Pentecost Sunday
My dear parishioners,
God is Good!!! All the time!!! And all the time!!! God is Good!!!
Now the apostles receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Luke identifies this as a significant event by declaring it to be a time of fulfillment. A dramatic stage has arrived in God’s plan of salvation. The risen Lord prepared the apostles for this event by insisting they stay in Jerusalem after his ascension; they must await the promise of the Father.
Luke’s description brings to mind details in the creation account. There is a strong driving wind that can be heard and felt throughout the house. In a similar way, a strong wind sweeps over the waters in Gn 1. Just as the wind fills the entire house, the message of the gospel will fill the earth. At creation, God filled the man of clay with the breath of life. Now the apostles are filled with a new breath of life as the Holy Spirit enters into them. Appropriately, this divine gift appears as tongues of fire over each of them. Fire represents the divine; tongues, the power of speech.
Without delay, the apostles begin proclaiming the mighty acts of God, all the dramatic works of God leading humanity to salvation. Luke takes time to list all the different places of origin represented by the crowd gathered in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. In spite of the mix of languages in that city, everyone hears in his or her own tongue the message of the gospel. At Babel, language had to be confused to limit the influence of harmful ideas. But there can be no barrier to the life-giving word of God.
Today’s Gospel is sometimes referred to as the “Johannine Pentecost.“ It consists of the following elements. First, Jesus appears to the community of disciples, offering them his peace. Second, he bestows upon them an apostolic commissioning and sends them out to continue his work. Third, he ratifies this commissioning by breathing on them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
On the evening of the same day Jesus was raised up, he passes through locked and secured doors to appear to his community of disciples. They are filled with fear and rightly so. What is to prohibit what happened to Jesus (killed as a criminal) from also happening to them? He offers the disciples his peace, but they are not yet in a position to receive it. When Jesus shows them his hands and side, they recognize him and rejoice. Again, Jesus offers them peace; this time they accept it.
Excerpts from “Sunday Homily Helps”, is used by permission of Franciscan Media. www.FranciscanMedia.org. All rights reserved
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Aloysius