Pastor's Message
PENTECOST SUNDAY
“Then he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20.22
Happy Pentecost Sunday to all our Parishioners. Pentecost is great celebration of the descending of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Christ. It is a Solemnity in which, we rejoice in the reality of being encountered by the Holy Spirit. This is the Promise of Jesus; “I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)
Jesus, clearly explains the role of the Holy Spirit in us; “When the Spirit comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all Truth.” (John 16:13)
Pentecost is the fulfillment of the promise of Christ before his Ascension; “Before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit … you shall receive Power when the Holy Spirit come upon you” (Acts 1:5,8).
In the Gospel Reading today, John the Evangelist reveals the Spirit, first, and foremost as the Creator Spirit. Apostle John makes Pentecost the Feast of the New Creation.
As in the Genesis, in the Creation of Adam, when God created us in his own image and breathed into our nostrils the “Breath of Life;” Jesus used the same gesture and breathed into his disciples the breath of life and said “Receive the Holy Spirit.” With the Breath, the Disciple received the Essence of the Risen Lord: The Spirit of God, the Life of God thus re-creating them anew, as a Community of Believers; the New Israel, The Church.
Luke the evangelist too, in the 1st Reading reveals the effects of the Creator Spirit as a Creation of a new people of God but instead of basing it on the Genesis he evoked the Exodus; the occurrence on Mount Sinai where God revealed himself to the People of Israel and granted them his Covenant.
Keep in mind that Pentecost happened 50 days after Easter and in the Jewish Calendar, 50 days after the Passover marked the Feast of the Weeks (Shavuot), the Feast of the Covenant, the day Israel thanked God for giving the Law to Moses; making Israel a Nation, Luke presents Pentecost as the “New Sinai,” Where the Gift of the Covenant given to Israel was extended to all the Temples of the Earth.
And the Fruit of Life in the Holy Spirit is Immediate and Clear! The outpouring of the Holy Spirit reversed the Curse of Babel! In Genesis 11, God had descended and confused the tongue of humanity, resulting in many languages that led to misunderstanding that rendered the construction of the Tower impossible. We read; “The Lord confused their speech and it was from that place, God scattered them all over the earth” (Gen 11:9).
At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit endows Humanity with His Grace of Unity, that crushed the barriers that render communication impossible, thus establishing a Divine chance for harmony again!
Brothers and Sisters, we can then give an answer, to the question of the visitors in Jerusalem! “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear them, each of us in our own language?”
The Power of the Spirit of God is the unifier, who transforms weak human beings into Courageous Witnesses and Instruments of his Mission! He expels, all Anxiety and Fear - the Worst enemies of the Soul!
You can admire the transformation in Peter, the Apostle! Who was unable to stand for Christ in his Passion and Death, yet we hear him on his feet preaching; “Men of Israel, Jesus the Nazarene was a man commended to you by God, … You took him and had him Crucified but God raised him to Life.”
Brothers and Sisters, we have received the Spirit of God whom Jesus called Our Advocate, the Consoler, the Sanctifier!”
This Holy Spirit empowers us, in the silence of our hearts and guides us amid many doubts, fears and confusion, helping us to retain Faith and Hope in God our Father. As we gather now as a worshiping community, the Holy Spirit renders the “Ascended Christ” present among us, especially in the Eucharist.
May this Holy Spirit give us courage to be witnesses of God’s Love to the People we live among.
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