BRIDGEPORT—“What a beautiful opportunity for us to gather together here in our cathedral to celebrate the Pentecost Vigil,” said Father Juan Gabriel Acosta, pastor of The Cathedral Parish, on the vigil of the birthday of the Church at St. Augustine Cathedral.
Bishop Frank J. Caggiano was the principal celebrant and was joined by Father Acosta.
During the Mass, which celebrates the universal Church, each of the readings and the prayers of the faithful is read in a different language including Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Haitian, Vietnamese and English. The Vigil Mass also celebrates the many international Ecclesial Movements and Communities at work in the Diocese of Bridgeport.
In his homily, Father Acosta told the congregation that earlier that week, the Charismatic Group at the Cathedral gathered around a fire pit, offering hymns of praise and worship to the Holy Spirit in honor of Pentecost.
“By seeing and hearing these physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit, we are more properly disposed to understand that God is doing something great in our lives,” explained Father Acosta.
“We can see that we are touched by the love and presence of the Holy Spirit—consumed, filled and set on fire,” he said.
Father Acosta continued, “Pentecost changed the lives of the apostles—those first witnesses of this great day.” Father Acosta explained the significance of the great miracle that occurred on Pentecost—that the apostles were heard in the native tongue of all those gathered that say—so the message of Jesus could be spread throughout the world.
“Pentecost changes our lives if we just allow the Holy Spirit to work within us and through us,” said Father Acosta.
“The Holy Spirit wants to enter our lives to give us the strength to go out and share the good news,” Father Acosta said. “God wants to set our hearts on fire with His love, so that we might live our lives in a way that affects change in the world.”
“Pentecost allows us to be powerful instruments of the transforming grace of God, Our Father,” said Father Acosta. “The world needs our own testimony, our own witness of what God is doing in us.”
Father Acosta also presented the homily in Spanish.
At the end of the liturgy, Father Acosta thanked Bishop Caggiano for joining in the celebration of the Vigil Mass.
The liturgy was truly an effort of the entire diocese as Dr. Willian Atwood, diocesan director of music ministry was joined by the Cathedral Schola, the Haitian Choir from St. Joseph Parish in South Norwalk, the Vietnamese Choir of the Cathedral Parish and cantors from Our Lady of Fatima Church in Bridgeport.
