Pentecost Sunday 2024
Are we ready to permit the Holy Spirit to direct our lives?
The Person, Presence, Language and Gift of God is the HOLY SPIRIT.
It is birth of the church and the community of all communities.
The season of the Easter comes to end with this solemnity. ‘the power from on high,’ and ‘in his own tongue,’ the community of believers received the Holy Spirit in a spectacular way.
The miracle of tongue on Pentecost with unity, love and respect reverses the confusion and division of tongues at the Tower of Babel.
Are we attached to the works of the flesh or attracted to the Spirit of Truth?
The Holy Spirit is:
“No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3).
to be in touch with Christ, we must first have been touched by the Holy Spirit.
By virtue of our Baptism, the first sacrament of the faith, the Holy Spirit in the Church communicates to us, intimately and personally,
The Holy Spirit is “the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body.”
The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” and through Baptism… (CCC #1987)
The apostles, together with Blessed Mother, gathered in the upper room received the gift of the Holy Spirit in a spectacular way, and set out to proclaim the good news.
We celebrate the Solemnity of the Pentecost.
We are all empowered, gifted by the Holy Spirit to become the new creation. For God cannot be limited by our futile thinking.
A poor illiterate man wanted to be baptized. The parish priest asked him many questions to see whether he was fit for baptism. “Where was Jesus born? How many apostles did he have? How many years did he live? Where did he die? The poor man knew nothing of all these questions. Irritated, the priest then said, “At least you know prayers like the Our Father and the I Believe”? The man again shook his head. “What do you know then?” asked the priest flabbergasted. The man explained, “Before I met Jesus I was a drunkard who beat up my wife and children; I lost my job and was wasting my life.” Then he continued, “But after encountering Jesus, I’ve quit drinking. I work hard and have begun to love my family. For me Jesus is my personal Saviour!”
The Holy Spirit of God breathes where He wills, and no one can control and direct the flow of it.
Pentecost is the second baptism to all of us to renew our promises to God and the Church.
The Pentecost is birth of the Church; we wish you a happy birthday to you all. the power, desire and empowerment of God to all who believe.
When was the last time we felt the power of the Holy Spirit?
Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.”
Bob: Don’t be afraid of my dog. You know the old proverb, “A barking dog never bites”.
Richard: “I know the proverb, you know the proverb, but does your dog know the proverb?”
Language of the Holy Spirit: The Church spoke a new language of love and faith. We hear them in own language. When we are guided by the Spirit of God, we speak a language that unites and make one. We are to speak the language of love. Our lives, families, the community and the entire humanity need to speak a language of love that cares not tears, shares not shun,
I think this well-known anonymous poem expresses it powerfully:
“I was hungry, and you formed a humanities club to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my release.
I was naked and, in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance.
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health.
I was homeless and you preached to me of the shelter of the love of God.
I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me.
You seem so holy, so close to God; but I’m still very hungry, lonely, cold, and still in pain.”
We need a new paradigm shift in our narration, and description.
We Come alive in and through our personal holiness.
It is fiftieth day. The festival of Harvest. Jews from 16 countries gathered to celebrate the feast. The Apostles too were gathered in the room during the festival of Jews.
The passage of the first reading is filled with lots of scriptural symbols of the Holy Spirit namely wind, fire, and spirit. All of a sudden, the violent wind followed the tongues of fire came upon them and they spoke in tongues. The Spirit of God is symbolized in wind, tongues of fire as God accompanied during the night by a pillar of fire; in the book of Genesis (Gen.11:7), men tried to build a tower right up to heaven.
For such arrogance they were punished by having to speak in a myriad of languages. The Holy Spirit brings us closer to God. The formation and the mission of the Church and each one of us spelled on the Pentecost.
The second reading warns us about our attachment to flesh and excessive self-love forgetting our privilege to serve. Self-indulgence does not allow us to come closer to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Reconciling Presence:
What we experience and celebrate in the sacrament become a reality in our personal and life of community. It is through our persistent prayer and profound love for the others.
Jesus promises us a divine lawyer who helps us in time of trouble and need and leading us to complete truth amidst pain, suffering, and loss. The Spirit of truth who comes from the Father is the divine Advocate. He glorifies Jesus in all the testimony of establishing Jesus is the Son of God Messiah.
In the Gospel, St. John presents us the story of Jesus as a lawsuit between God and the unbelieving world. The witnesses namely the Word of Jesus, John the Baptist, the signs and miracles of Jesus and the Holy Spirit are defending the truth that Jesus is Messiah and the Son of God. Those who opposed Him were the unbelieving Jews who bore witnesses against Him. But According to St. John, Jesus wins the lawsuit, and the Pilate declares Jesus as innocent three times yet convicted and handed the innocent, the sinless Son of God to be executed. Even after the Resurrection of the Lord, still many do not believe in Him.
The principal lawyer for Jesus is the Holy Spirit who takes on the unbelieving world with the witnesses of the Apostles by the Pentecost.
Before the decent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, their minds were clouded by fear, fright, and confusion.
Once they receive the Holy Spirit, they became the unstoppable river of truth and love to all the nook and corners of the world. Yes, we too are facing the world of unbelief within us and around us called and strengthened by this solemnity of Pentecost to testify to the truth.
We are the witnesses today. “We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts.5:32).
St. John concludes the lawsuit in these words: “That you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (Jn.20:31).
Let us allow the Holy Spirit to come into us, dwell in us to testify, glorify and bear witness to Jesus. Hence our witnessing need to be counterproductive, transforming, and healing the wounds created by unforgiveness, favoritism, division, and power struggle.
The Holy Spirit is the Giver of new ideas to stir up our minds and hearts to build bridges of unity, understanding, reconciliation and forgiveness.
Let us celebrate the Pentecost daily by including the Invisible God visibly. Saint Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador said: “It will always be Pentecost in the Church.”
May the Holy Spirit be the guiding force of our life. Have a peaceful day.