A Season of Pentecost

After every great Church celebration, a season of prayer and celebration follows. The birth of Jesus is followed by the Christmas Season. We extend the feast of Jesus’ resurrection over the following fifty days with the Easter Season. However, after Pentecost, there is nothing - no Pentecost Season, not even a Pentecost octave. We are dumped unceremoniously into Ordinary Time with a few feasts - The Blessed Trinity, The Body and Blood of Christ and the Sacred Heart of Jess - to console us. To my mind, there should be at least a week of festivities during which we can wear the red and celebrate the marvels the Holy Spirit has worked in the Church.

Maybe there is another way to look at it. Perhaps Ordinary Time, despite its uninspiring title, could be considered the Pentecost Season. It is during this Ordinary Time that we live as a Church, moving in the Spirit that was poured out on us, preaching the good news and practicing works of mercy. We mark this time liturgically with the color green. The rapid growth has given way to a time of stability and maturity. The green leaf can now bear fruit.

So let’s not fret that the feast of Pentecost lasts but a day and is gone. Let us live this Ordinary Time as a Pentecost Season bearing the fruits of the Spirit to the glory of God!