The great feast of Pentecost celebrates that day when the Holy Spirit was poured upon the disciples and Our Lady gathered in the upper room fifty days after Easter. The Church actually considers this feast of Pentecost as the birthday of the Church because the Church is, by its very nature, missionary. This special outpouring of grace at Pentecost empowered the disciples to go out and to be courageous witnesses to Christ and to carry on Christ’s mission to the whole world. Let us pray that the grace of Pentecost that each of us received sacramentally at our Confirmation might continue to strengthen us to be faithful and courageous witnesses to the truth and beauty of the Gospel and to carry on Christ’s mission of salvation to the whole world.