Fourteenth station
The Risen Christ sends the promised Spirit 

 

P  We adore, O Risen Christ, and we bless you.
A  Because by your resurrection you have given life to the world.

R From the Acts of the Apostles (Act 2,1-6)
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem  Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language."

G1
Pentecost, a promise fulfilled. The Risen Christ carries out his solemn promises: "The Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you…" (Jn 14,26). God is faithful. He keeps his appointments. He said: "The Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."  (Mt 20,28). And his Word made the history: Good Friday. He said: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (…) But he spoke of the temple of his body." (Jn 2,19.21). And his Word was victories over death. He said: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you" (At 1,8). It is a conclusion of the seven Easter weeks where his final word is "Pentecost": the power of the Spirit, the birth of the Church. The new humanity on a journey.

G2 The man of today  must remember that "the true sin - as Evdokimov comments - it is be insensitive to the Holy Spirit." That is to say, being closed to love. The Spirit overcomes pessimism of the future. God is optimistic about man. Here are the good acts of the Spirit: goodness that comes true, the love that triumphs, the wheat that becomes golden. The Pentecost unites the entire humanity. For a sceptical and tired person believing in the Holy Spirit, is not believing only in God and in his love, but also to believe that God believes in me, that God trusts me, that  God expects a lot from me. I must go to the Spirit who is already at work in the history. And then life can really become a banquet of love and peace. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Gal 5,22-23a)

A  Rejoice, O Virgin Mother Mary:
    Christ is risen, Alleluia.

P  O Holy Spirit, you inexpressibly unite the Father and the Son; you unite us to the Risen Jesus, the breath of our life; it is you who unite us to the Church, of which you are the soul and we the members. In the words of St. Agostin each one of us now prays:
(all together)
"Breath within me, O Holy Spirit, that I may think of what is holy. Inspire me, O Holy Spirit, that I may do what is holy. Draw me, O Holy Spirit, that I may love what is holy. Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit, that I may never loose what is holy."
A  Amen.

A  O Mary, temple  of the Holy Spirit
    guide us, the witnesses to the Risen Christ
    on the path of light.