CELEBRATING THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Feast of Pentecost is traditionally, the day for celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit. On this day the Sacrament of Confirmation is normally celebrated when the gift of the Holy Spirit is called down upon candidates for the Sacrament. If not celebrated on Pentecost, the Sacrament of Confirmation is usually conferred during the Easter Season during which we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and the new life that Jesus offers us through his rising.

The Greek word for Pentecost means “fiftieth,” and in early Christian times referred to the entire Fifty Days of Easter. Pentecost has its roots in the Jewish Festival of Weeks which is the fifty day celebration following Passover. It was a harvest festival in which the first fruits of the harvest were offered to God in gratitude. It eventually became associated with the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Early Christians reinterpreted the Jewish festival as a commemoration of the coming of the Holy Spirit because the Acts of the Apostles records that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples when the festival of Pentecost was fulfilled.

This year the celebration of the Easter Season including Pentecost was put on hold due to the Covid19 Pandemic. The Sacraments of Confirmation, Eucharist, and First Penance were not celebrated as when they normally would.

This Sunday, August 30th, 7 young people from St. Louis will be confirmed at the Cathedral with young people from a few other parishes. We congratulate the members of our parish who have given witness to their faith by preparing themselves for the sacrament of Confirmation through prayer, study and works of charity.

The Gift of the Holy Spirit will be conferred upon: Steven “Peter” Kropelin; Angelina “Katja” Mistretta; Brian “David” Manning; John “Paul” Stravino; Grace “Therese” Tabone; Sadie “Genevieve” Murphy; and Isabella “Anastasia” Rajecki.

We thank their parents and sponsors who have been their first teachers in the ways of faith by their example and witness to the faith. Thank you to all who have helped prepare our parishioners for the Sacrament of Confirmation along with Ashlee Campbell our Director of Faith Formation and Wendy Mistretta their instructor.