VATICAN - “So that Pentecost renew itself in our time, perhaps there is need -- without taking anything away from God's freedom -- for the Church to be less 'preoccupied' with activities and more dedicated to prayer,” says Benedict XVI in the Mass for Pentecost in Saint Peter's

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “Among all the solemnities, Pentecost is distinguished by its importance, because in it that which Jesus himself proclaimed as being the purpose of his whole earthly mission is accomplished...The Holy Spirit, the true fire, was brought to earth by Christ. He did not steal it from the gods -- as Prometheus did according to the Greek myth -- but he became the mediator of the 'gift of God,' obtaining it for us with the greatest act of love in history: his death on the cross.” These were the words of the Holy Father Benedict XVI in the Mass on Pentecost, May 31, which he presided in the Vatican Basilica.
In his homily, the Pope highlighted that “God wants to continue to give this 'fire' to every human generation, and naturally he is free to do this how and when he wants,” however the “ordinary way” that God has chosen to “cast fire upon the earth” is Jesus, His only begotten Son, who became incarnate, died, and rose from the dead. “For his part, Jesus constituted the Church as his mystical body, so that it prolongs his mission in history.” Thus, recalling the account of Pentecost in Sacred Scripture, the Pope observed “ how the community must be, how we must be to receive the Holy Spirit”: “the concord of the disciples is the condition for the coming of the Holy Spirit; and prayer is the presupposition of concord.”
“This is also true for the Church today, dear brothers and sisters. It is true for us who are gathered together here. If we do not want Pentecost to be reduced to a mere ritual or to a suggestive commemoration, but that it be a real event of salvation, through a humble and silent listening to God's Word we must predispose ourselves to God's gift in religious openness. So that Pentecost renew itself in our time, perhaps there is need -- without taking anything away from God's freedom [to do as he pleases] -- for the Church to be less 'preoccupied' with activities and more dedicated to prayer,” the Pope continued. “ Mary Most Holy, the Mother of the Church and Bride of the Holy Spirit, teaches us this. This year Pentecost occurs on the last day of May, when the Feast of the Visitation is customarily celebrated. This event was also a little 'Pentecost,' bringing forth joy and praise from the hearts of Elizabeth and Mary -- the one barren and the other a virgin -- who both became mothers by an extraordinary divine intervention.”
To indicate the Holy Spirit, the account in the Acts of the Apostles uses two great images, the image of the tempest and the image of fire. “In the ancient world the tempest was seen as a sign of divine power, in whose presence man felt subjugated and terrified. But I would like to highlight another aspect: the tempest is described as a "strong driving wind," and this brings to mind the air that distinguishes our planet from others and permits us to live on it. What air is for biological life, the Holy Spirit is for the spiritual life; and as there is air pollution, that poisons the environment and living things, there is also pollution of the heart and the spirit, that mortifies and poisons spiritual existence. In the same way that we should not be complacent about the poisons in the air -- and for this reason ecological efforts are a priority today -- we should also not be complacent about that which corrupts the spirit. But instead it seems that our minds and hearts are menaced by many pollutants that circulate in society today -- the images, for example, that make pleasure a spectacle, violence that degrades men and women -- and people seem to habituate themselves to this without any problem. It is said that this is freedom but it is just a failure to recognize all that which pollutes, poisons the soul, above all of the new generations, and ends up limiting freedom itself.”
Fire is the other image of the Holy Spirit that we find in the Acts of the Apostles. “Taking control of the energies of the cosmos -- 'fire' -- today human beings seem to claim themselves as gods and want to transform the world excluding, putting aside or simply rejecting the Creator of the universe. Man no longer wants to be the image of God but the image of himself; he declares himself autonomous, free, adult... In the hands of man in this condition, 'fire' and its enormous possibilities become dangerous: they can destroy life and humanity itself, as history unfortunately shows. The tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which atomic energy, used as a weapon, ended up bringing death in unheard of proportions, remain a perennial warning.”
The Holy Father's last reflection was on the Holy Spirit who “overcomes fear”: the disciples fled to the Cenacle for fear of suffering the same fate as their Master and it was only at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came over them, that they left without fear to announce the Good News of Christ crucified and risen, to all people. “Where the Spirit of God enters, he chases out fear; he makes us know and feel that we are in the hands of an Omnipotence of love: whatever happens, his infinite love will not abandon us. The witness of the martyrs, the courage of the confessors, the intrepid élan of missionaries, the frankness of preachers, the example of all the saints -- some who were even adolescents and children -- demonstrate this. It is also demonstrated by the very existence of the Church, which, despite the limits and faults of men, continues to sail across the ocean of history, driven by the breath of God and animated by his purifying fire.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 1/6/2009)