The Holy Spirit frees us from fear, Pope tells pilgrims (Vatican Press Office)

During his Regina Caeli address on Pentecost Sunday, Pope Francis reflected on John 20:19-23, the Gospel reading at the Mass of the day.

“When they receive the Spirit, the apostles – we celebrate this today – come out of the upper room and go out into the world to forgive sins and to proclaim the good news,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “Thanks to him, fears are overcome and doors open.”

“Because this is what the Spirit does: he makes us feel God’s proximity, and so thus his love casts out fear, illuminates the way, consoles, sustains in adversity,” he continued. “Faced with fears and closure, then, let us invoke the Holy Spirit for us, for the Church and for the whole world: let a new Pentecost cast out the fears that assail us and revive the flame of God’s love. May Mary Most Holy, the first to be filled with the Holy Spirit, intercede for us.”