosed-location/2019/06/09/bb69c346-71b5-11e9-9331-30bc5836f48e_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1f254a1a5956