On this last Sunday of the Easter season, we observe and celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost.
Our first reading, from the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles, gives us a description of the original Pentecost event.
What our images of the Holy Spirit? Perhaps we may be inclined to think about a dove, a dove that descended upon Jesus in the day of his baptism. We might also think of water, when in the Gospel of John, Jesus says that springs of living water will flow, and by this, he meant the Spirit. Still, let us not forget that, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came upon Mary, the Apostles and others gathered with them in the form of wind and flame. A wind and flame that shook the whole house, from the foundation to the rafters. There is great dynamis, great dynamism, great energy in the Holy Spirit, and yet, it is an energy that does not destroy. It is not an out of control force, like the fire that destroyed the RV in the middle of town on Saturday afternoon. No, the Holy Spirit is an energy that builds up, constructs and gives growth.
Note also that the people gathered in Jerusalem noticed that something extraordinary was going on because they heard their own native tongue. Have you ever been in a foreign country for an extended period of time? If you have, then perhaps this has happened to you – you’re out shopping, or on the bus, or at a public event, and suddenly, your ears perk up, because you hear someone speaking in the language of your native land. This is more or less what happened at Pentecost – except that the pilgrims, the devout Jews, who came to Jerusalem did not only hear one, two or three languages being spoken - they heard numerous tongues. They heard the great wonders of God proclaimed in their mother tongue.
The Homiletic Directory links Easter and Pentecost, and puts it this way: “Easter is Pentecost. Easter is already the gift of the Holy Spirit. But Pentecost is the convincing manifestation of Easter to all the nations, uniting many tongues in one new language of understanding”(Homiletic Directory, Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 56).
How do we participate in Pentecost today? The Directory gives us a suggestion: “The reception of Holy Communion by the faithful on that day becomes the Pentecost event for them…The scriptural verses find their fulfillment in the faithful receiving the Eucharist. Eucharist is Pentecost” (Homiletic Directory, 56).
Our second reading gives us some food for thought on what the fruits of the Holy Spirit, what are the effects of the Holy Spirit We hear of gifts, services, activities, various members – and all work for the common good. The charisms of the Holy Spirit are personal gifts, but they are not for private benefit. They build up the body of Christ, which is the Church. We can really ask ourselves, what are the talents that I can bring to build up this church, this parish?
Finally, as the Gospel recounts, as the Father sent Jesus, so we too are sent, on mission. The energy that we are given by the Holy Spirit is not the energy that destroys or cuts down. While there will be times when we will need to rebuke someone, far more often we are asked to help someone grow in faith, in morals, in understanding. Patient endurance and steadfastness is more effective than a righteous outburst.
Finally, as we speak of Pentecost, we need to include the figure of Mary, the Mother of God. We read in Lumen Gentium of Vatican II: “But since it has pleased God not to manifest solemnly the mystery of the salvation of the human race before He would pour forth the Spirit promised by Christ, we see the apostles before the day of Pentecost ‘persevering with one mind in prayer with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren’…and Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation” (Lumen Gentium, 59). Mary, with her prayer, is asking for the gift of the Holy Spirit. She did so at Pentecost, she also does so today – Mary asks that the Holy Spirit come into hearts, homes, marriages, families, workplaces and parishes of this land. We would be wise to ask her intercession, as we pray for the man who will be the new Bishop of Pembroke. Let us also ask Mary that the Holy Spirit come upon this land – the Madawaska Valley – and its people, who are facing their own struggles and joys, difficulties and success stories, their sin, and their virtue. As we sung in the Alleluia verse: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love”.
(Fr. Pawel Ratjczak, OMI, June 9, 2019)
