Things to talk about:

• Why were the disciples behind locked doors and filled with fear?
• On Pentecost, we hear about the Holy Spirit enabling the apostles to speak in different languages. If you could speak any language, what language would you want to speak? 
• Jesus greets his friends by wishing them peace. In what way do you bring peace to your friends, families, classmates, or co-workers?
• Why did Jesus breathe on his disciples?

Things to do:

• Find the picture of Pentecost in the classroom hallway. What do you notice?
• Red is the liturgical color of Pentecost. Where do you see red in the Church today? 
• This week pray exclusively to the Person of the Holy Spirit. At the end of the week share about your experience.
• Pentecost is the Birthday of the Church. To celebrate make a strawberry short cake, click HERE for recipe ideas.
  
   
   

Closing Prayer

Veni, Sancte Spiritus

This prayer is prayed on Pentecost, just before the proclamation of the Gospel. It is a tribute to the Holy Spirit and dates to around the year 1200. As a family, pray it together, whether you all read it aloud or take turns reading parts.

Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor! Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine. You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest; Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labor, rest most sweet; Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine, Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill! Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought, Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away: Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore And confess you, evermore in your sevenfold gift descend; give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation Lord; give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia.

Name anyone who needs prayer, reply, “Lord, hear our prayers.”  Close with the Sign of the Cross.     

Catholic Insight

The Easter season concludes with today’s celebration, the Feast of Pentecost. We celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. This event marks the beginning of the Church. We often celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the Church.

At Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send a helper, an advocate to help us be his witnesses throughout the world. In this Gospel, Jesus reminds us about the connection between the gifts of peace and forgiveness and the action of the Holy Spirit. He greets the Apostles with the gift of peace and then commissions his disciples and us, to continue the work that he began, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, mirroring God’s act of breathing life into Adam at the time of creation. Both the Greek and Hebrew words for “spirit” can be translated as “breath.” We are Set on Fire to share God’s love and be a reconciling presence in conflict situations and bring peace and harmony among people.

Did you know?...that Pentecost was a Jewish feast celebrated fifty days after Passover? It is also called the Feast of Weeks. This feast is a harvest festival celebrating the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.

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Resources adapted from 52Sundays.com, Celebrating the Lectionary, At Home with the Word, Celebrating Families, Sunday Connection