Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Hello.
[00:00:08] Today is the last day of the Easter season.
[00:00:11] It's Sunday, May 24th, Pentecost.
[00:00:27] Each year on Pentecost, rose petals fall from a circular opening in the ceiling of Chicago's St. John Kentius Church at the end of Mass.
[00:00:38] Meant to symbolize the descent of the Holy Spirit and tongues of flame, the rose petal ceremony is an ancient one.
[00:00:47] The church was built in the late 19th century to serve the area's Polish immigrants.
[00:00:54] But it is thought that the rose petal ceremony originated in Rome at the Pantheon, which Pope Boniface IV converted from a pagan temple to a Christian church in 608 AD.
[00:01:09] At that time, it was dedicated to Santa Maria Admartis, St. Mary and the martyrs.
[00:01:18] The rose petal ceremony continues to this day at the Basilica of Santa Maria Admartres, home to the oldest continuously used dome in the world.
[00:01:30] The rose petal ceremony was discontinued for many centuries, but resumed in 1995 in Rome. Italians called the custom La Pioggia da Petali di Rosa shower, or rain of rose petals.
[00:01:49] Each year on Pentecost, hundreds wait patiently from early morning to experience the rain of rose petals falling from the oculus, the large opening in the dome of the basilica.
[00:02:04] Other parishes in the United States, besides Chicago and around the world, also have adopted this custom on Pentecost, which commemorates the visible birth of the church.
[00:02:25] Let's turn today to the last homily of the Easter season titled Immersed in the Holy Spirit.
[00:02:38] I've been baptized. And like the disciples on that first Pentecost, I've been immersed in the Holy Spirit.
[00:02:47] I've been called to carry out in my life the Lord's work.
[00:02:53] It's a mission specific to me, because since the beginning of time, there has been no one exactly like me.
[00:03:01] And until the end of time, there will be no one exactly like me.
[00:03:08] Now I could say, okay, I've been called by God to be a Christian.
[00:03:13] I've been baptized, and I'm a member of the church.
[00:03:18] So I go to Mass each Sunday.
[00:03:20] I give to my parish online or turn in my envelope.
[00:03:24] I observe Lent and don't eat meat on Ash Wednesdays and the Fridays of Lent, but that's too generic.
[00:03:33] It's sort of a Bayes Christianity.
[00:03:36] Bland, flat, ordinary, uninteresting, standard, predictable stuff that wasn't the color of the response of the apostles or any of the other holy people whom I've read about this Easter season.
[00:03:52] Their response, their discipleship, was in bright colors, very personal, striking.
[00:04:01] I need to take my response to God's call to the next level.
[00:04:05] Down deep inside of me, where my truest self lives in Mark, he said to them, go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.
[00:04:27] Spend some quiet time with the Lord.
