Good morning good people,
May the Lord bless you with peace and health in the Holy Spirit.
It is 23rd May 2021. We celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday.
We reflect from Acts 2:1-11; Galatians 5:16-25; and the Gospel John 15:26-27, 16:12-15.
We celebrate the Solemnity of the Pentecost. With this solemnity, we conclude the celebration of paschal mystery – the suffering, death, resurrection, ascension and coming of the Spirit on Jesus’ disciples. We are all empowered, gifted by the Holy Spirit to become the new creation. For God cannot be limited by our futile thinking. 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. Thank you.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel to pray for my release. Nice.
I was naked and, in your mind,, you debated the morality of my appearance. What good did that do?
I was sick and you knelt and thanked God for your health. But I needed you.
I was homeless and you preached to me of the shelter of the love of God. I wish you’d taken me home.
I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. Why didn’t you stay?
You seem so holy, so close to God; but I’m still very hungry, lonely, cold, and still in pain.”
The church was never defeated by anything including persecutions, pandemic, and political wrangling. As we are amidst the storm of Corona-19, we need to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. We all profess that we believe in the Holy Spirit in the Creed.
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.
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. May the Holy Spirit be the guiding force of our life. Have a peaceful day.