Pentecost Sunday message from Bishop Alan

Pentecost Sunday is the day when the apostles received the Holy Spirit, and burst from the Upper Room to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. It is sometimes known as the “birthday” of the Church.

This year, it is a day when many hundreds of young people in the Diocese of Brentwood were due to be Confirmed. These ceremonies cannot take place – at least, not at the moment – and so Bishop Alan offers this message for the Confirmandi, and for parishioners across the Diocese.

Bishop Alan says that at Pentecost the apostles emerged from their own kind of “lockdown” – “people controlled by despair became people of hope … people who had forgotten how to love the world, and forgotten how to love themselves, became people of love.” He invites the young people who would have been Confirmed today to continue to trust in God, and to be inspired by the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit – especially faith, hope, peace and love. 

Bishop Alan’s message will be played at the beginning of the 10.30am Pentecost Sunday Mass livestreamed from the chapel at Walsingham House at Abbotswick – and the Mass will be offered for all young people who were due to be Confirmed at this time. Details of the Mass are in the events section of the website – BCYS Pentecost Sunday Mass – it will be streamed on both YouTube and Instagram.

You can also watch and listen to Bishop Alan’s message here: