Pope Francis celebrates Pentecost Mass, prays Regina coeli

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday, the Solemnity of Pentecost. His homily focused on the Holy Spirit as Master of Life. The Holy Father identified four principal ways in which the Spirit is active in the life of every Christian and in the Church.

“The Holy Spirit teaches us the way,” said Pope Francis, “the Spirit reminds us of the words of Jesus and explains them to us, He enables us to pray and to call God ‘Father’, He enables us to speak to our fellows in fraternal dialogue and enables us to speak in prophecy.”

It was a theme to which Pope Francis returned in his remarks to the faithful gathered in the Square ahead of the Regina coeli. “The event of Pentecost,” said Pope Francis, “marks the birth of the Church and the Church’s public manifestation: two things strike us [about the Church]: the Church is one that surprises us and stirs things up.”

After the traditional prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father looked ahead to the much-anticipated encounter of prayer for peace in the Vatican, with the participation of the Presidents of Israel and Palestine, as well as the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. “I wish to thank all those who, personally and in community, have prayed and are praying for this meeting, and who will be united spiritually to our supplication,” said Pope Francis.