Celebrating Pentecost as a Family

Did you know that the feast of Pentecost is often referred to as “the Birthday of the Church”? It is called that, because Pentecost is when the disciples went out among the people and began spreading Jesus’ message, thus establishing the beginning of the Church.

Pentecost, Greek for “50^th day”, is celebrated by Christians 50 days after Easter and marks the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples while they were shut in and praying in an upper room following Jesus’ resurrection. After receiving the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit, the disciples immediately went out and preached Jesus’ message to everyone – even those who spoke other languages.

Pentecost was originally a Jewish feast that concluded the 50 days of Passover-- celebrating the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. The Jewish people at Pentecost also celebrated the giving of the Laws to Moses at Mt. Sinai.

Symbols of Pentecost

The symbols of Pentecost are wind, fire, and a dove. Wind is taken from the noise the disciples heard as the Spirit descended upon them (Acts 2:2). After the disciples heard wind, flames appeared and rested upon the heads of each of the disciples (Acts 2:3). A dove serves as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. There is no mention of a dove in Acts, but we associate a dove with the Holy Spirit because of the story about Jesus’ baptism: “After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened [for him], and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove [and] coming upon him” (Matthew 3:16).

Celebrating Pentecost

Pentecost is probably one of the most important days on the Church calendar, but it is often overlooked. Here are some ways your family can celebrate the day of Pentecost.

1. Because Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, celebrate it just as you would any other birthday in you home—break out the cake and ice cream. Rather than singing “Happy Birthday”, recite a prayer for Pentecost, such as: “Father in heaven, 50 days have celebrated the fullness of the mystery of Your revealed love. See Your people gather n prayer, open to receive the Spirit’s flame. May it come to rest in our hearts and disperse the divisions of word and tongue. With one voice and one song may we praise Your name in joy and thanksgiving. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
   
   
2. Wear something red. The color of the vestments worn by priests on Pentecost is red, to symbolize the love of the Holy Spirit and the tongues of fire that appeared over the heads of the disciples on Pentecost. Don’t just stop at wearing red. Use a red tablecloth for dinner, eat off red paper plates, eat red foods, etc. See how many ways you can incorporate the color red in you celebration.
   
   
3. Read aloud the story of Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts.

For Kids: Let’s Go Fly a Kite

As mentioned, wind is one of the symbols of Pentecost. So what better way to experience the wind than to fly a kite? You can buy one or make your own with instructions from a book or off the Internet. Or, if you would rather tackle a smaller project, make a pinwheel and watch what the wind does. Again, you can find instructions for how to make pinwheels in books at the library, in magazines, or on the Internet.

If you make your own kite or pinwheel, decorate it with the symbols of Pentecost, such as red flames or a dove. You can draw these, make them with construction paper, or cut pictures out of magazines and glue them on.