EMBRACNG THE OPPORTUNITY OFFERED BY PENTECOST

 HOMILY FOR PENTECOST (YEAR B)

Acts 2:1-11        Galatians 5:16-25        John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

Pentecost is the fiftieth day (Πεντηκοστή Pentēcostē) after the Solemnity of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus on Easter Day. For the Jews, Pentecost  is a historic feast, celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover. It is one of the three pilgrimage festivals, attracting a great number of people to Jerusalem, and commemorates the early wheat harvest and the giving of the Oral Torah (the ‘teaching’) to Moses on Mount Sinai. It is a time for worship of God and of expressing gratitude to Him. No unnecessary or servile work is done on the day of Pentecost (Lev 23:21). It is like one of our bank holidays. For Christians, Pentecost marks the end of the Easter season with the fulfilment of the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

At Pentecost, the disciples experienced great courage. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them, they began to speak courageously, preaching in different languages about the Risen and Ascended Lord. Their fears were dissipated by what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, and they were fired up with the courage necessary to carry out their mission to preach the marvels of what God had done for humanity through the Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

At Pentecost, the disciples experienced great animation for their mission. The Holy Spirit descended upon them like tongues of fire. Flames are animated, never still, giving warmth and shedding light. Those tongues of fire indicate the presence of Church who is led in the light of Christ, the Church who is indwelt and animated in the Spirit. The Church is vibrant because the Paraclete is within her. The Pentecostal fire has been lit in the world. It is unquenchable because it is divine, and no power can put it out. As children of this holy fire, it is our duty to keep this fire burning, both in the Church to which it is our privilege to belong, and in the needy human society in which we live.

At Pentecost, the disciples experienced the singleness of humanity. The disciples, all of whom were Galilean Jews (though Philip was Greek-speaking), were heard and understood by all those present, Jews and Gentiles alike. The confusion and misunderstanding that language can create were overcome. The Holy Spirit led each person to the complete truth as promised (in today’s Gospel) by the Lord, and He has continued to do so throughout the ages of human history.  In that sense, lovers of God understand one divine language. Pentecost saw the birth of the Church, the Church who spreads by word of mouth - in multiple languages to all the corners of the world - the love of God, the word of God, and His divine teachings.

At Pentecost, the disciples experienced the power of gathering. After the Resurrection, some disciples of Jesus were tempted to think that their mission was finished and simply to go back to their businesses (Jn 21:1). But with the appearances of Jesus (Jn 20:15ff, 19ff; 26ff.; Mt 28:16f; Lk 24:15ff; Ac 1:9), they were enlightened and encouraged by the Risen Lord Himself for forty days. In the immediate aftermath of the Ascension, the believers came together to pray in the Upper Room.  At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit blessed each one of them and their unity with His presence and power. Could we say that Pentecost signified for these earliest Christians a feast of unity and oneness of purpose in finally being faithful to the mission with which the Lord had entrusted them? We could! Just as Pentecost was-and-is a feast of ingathered harvest for the Jews, Pentecost is the feast of the gathering together of all Christ’s faithful into one, into the Church.

Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity, upon the little group of the followers of Jesus. Our Lady, whose divine spouse is the Holy Spirit (Lk 1:35), was among them. Through her fiat (let it be done to me according to Thy word Lk 1:38), the Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, became incarnate. Every Sunday, we come together as members of one family, the triune God’s family, the Church family, on pilgrimage to God’s Kingdom. We not only find shelter in God’s family, we also help to maintain and build her up. May we embrace St Paul’s advice in the 2^nd Reading to keep on walking by the Spirit. If we walk by the Holy Spirit, then we shall reap the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Let us therefore keep praying for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Christian family. Lord, may your Holy Spirit come to us afresh, to enlighten our minds, purify our hearts, and strengthen our wills so that we, the community of believers in the Lord Jesus, may give effective witness to the world about God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen. God bless you.