PENTECOST - FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

PENTECOST SUNDAY – A: (Acts 2:1-11; 1Cor 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23)

Theme: WE ARE FULL OF JOY BECAUSE WE ARE FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Reflections:
- Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Holy Spirit
- We commemorate today the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and from that until today, his continuous and efficacious presence amidst the world.
- Holy Spirit is the gift of the Father and of the Son Jesus but it is not like any other gift: but it is the Gift of all the gifts and the Giver of all the gifts.
- He is not just the great gift of God and His Son but He is God himself and He is the Third person of the Trinity.
- God the Father’s presence in the world is made known in many forms in the Old Testament and the Best Form he has chosen is the ‘human form in the person of his son’. The Son Jesus is the fullness of revelation of the presence and plan of the Father.
- Jesus who is the second person of the Triune God and who is God himself has revealed himself and the Father’s love for the humanity in ‘time and space’ and so we have the Christ-Event which happened in the history.
- After the event of Christ, it is the turn and the time of the Spirit to continue to this revelation of the God’s designs and Christ’s redemptive merits in the world.
- This does not mean that they divide the work and do it separately. In each and every thought and the deed that come out from the mind and hand of God is the work of the Trinity. Though the work is attributed to the one particular person of the Trinity in the given period of revelation, still the work is done by the Trinity. There is no and there could be no event in which there is the missing of even a single person.
- The works commonly attributed to each single person of the trinity are: to the Father the work of the creation but there is the presence of the Son in the form of the Word and the presence of the Spirit which was hovering on the waters; to the Son Jesus Christ the work of redemptive but there is the presence of the Father in form of obedience of the son and the presence of the Spirit in the form of sacrifice of the Son; and finally to the Holy Spirit the work of ‘leading the humanity to the Truth’ which includes both sanctification and making the disciples remember what Jesus said and so there is the presence of the Son and the presence of the Father because the spirit is the bread of God the Father himself.
- After the forty days of resurrection and ten days of his ascension Jesus sends the Holy Spirit as he has already promised and given in the word and symbol: in the word – receive the Holy Spirit; in the symbol – he breathed on them (today’s gospel).

First Reading:

- Pentecost is the ‘fiftieth day’: the day of liberation and salvation
o In the Old Testament there is a good significance for the fiftieth day because it is the day of Joy and Liberation for all the slaves; there was a command of God for all the people of Israel to release their slaves on the year after seven times seven, that is, the fiftieth year.
o The revelation of God is always connected to the human and historical events; God has made use of this ‘important fiftieth’ (Pentecost) day for the sending of the Holy Spirit. The fiftieth day after the ‘Paschal Resurrection’ in and through which Jesus has entered into the glory and has gloried God in a perfect manner, God sends the Holy Spirit and therefore to fulfill also the Old Testament revelation of total liberation of the humanity with the descent of the Holy Spirit.
o The fullness of liberation from the bondage of sin and death is given to us in the Holy Spirit: the disciples have fully understood the mystery of Christ not when he was with them and not when they looked and lived all the moments with Jesus but with the coming of the Holy Spirit; the disciples who were incapable of understanding the mysteries of God’s salvation and fearful of the same authority and closed themselves up into the room are NOW have become the WITNESSES of the new life of resurrection of Jesus; they have been liberated fully from the fear and incomprehension with the Holy Spirit. The merits of Christ event will be fruitful in us with the work of the sanctification of the Holy Spirit.
o In this way the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit are intimately connected and they are interlinked with each other because the Holy Spirit is the gift of the Risen Jesus and the Resurrection of Jesus is the work of the Father in the Spirit.
- Pentecost is the beginning of the mystery and ministry of the Church:
o Jesus when he has initiated his work of salvation and the predication of the kingdom of God, he has done it with the power of the Holy Spirit. We see, according to the gospel of Luke, that in the beginning of his proclamation, in the temple of Jerusalem, he was given a book to read and as he opened it he found immediately these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and he has anointed me to preach the good news of salvation”. With this acknowledgement of the presence of the Spirit Jesus has started his ministry. And in all his words and action there is the Spirit of the Father working in it.
o Now it is the time for the Church, the first Christian community of the Risen Christ, to start its proclamation of the Gospel of Salvation. Now it is the time because there is the presence and power of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has empowered the disciples of Jesus to come out of the closed room, to come out of the closed hearts with the fear and to come out of the proper life and enter into the world as the preachers of the Word and the witness of the Life. When the disciples are filled with the Holy Spirit they have started proclaiming the all the mysteries of God (v.4).
o This is just a beginning of His Mission and, from that moment and from that day the Spirit has never stopped his work of sanctification of the humanity and of the world through the life and ministry of the Church. The number of the witnesses that were sprouted is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The message of love and peace that was spread out is the breath of the Holy Spirit.
- Pentecost is the revelation of the Trinitarian Presence:
o Jesus has manifested in his words and in his deeds the Father and the Spirit; in fact there was an event of the Father who led whole history of Israel with the promises and prophecies and in the appointed/elected time, there was an even of the Son who led this chosen people and all the humanity into the possibility of salvation through his death and resurrection; though these events are undoubtedly and unconditionally the working of all the Three Persons but in history and time, there is also the particular event of the Holy Spirit and that happens today and continues till the end;
o In this way the event of the Pentecost reveal once again the fullness of the Trinity to the world and to the humanity.
- Pentecost is the revelation of the fullness of symbolism: the wind and the fire
o The wind:
 could be the breath of God at the time of creation; not only the breath God has breathed but also the breeze that was on the waters;
 could be also the presence of God as we see in the Old Testament: God appears in the form of the wind;
 could be also the force that can sweep away everything so that there is a space for the new beginning/new creation;
o the fire:
 could be the presence of the Father YHWH who was amidst the people of Israel to guide them in the form of the pillar of the fire;
 could be the descent of God’s blessing and his acceptance in the time of Elijah when the fire came and taken away the offerings (1Kings 18:38 – fire of the Lord);
 could be also the substance that can burn everything so that there is a possibility for the new blossom and new start;
o Holy Spirit is the Wind that can blow away what is Old and what is existing and create the occasion for the New Creation; Holy Spirit is the Fire that can burn what is filthy and impure and create the possibility for the New Being.
- Pentecost is the language of the heart/soul: gift of tongues but one proclamation
o Tower of Bebel and Tower of confusion: there was an instance in the Old Testament in which men, out of their pride and arrogance, wanted to reach God and go above him; for this they wanted to construct a big tower; when God saw this he sent different languages so that they do not understand each other; there was confusion of comprehension and finally they failed to construct what they desired for; their manifestation of pride and power fell to the ground;
o Edifice of New Bebel and Tower of comprehension/the Church: this is the instance which happened with the coming of the Holy Spirit; men of Risen Jesus, out of their docility and meekness, wanted to reach God and his salvation; When God saw them and their desire to be with him he has sent the ‘Person of the Consolation’ who has given them the gift of tongues to speak in different languages not to create confusion but to create communication and communion of the Gospel proclamation; and New Edifice/the Church is constructed; their proclamation has reached to the ends of the earth with everyone understanding it in their own language.
o Not the different language which are more important to understand the mysteries of God and of his salvation for us; but it is the language of the heart and the soul which is important and only this language could lead us to the love of God and the love of neighbor and once again this is also the working of the Holy Spirit.

Second Reading:

- Pauline Pentecost: Holy Spirit is the fountain
o Of Faith: Only He can create in a man the faith in Jesus Christ and only He can make him to call God ‘Abba, Father’ (Rom 8:15-16) and He can only make him to accept and say that “Jesus is the Lord” (1Cor 12:3).
o Of Common Good: only He can generate the common good of the community because he has given each, one particular charisma of manifestation of his proper life; each one is called to the communion of fraternity and we can see this effect immediately and clearly in the first Christian Community who were sharing everything they have for the common good (Acts 2:42ff).
o Of Unity: only He can bring everyone together into the one body and one construction; Christ is the head and we are all members but all make One Body and this is the work of the Spirit to keep up this unity intact. This unity is possible because of the Spirit that all of us have received in the Baptism. And therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Cause of the Unity.

