Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish 

At Christ the Divine Shepherd Parish and across the Diocese of Pittsburgh preparations are being made to return to Masses with people physically present. These openings are in continued alignment with local, state, and federal health and safety guidelines. In our parish community we are busy continuing to put the necessary infrastructure into place to make the return as soon, and as safely as possible. To help us prepare we are looking for your input please click below to respond to our survey.

CDS Moving Forward Together Survey

High on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is a beautiful painting known as 'THE CREATION OF ADAM' by Michelangelo. In the painting, God the Father —Creator of heaven and earth, and all things visible and invisible —is reaching His finger to touch the finger of Adam. In this painting, Adam has not yet fully received the ‘breath of life’ from his Creator. Michelangelo’s depiction shows Adam, the first human, was made in the image and likeness of God, and by, God's touch, man would have life. In reality, it would be by the BREATH of God's Holy Spirit; man would have life breathed into him.
Many eons after the beginning of creation, the WORD became flesh and dwelt among us. This was known as the Incarnation of God becoming a man. This was to enable for Jesus, the Son of God, to be born into the world and to bring salvation to God's people, to eventually bring about the Paschal Mystery that Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah, would suffer, die, and rise, then later to ASCEND TO THE FATHER in Heaven. After that, the Holy Spirit could be sent into the world, and be the Advocate, the One standing up for each of us before God and so that Jesus too would be with us always. This coming of the Holy Spirit was known as PENTECOST.
Pentecost literally means 50th. It is a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover feast by the Jews, and a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus by Christians. At Pentecost, The Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the Blessed Virgin Mary as fiery tongues. These scared followers of Jesus were transformed into fiery preachers and evangelists and were given the gift of tongues by a special anointing of the Holy Spirit. Those gathered received various gifts and strength to go forth and tell the whole world the story of JESUS CHRIST, who came to give us the message of God's invitation to a relationship with HIM, a relationship of love and mercy and friendship.
On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfills his promise to send the Advocate or Paraclete on them –"Power from on high." The gift of the Spirit would also enable them to fulfill Jesus' commission to preach the Gospel to all nations. Today's Gospel passage also tells us how Jesus gave the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins. His," Receive the Holy Spirit," was immediately followed by," For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained. "How beautiful is the thought that the Holy Spirit lives within us! Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian community of this fact when he asks, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?" The Spirit is that Paraclete(a Greek word that is translated as Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Encourager, or Enabler), Who quietly works in us and through us every day behind the scenes in the basic activities of our lives and the lives of the people around us.
We need to permit the Holy Spirit to direct our lives. We share the color of red today, because it is the color of the HOLY SPIRIT, to show the Spirit's fire moving among us and to excite us with the spirit of faith to be shared with those around us. FIRE AND WIND ARE SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THEY SYMBOLIZE THE MOVEMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THAT IT GOES WHERE IT WANTS AND HOW IT WANTS, TO CATCH THE WORLD ON FIRE WITH LOVE AND HOPE in a better world. The point is that the Holy Spirit's work did not begin and end on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is alive and well and is working in the Church right down to the present day, and he will continue his work until the very end of time. Similarly, when one commits his or her life to the Lord, especially in a religious vocation such as sister, brother, or priest, one never ceases to be that person or to live that vocation. Sometimes when different moves are made, or a person has a feeling of a need for a change, it may be granted he or she not be in 'active duty.' One needs to rely on the guidance of the HOLY SPIRIT to lead them as well as their superiors. So, upon requesting that I be able to retire soon after I reached the age of 70, I was granted permission. I know that I will still help out whenever needed, but I will live in a private residence. My sincerest thanks to all of you who helped me the past few years to get things moving, to share with one another, and to work as ONE parish. It certainly was not easy, and I could never have done it alone, but my fellow priests, deacons, and staff and councils really made the difference to help things to happen, United in ONE SPIRIT, IGNITED BY THE FIRE, WE ARE HIS HOLY PEOPLE, WE ARE THE CHURCH OF GOD. So always invite the HOLY SPIRIT, come O HOLY SPIRIT COME, and renew the face of the earth. Please continue to pray me, and I also will pray for each of you. God bless all of you, love, Fr Al Zapf+