PENTECOST SUNDAY
(Acts 2:1-11; I Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23)
Pentecost is the feast of the Holy Spirit. On this day we
celebrate the coming of the Spirit upon Jesus’ disciples to proclaim him as
Lord. This feast has never received much attention in the United States. For most
people here, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day overshadow its importance. In other
countries, however, Pentecost attracts the attention of both Catholics and
non-Catholics. These nations have retained the custom of observing the day afterwards
as a public holiday.
Perhaps the difficulty in celebrating Pentecost lies in the
mysterious figure of the Holy Spirit. In the Bible, God the Father and God the
Son are presented as human figures, but the Spirit is portrayed through unusual
images. He appears as a dove descending upon Jesus at his Baptism. He is the
wind hovering over the waters in the creation story of Genesis and restraining
the waves in the salvation story of Exodus. In the gospel passage today, the Spirit
is described as the breath Jesus blows on his disciples.
Another difficulty faced when considering the Holy Spirit as
God is defining his role in creation. If the Father is the Creator and the Son
is the Redeemer, what does the Spirit do? To answer properly, we must clarify
that the Son and the Spirit also share roles in creation. Furthermore, the
Father and the Spirit carry out redemption together with the Son. Because God
is one, the roles of the three Persons cannot be separated. Generally, the
Spirit is associated with the sanctification of humanity, although the Father
and the Son also participate in this work.
We call the Spirit “the Sanctifier,” the one who fills the soul with
grace.
We can examine the Scripture readings today for additional
ways of understanding the Holy Spirit. In
addition to describing how the Holy Spirit moves Jesus’ disciples to proclaim
him to the world, the reading from the Acts of the Apostles presents the Spirit
as the New Law. To understand how we must understand the context. The feast of
Pentecost is of Jewish, not Christian. origin. The Jews celebrated God’s giving
their ancestors the Law on the fiftieth day of their exodus from Egypt. Here
God presents to the disciples of Jesus his Spirit as a law written upon the
heart. God is fulfilling His promise to the prophet Jeremiah to write a new law
on human hearts. This law works within us so that the love it commands becomes
our way of life. (Yes, at times it seems difficult to live it out, but we have
the witness of the saints that it is possible.)
Saint Paul writes about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the
First Letter to the Corinthians. They are more numerous than the seven
mentioned by the prophet Isaiah. But all
are necessary because the project of the Spirit is to build up the Church, the
Body of Christ, throughout the world. Additionally, the Spirit forms us into that
Body which the Spirit Himself animates. In
other words, the Spirit, who is love, acts through us, the members of Christ’s
body. The importance of this truth may be seen in the final biblical passage
today.
The Gospel shows how the Holy Spirit renews the face of the
earth. By empowering the apostles to
forgive sins, the Spirit saves people from being lost in guilt. Forgiveness
grants us a new opportunity to please God through our service. Furthermore, the
Spirit of forgiveness is bestowed upon all of Jesus’ disciples, whether ordained
or not. He, the Spirit, enables us to
forgive offenses committed against us. Without this aid to forgiveness, the
world would have no future. It would be destroyed by revenge, growing ever more
violent through the centuries with technology.
In short, the Holy Spirit is God’s gift of Himself to us. We
are edified as He builds us into the Body of Christ. As members of Christ’s
Body, we become participants of His divine nature and heirs of His eternal
happiness.
