PENTECOST SUNDAY
(Acts 2:1-11; I Corinthians 12:3-7.12-13; John 20:19-23)
Today, Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the Holy Spirit, it is
true. But we also celebrate the Church. In some parishes forty or fifty years
ago they brought a big cake into mass. The children sang “Happy Birthday”
because today is the day the Church was born. While such a practice may
highlight the connection between Pentecost and the Church, it also trivializes
both. Somehow, we have to relate Pentecost to the Church by taking both things
seriously.
It helps us to understand that Pentecost is not just a
Christian holiday. Rather, it has its origins in the foundations of Judaism. On
the fiftieth day after the Passover and exodus from Egypt, the Israelites
received the Law of God. Together with the Covenant, the Law meant that they
were the “People of God.” With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we Christians have also
identified ourselves as the "People of God" or, sometimes, the
"New People of God."
We are the "New People" not only because we are
the most recent. Rather, we are men and women recreated by Baptism. We remember
what Jesus says to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John: "'He who is not born
again cannot see the Kingdom of God.'" Jesus then goes on to explain how
to be "born again" is to be born "of water and of the
Spirit." Of course, he is referring to Baptism.
The gospel today shows Jesus blowing on the apostles while
he says: "... To those whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven
them." We Christians are also renewed because we are not bound by our past
sins. We are like the criminal whose sentence is pardoned. He can start life
anew without paying the debts due for his previous crime.
Jesus left the New People of God with a mission. Its
members, beginning with the apostles, have to go everywhere setting the world
ablaze with love. The flames that pass from one to the other in the first
reading today represent hearts on fire. They do not stop with the group in the
hall but continue to spread through Jerusalem and from there throughout the
world to this day. The disciples of Jesus both in Jerusalem and we today
fulfill this task by announcing the good news of the love of God. Of course, this
announcement is not made only with words but also with deeds.
Since the time of Saint Paul the Church has also identified herself
as the "Body of Christ." This is a strange title. In what sense is
the church like a body? The Church remains on earth as the physical and organic
presence of Christ. The Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, animates
this body to fulfill its mission of announcing the love of God. Believers in
Christ are the members of this body, each with his or her own ability. Everyone
has their necessary role as in the case of a human body so that the Church
continues to radiate love. Whether we are cardinal archbishops or those who fry
fish for dinner on Lenten Fridays, we support the Church in proclaiming the
Kingdom.
The Spirit harmonizes all the efforts of the members. That
is why it seems that Pope Francis' proposal to institutionalize synodality with
the laity comes from the Spirit. The bishops have always listened to the
opinions of the laity. They have sisters, cousins, and cooks in their houses.
But casual listening is neither clear nor compelling. The Spirit works by the
structures that are built to be truthful and effective.
It has been said that sometimes you have to accept changes
so that things remain as always. It seems so with the Church now. Synodality
may be necessary for the Church to continue spreading the self-sacrificing love
of God.
