Today is Pentecost Sunday, our festival celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Jesus after his Ascension. In our First Reading, the disciples are gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks, which celebrates the revelation of the five books of the Torah by God to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Sinai (thanks Google!). Certainly, this is an important festival in the Jewish faith, so many people are gathered all throughout Jerusalem.

In our Gospel on this Solemnity of the Ascension, we hear Jesus give the Great Commissioning to his friends: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.” Having formed and shaped his disciples during His earthly ministry, Jesus knows that they are ready for the next phase of their journey.

What a beautiful gospel passage to write a reflection on: the overriding principal of this passage is Love. When we are asked who is God, one of the many answers to this question is “GOD IS LOVE”. When we think of God, what comes to mind is the abundance of Love that He has shown to us. His love is so vast that He was willing to sacrifice His only Son to give us the promise of eternal life and forgiveness.

This week’s Gospel is taken from John 15: 1-8. It is a verse that is very familiar to many people,one that we have sung in many of our hymns. Jesus said to his disciples, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit because, without me, you can do nothing.” He goes on to say that God removes every branch that does not bear fruit. He prunes the ones that do, and we are already pruned because we believe His word.