PENTECOST TRANSFORMED THE DISCIPLES INTO FEARLESS WITNESSES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 1999 (VIS) - Speaking from his study window to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the Regina Coeli, the Pope said that today's solemnity of Pentecost, "makes us relive the extraordinary experience that the Apostles had fifty days after Christ's Resurrection," when they were "transformed from fearful followers into fearless witnesses, courageously announcing the Good News to all peoples."

"Gathered in unified prayer in the Cenacle, with Mary," he went on, "they are sent by the Spirit of truth to transform the entire world into a cenacle of love and truth. Both dimensions - prayer and apostolate, communion and mission - are indispensable for the life of the Church in every time and place."

"We prepared for this great feast last evening, here in St. Peter's Square, with a solemn vigil which concluded the Citizens' Mission of Rome," the Holy Father stated. "What an extraordinary experience! It reminded us of last year's great meeting with ecclesial movements and new communities, which are a true gift of the Spirit of the Church at the end of the millennium and one of the new signs which came from Vatican Council II." He remarked that "last year's meeting produced a precious harvest. In fact, what has multiplied are the initiatives aimed at nourishing a sense of communion among movements and communities, whose scope is to increase mutual collaboration."

"Let us thank the Lord for this promising springtime of the Church," the Pope said in conclusion. "The secularized world asks each Christian to reinvigorate his own missionary impulse, basing it on a radical experience of faith in Christ, an experience made of prayer, unity and proclamation."

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