My Dear People,

Today we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, which marks the official beginning of the Catholic Church. The Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles on Pentecost Sunday and is still guiding the Church today in two ways. The first is Hierarchical; the second is Charismatic. In the Hierarchical, the Holy Spirit keeps the Church united through the guidance of the Pope and the Bishops. For this reason, whenever there have been difficult issues such as “Mary the Mother of God” and “Was Jesus fully human and fully Divine,” teachings challenged by some (even Bishops), the Church convened councils in Nicea and Ephesus and declared these findings as official truths and teachings of the Church. It has been the same with other councils and other pronouncements, such as “The Immaculate Conception of Mary.”  In 1858, Pope Pious IX spoke ex cathedra (from the chair) and declared it to be true. When the Pope speaks this way, he is infallible in matters of faith and morals. 

In the second form, the Charismatic, the Holy Spirit guides the Church, meaning individuals of the church can rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit in their lives and utilize the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, not only for themselves, but for the community. With the Charismatic inspiration, the Church has the dynamic approach, enabling the church to grow. 

Jesus appears to the Apostles in the evening on the day on which He rose. He presents Himself in their midst without need for opened doors by using the qualities of His glorified body.  Yet, to dispel any impression that He is a mystical spirit, He shows them His hands and His side.  There is no longer any doubt of His being Jesus, or about His being truly risen from the dead. He greets them, using the customary words of greetings among the Jews, and with the same tenderness He previously used: “Peace, be with you.” These friendly words dispel the fear and shame the Apostles must have been feeling because of behaving so disloyally during His passion. Christ recreates among them the normal atmosphere of intimacy, and now He will endow them with transcendental powers.

Pope Leo XIII explained how Christ transferred His own mission to the Apostles: “What did He wish regarding the church founded, or about to be found?  This: to transmit to it the same mission and the same mandate which He had received from the Father, that all should be perpetuated. This He clearly resolved to do. This He did.” “As the Father has sent me, even so,  I send you” (John 20:21). “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). 

When about to ascend into Heaven, Jesus gives His Apostles virtually the same power He had been given from the Father and charges them to broadly spread and propagate His teachings, in order that those obeying the Apostles might be saved, and those disobeying should perish (sf. Mk. 16:16). Hence, He commands that the teachings of the Apostles should be religiously accepted and piously kept as if they were His: “He who hears you, hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me” (Luke 10:16). Wherefore, the Apostles are ambassadors of Christ as He is the ambassador of the Father” (Satis Cognitum). 

In this mission, the Bishops are the successors of the Apostles: “Christ sent the Apostles, as He Himself had been sent by the Father. The function of the Bishops’ ministry was handed over in a subordinate degree to the priests so that they might be appointed in the order of the priesthood and be co-workers of the episcopal order for the proper fulfillment of the apostolic mission that had been entrusted to it by Christ” (Vatican II, Presbyterorum ordinis, 2).

The Church has always understood—and has in fact defined—that Jesus Christ here conferred on the Apostles authority to forgive sins, a power which is expressed in the sacrament of Penance. “The Lord then especially instructed the sacrament of Penance when, after being risen from the dead, He breathed upon His disciples and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Consensus of all the Fathers has always acknowledged that by this action so sublime, and words so clear, the power of forgiving and retaining sins was given to the Apostles and their lawful successors for reconciling the faithful who have fallen after Baptism” (council of Trent, De Paenitentia, Ch. 1)

The sacrament of Penance is the most sublime expression of God’s love and mercy toward men, described so vividly in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. The Lord always awaits us, with His arms wide open, waiting for us to repent—and then He will forgive us and restore us to the dignity of being His children.

The Popes have consistently recommended Christians to have regular recourse to this sacrament: “For a constant and speedy advancement in the path of virtue we highly recommend the pious practice of frequent confession, introduced by the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; for by this means we grow in the true knowledge of ourselves and in Christian humility. Bad habits are uprooted, spiritual negligence and apathy are prevented, the conscience is purified, the will strengthened, salutary spiritual direction is obtained, and grace is increased by the efficacy of the Sacrament itself” (Pious XII, Misticy Corporis).

Yours in Christ, 

Fr. Vincent Clemente