June 23, 2014
Peter’s Speech at Pentecost
A reading from the Acts of the Apostles 2, 11 – 24:
Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them, “You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem. Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. These people are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
‘It will come to pass in the last days,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out a portion of my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. Indeed, upon my servants and my handmaids I will pour out a portion of my spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. And I will work wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below: blood, fire, and a cloud of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the coming of the great and splendid day of the Lord, and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.’
You who are Israelites, hear these words. Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by God with mighty deeds, wonders, and signs, which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God, you killed, using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up releasing him from the throes of death because it was impossible for him to be held by it.”
A few years ago I called people to the Little Shrine of Our Lady of Prince Edward Island on Pentecost evening for prayer. We prayed together and at the end I placed my hands on each person and prayed with each one. What was so extraordinary is that as soon as I placed my hands on a person head, that person went down through the power of the Holy Spirit. When I finished praying with them, every person was lying on the floor. Then they started speaking in tongues and they got up and started dancing all over chapel. This lasted at least one half hour. Pentecost was really present that day.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord and Savior given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“I call you all My brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters to take part in the wonderful day of Pentecost. Know that you are now all filled with the Holy Spirit just like the Apostles on that first Pentecost. On that day Saint Peter, the Apostle, went outside the building where the people were gathered and he spoke to them. He told them that the Apostles were not drunk as it was only nine o’clock in the morning. Then he give them the prophesy of Joel. Joel had said that God would give the people a portion of His Spirit and all would prophesy. Then Peter told the Jews the horrible thing they had done to Me. I had come into the world and I did many great deeds like healing the sick and bringing back to dead to life. I spoke to them the truth about God and I prophesied that I would be killed and on the third day I would rise again. However, the Jews did not accept Me and instead they arrested Me, tortured Me and at the end killed Me by nailing Me to the cross. However, on the third day I was raised up to life never to die again. This is the first part of the talk that Peter gave to the Jews on Pentecost day.”
Father Melvin
P.S. Sunday, June 22, was a great day for me. It was the anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. It is now 46 years ago that I was ordained and I was filled with joy on this great anniversary. I thank the Lord for this great gift He gave me. Please pray that I remain faithful to Jesus until the end of my life.