Gospel Reading:

- The First Day of the Week and the Evening of the same day (v.19)
o The First Day theology in St. John’s Gospel:
 First Day is the day in which God has created the world and all that it holds including man; therefore, the beginning of the first creation.
 First Day is the day in which God has made Christ to be risen from the dead and the day of victory over death and evil; therefore, the beginning of new creation/new being.
 Now again the First Day is the day in which Christ has appeared to the disciples to breath them the Holy Spirit; therefore, the beginning of new life in the forgiveness of sins.
o The Evening: the evening is the ‘hour of the Holy Spirit’
 Morning is the ‘hour of the Father’ who has began his creation with the calling of light/the day;
 Noon is the ‘hour of the Son’ who has suffered on the cross and breathed his last and there was a clouds and night;
 Evening is the ‘hour of the Holy Spirit’ who has been given to the disciples by Jesus (v.1) and he has come down on the apostles in the evening because the day was about to end (First reading: Acts 2:1);
 In this way the DAY is the ‘Day of the Trinity’/Day of the Lord and we sing along with the Psalmist that ‘this is the Day that the Lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it.’
- Passage from the fear to the peace:
o Peace is the first gift of the Risen Jesus and this peace is possible and complete with the presence of the Holy Spirit; the disciples who were fearful and afraid of the Jews (v.19) wanted first of all nothing else than the peace and Jesus, who knows each of them well, gives exactly what they for that time needed: the peace and he says ‘peace be with you’ (v.20).
o The mission of ‘the sent’: Jesus is always conscious of his mission of being sent and mission of sending his disciples because the kingdom of God is a ‘mission in growth’ and ‘mission in process’; it has to continue till the consummation of the creation and it happens with the sending of the Holy Spirit; the mission of the Father and the Son is now being transferred/give to the Spirit and the disciples; The disciples are sent to proclaim not as an ‘isolates/isolation’ but with the ‘consolation’ and here is the mission of ‘the sent’ of the Holy Spirit.
- Breathed on them (v.22)
o God has breathed into the nostrils of the first man whom he has created in his image and likeness; he has to be the image of God in the world.
o Christ has breathed onto the first men who were re-created with newness of image and likeness and they have to be the images of Christ and his salvation to the world;
- Holy Spirit and the Sanctification:
o Receive the Holy Spirit (v.22) and the Forgiveness of the Sins (v.23)
o The presence of the Holy Spirit is always connected to the sanctification of man. He calls man into holiness by creating in him the humility to accept his sins and thus gain the forgiveness and thus to be in the state of purity.
o This shows how the Holy Spirit’s presence is very efficacious not only in the Baptism and the Confirmation but also in the sacrament of the Reconciliation; someone would say that to err is human and to forgive is divine; no one can forgive or receive forgiveness unless there is the action of the Holy Spirit.
o With the sanctification and with blowing of the sins (Spirit as a Wind) and with the burning of the old nature (Spirit as a Fire) the recipient of the grace becomes new creation and new being and thus will have New Life/New breath (the perfect and full presence of the Holy Spirit).

Conclusion:

- Proclamation – Profession – Pardon:
o If we have the Holy Spirit in us – we will PROCLAIM the great and marvelous deeds of God (Acts 2:11 – First Reading);
o If we have the Holy Spirit in us – we will PROFESS with the authentic faith that Jesus is the Lord (1Cor 12:3 – Second Reading);
o If we have the Holy Spirit in us – we will PARDON with the fraternal love and we are chosen and sent into the world for that purpose only (John 20:23 – Gospel);
- Thanking the Lord for the GIFT of the HOLY SPIRIT for our sanctification and salvation we will Listen to his Voice in us and live according to him;
- Now we are full of Joy because we are full of the Holy Spirit.