By Trac Nguyen
On Pentecost Sunday, the whole Church celebrates the Feast day of coming of the Holy Spirit. The Corpus Christi Seminary Church of Sacred Heart is no exception.
On this beautiful sunny Sunday, we had the privilege to meet and welcome among us all the members and committee of the Priest Support Education Fund who join the staff and students for Mass and then lunch.
The Mass begins with the famous hymn in Latin “Veni Creator Spiritus” which means “Come, Creator Spirit.” This is a hymn believed to have been written by Rabanus Maurus in the 9th century. As an invocation of the Holy Spirit, in the Roman Catholic Church, it is sung at the feast of Pentecost. It can also be used at other solemn occasions such as the entrance of Cardinals to the Sistine Chapel, the election of a pope, as well as at the ordination of bishops and priests or at the sacrament of Confirmation.
The readings and Gospel speak of the coming down of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with the courage needed to break through our walls and to step out of our comfort zone. Thereby, we can become an instrument of God in order to proclaim and be witnesses of the passion, death and resurrection Jesus Christ.
The prayer of the faithful is read in eight different languages by our seminarians. It symbolises the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day the disciples were able to speak in tongues. The liturgy of the Eucharistic is accompanied by beautiful music from our schola. ‘Alleluia’ is sung once again after the dismissal to conclude the Eastertide.
The day continues with a nice lunch with the seminarians sharing their delicious food with all visitors. The lunch marks a special event as the Rector announces the two Holy Land scholarships for two fifth year seminarians. This scholarship enables seminarians to make the pilgrimage to the Holy Land where they can retrace the earthly journey of Jesus Christ. It also gives the seminarians a wonderful opportunity to participate in the Vigil Mass at Bethlehem where our Lord was born. Nathan Rawlins and Trac Nguyen were the recipients this year and both were surprised as Nathan exclaimed, “It is so unreal, I did not expect that.”
The day closed with a cuppa and farewell to our special guests.
