Today is the great feast of Pentecost. After the time of fulfillment for Pentecost was completed, we hear, the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are changed men and would go on to fulfill the mission entrusted to them by Jesus on Ascension when He commanded them to go to the ends of the Earth, baptizing all in the name of the Holy Trinity. The age of the Holy Spirit is upon us all.
To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit (1 Cor 12:7).
Renewed
On Pentecost, which literally means Fifty Days, Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit is fulfilled. Pentecost is precisely ten days after Jesus’ Ascension to the Father. St. Luke recounts the words of the Messiah. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8)
And how? There is a sound and light show that puts all others in the shade, and the apostles are clothed with gifts from on high. They are able to do all the marvelous things Jesus prophesied they would, and they set the world on fire. Those witnessing the erstwhile timid dozen were astonished and amazed as they heard the mighty deeds of God proclaimed to them in their own tongues. And the hearers hailed from every nation under heaven.
Today, my brothers and sisters, we too hear the mighty deeds of God proclaimed in every nation, every native tongue under heaven. Our God who sends forth His Holy Spirit renews us. He renews us His prompting and the gifts He bestows, by the Church He raised up and by the active participation of we the baptized faithful. The cumulative effect enables the Sacred Scripture to be spread throughout every nook and cranny of this world we inhabit. May this never cease!
The Giver
Throughout his ministry, Jesus points to the Father and when His time on Earth was coming to an end. He promised us that we would not be left alone and that He would send us the Paraclete, the Counselor. He also consoled the grieving apostles when He spoke of His imminent departure. He said that it would be better for us if He goes, because then He would ask the Father and send the Holy Spirit.
The mission of Jesus and the Holy Spirit is the same. But most of us, me included, have only a nebulous understanding of the Holy Spirit. There are mysteries in our faith that cannot be plumbed by our human understanding, and the foremost of these is the Trinity. It requires us to exercise our faith and believe in the Triune God. St. Paul says: “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthian 12:3). The Holy Spirit is the Giver par excellence. He strews His gifts upon individuals, some mighty, some lesser, but according to His perfect foreknowledge of the receiver.
Today, let us particularly thank Our God for loving us and bestowing His gifts upon us. Let us shy away from envy and human comparisons with others seemingly more beloved, but rather strive for a true appreciation of the diversity and riches that are carefully measured out in order to bear optimal gain.
For, as St. Paul concludes, we were all baptized into one body, and all given to drink of one Spirit.
Breath of the Spirit
After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to the terrified disciples and breathed on them, saying “Receive the Holy Spirit”. Nearly fifty days later, after much prayer and not a little fasting, the Holy Spirit fell on them again!
The takeaway is that we can receive the Holy Spirit again and again! All we have to do is ask for it. The practice of the Church is to fervently relive the experience. It is the novena, when between Ascension and Pentecost, the disciples with Our Lady fervently prayed to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. What happened next was the great feast of Pentecost, after nine intensely prayerful days between the Great Commission and the Outpouring of Grace.
Today, let us ask the Great Giver to fall upon us afresh. Today, let us ask the Spirit to reveal more clearly our particular gifts. Let us also ask for the grace to fulfill the mission of putting those gifts to use in fulfilling the Great Commission that Jesus left to all of us on the day He arose to take His seat at the Father’s right.
[Reading: Acts 2:1-11:; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23]
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