Now is the Time to Prepare for Pentecost

Dear Friend, 

The celebration of Easter isn’t a one-off. It’s a whole season with some incredible feasts! Apart from the many saints’ feasts, you know the main ones well by now: the Ascension (40 days after Easter) and Pentecost (10 days after that, or 50 days after Easter.)

Even though Ascension and Pentecost are still a few weeks away, each of these feasts has a significance we must not miss, and it’s worth pondering them before we get there. The meaning of these feasts tells us everything we need to know about Christ’s victory over evil. 

So let’s start with a basic question: After the Ascension of Christ and before Pentecost, what were the disciples doing? 

The answer is simple: they were praying the Church’s first Novena. In chapters 1 and 2 of the Acts of the Apostles, it says the disciples were gathered together in the Upper Room with Our Lady waiting and praying for the coming of the Holy Spirit, the promised Gift of the Lord. 

They had no other purpose than to pray, pray, pray. The birth of the Church was about to break forth like the dawn in the promised period of time, and they knew they had to be spiritually ready for it. Imagine being in the presence of the Virgin Mary for so precious a time of waiting on Christ’s greatest gift! 

Unfortunately, many dioceses today move Ascension to a Sunday so that people don’t have to go to Mass one extra time during the week (horror!). But, as you can probably see, that destroys the innate symbolism of the 40-day period after Easter and the 10-day period of preparation for the coming of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Sanctifier. 

Whatever the placement of the feasts, we can still prepare ourselves spiritually just like the Apostles did. Don’t we have to spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit too?

The nine days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday can be an extremely fruitful time of prayer, but it all depends on what we make of it. Allow me to propose three ways to bring fruitfulness out of this novena:

First, make time to pray in silence every day. This seems so simple, but busy people will know that it easier to say than to do. Jesus advised, “Go to your room, close the door and pray to your Father in secret.” Indeed, that is what we need to do. Find the Upper Room of your life, whether it be your own private space, a Blessed Sacrament chapel at the local parish, or just the focused “sanctuary of the heart” in a quiet moment and place. Spend some significant down time in silence so that you develop spiritual ears to hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit when He comes. 

Second, pray specifically for what you need. This means that you must identify the concrete needs of your life and present them to God, as St. Paul says in Philippians, “in every form of prayer and petition” (Phil 4:6). God loves to answer prayers, but His answers can only be recognized by those who know exactly what they want! No need is too big. Make sure to ask specifically for as many things as you and your loved ones need to a God who has an infinite storehouse of goodness ready to bestow on those who ask with childlike trust.

Third, as you look forward to that permanent Novena of the Church between Ascension and Pentecost, pray fervently for the seven-fold Gift of the Holy Spirit. All good things in heaven and earth are contained in that One Gift. 

Pray above all to receive the One who satisfies all our needs in a new and special way this Pentecost. He gives gifts that cannot be exhausted: Wisdom, Understanding, Knowledge, Counsel, Piety, Fear of the Lord and Fortitude. 

Jesus also said, “Will not the Father give the Holy Spirit to anyone who asks him?” (Lk 11:11-13) Indeed He will!

Finally, with our flagship program Operation Storm Heaven broadcasting Live tomorrow morning with Cardinal Burke, I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that if you have not submitted your intentions or would like to update them, please take this opportunity to do so now.

Your friend in Christ,

Thomas J. McKenna  
Founder and President
Catholic Action for Faith and Family