A season to grow: Time after Pentecost
A poem on how the Sundays after Pentecost are important for the maturity of one's spiritual life.
Though the number of Sundays after Pentecost annually fluctuates due to the reckoning of Easter Sunday, they are not merely "fillers" until Advent and thus less deserving of our attention during the liturgical year.
Rather, the Sundays after Pentecost (Sunday) continue the supernatural growth stemming from Paschaltide, namely, the redemptive Resurrection and Ascension of Our Savior and the following descent of the Paraclete.
This maturing spiritual life is signified by the green vesture that adorns the altar (e.g., the antependium and veils over the tabernacle and missal stand) and worn by the celebrant during the Time after Pentecost.
To emphasize the importance of the Time after Pentecost, we offer a poem that like a growing vine, weaves together a tapestry of spiritual and symbolic ideas that show what the Sunday propers of this liturgical period have to offer to souls.
Whether intended or not, the poem touchingly ends with sentiments related to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the theme of this month of June.
And he brought me again to the gate of the house, and behold waters issued out from under the threshold of the house toward the east: for the forefront, of the house looked toward the east: but the waters came down to the right side of the temple to the south part of the altar.[1] Ezechiel 47:1
And on the last, and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried, saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink. He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now this he said of the Spirit which they should receive, who believed in him: for as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.[2] John 7:37-39
Time after Pentecost
‘Tis the season dressed in green,
symbol of growth and hope
in the Life unseen,[3]
hidden beneath shadows mean...
O Grace of grace, O holy Fount
flowing from Thy sacred Mount,
the Rock, from which all graces flow,[4]
to water souls parched and dry,
like a desert land,[5] O Adonai
O Living Water,
our thirst do quell,
like Thy wayward daughter at the well;[6]
O do give us this water please...
Fill our souls with Thy Divine Life,
empty them of sin and vice;
grant us to drink Thy sanctifying grace,
worldly pleasures to efface[7]
For, all the world is vanity,[8]
an illusion, a mirage, a passing fancy;
just one thing is necessary...
to be sanctified...[9]
to know Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.[10]
Thou art the Oasis, the Tree of Life
of the Virgin garden,[11] our paradise;
Thy graces flow from Thy priests’ hands
from the Altar of Sacrifice,
changing bread into Thy holy Flesh
and wine into Thy Precious Blood;
O most Holy Lamb of God
bathe us in Thy sacred flood
Tend the garden of our souls,
wash away our sins and stains,
Thou, Who from on high, dost reign
water us with Thy gentle grace
Upon us pour Thy heavenly dew
that Thou wouldst blossom,
that Thou wouldst grow
into the fullness of our souls,[12]
that we would die[13] and live for Thee,[14]
O Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Three in One and One in Three
Enlighten our minds
with the Light of Thy Truth;
Enflame our hearts
with the fire of Thy Love;
Unite our wills to Thine.
Help us to grow in a life of grace,
our own wills to abase;
Instill in us a holy desire;
Light within us Thy burning fire,[15]
like the blazing bush on Mount Sinai,
which lit upon Moses’ eye,[16]
and the tongues of flame
that didst rest upon
Thine apostles on Pentecost[17]
Make our hearts to burn for Thee[18]
to grow in virtue...
charity, humility, piety, sanctity ...to be holy;
for, without this we shall not see[19] Thee...
O Most Holy, Holy, Holy[20] Trinity
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.[21]
Footnotes
1
These waters are not to be understood literally, (for there were none such that flowed from the temple) but mystically of the baptism of Christ, and of his doctrine and his grace; the trees that grow on the banks are Christian virtues; the fishes are Christians, that spiritually live in and by these holy waters; the fishermen are the apostles, and apostolic preachers; the fenny places, where there is no health, are such as by being out of the Church are separated from these waters of life." (Commentary from the Challoner-Haydock Bible)
2 Ver. 38.
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. By this living water, are signified the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which were promised to the faithful." (Witham; Haydock Bible)
3 John 1:1-4, 14:6; 2 Peter 1:2-4.
4 1 Corinthians 10:1-4.
5 Psalms 62:2-3, 142:6.
6 John 4:1-15.
7 Galatians 6:14; James 4:4.
8 Ecclesiastes 1:2, 14; Psalm 93:11; 1 Corinthians 3:19; 1 John 2:15-16.
9 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:15-16.
10 1 Corinthians 2:2.
11 Canticles 4:12.
12 Galatians 4:19; Ephesians 4:15.
13 Colossians 3:5.
14 Romans 6:3, 4, 11; 2 Corinthians 4:10-11, 5:15; Galatians 2:20.
15 Luke 12:49; Hebrews 12:29.
16 Exodus 3:1-3.
17 Acts 2:1-4.
18 Proverbs 23:26.
19 Hebrews 12:14; Apocalypse 21:27.
20 Isaias 6:3; Apocalypse 4:8; The Sanctus.
21 1 John 5:7.
