This gospel was read already as part of the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Easter. On that occasion we stressed the giving of the Spirit to the apostles specially for the forgiveness of sins. Today we can stress the giving of the Spirit to them for their mission, their sending, because Jesus said to them “As the Father sent me, I am sending you”. And before he left them he told them to go out into the whole world and make disciples and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. He told them too that he wanted them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and even to the ends of the earth and for that they would need the teaching and the strength of the Spirit. And it is clear from the Acts of the Apostles that once the Holy Spirit had come on them they began to go out and preach and never stopped. First they went out from that upper room, where they were hiding for fear of the Jews, into the streets of Jerusalem and began to preach to the great number of Jews from Palestine and all parts of the Roman Empire who had gathered in Jerusalem for the feast. When the persecution started some of the Christians left Jerusalem and went into Judea and Samaria. Especially after the conversion of St. Paul they began to leave Palestine and to preach in the pagan towns of the Roman Empire, in Asia Minor and in Greece and even as far as Rome. All the time they are guided and supported in their work by the Holy Spirit. The feast of Pentecost brings to an end the four liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter that recall to our minds the saving plan of God the Father, the saving work of God the Son in his life and death and resurrection, and the saving work of God the Holy Spirit in all those who believe in Jesus and the bringing to faith over the years of people who as yet do not know him, through the witness of those who already believe. Today we are reminded of our own responsibility as Christians to be witnesses to Christ and bring other people to him by our words and example. He says to us “As the Father sent me, I also send you”. We too are his apostles, that means “People who are sent”. We are to preach his message by the high quality of our Christian lives. We fail in our responsibility because the quality of our Christian lives is not very high. We need to be Christlike people and we therefore must allow ourselves to be possessed by the Spirit of Christ and controlled by him.
Pentecost means “Fiftieth” and today is so called because it is the fiftieth day after the Passover. Pentecost was the second of the three most important Jewish feasts. It was first a feast of thanksgiving for the harvest and the new grain was offered to God on that day. Later it became also the feast that commemorated God’s giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Because it was one of the big days when all Jewish men were expected to try to go to Jerusalem and worship in the Temple, Jerusalem was usually crowded with hundreds of Jews who had come from cities all over the Roman Empire. There were also “proselytes” amongst them. These were people who were formerly Gentiles, pagans, and had been converted to the Jewish faith. There could not have been a more suitable day for the Spirit to come on the first followers of Jesus and give them the light and the power to be his witnesses. As the Jewish Passover had become the Christian Passover by the death and resurrection of Jesus, so the Jewish Pentecost became the Christian Pentecost by the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had promised his followers that the Spirit would come as the light that would show them the truth and as the power that would make them strong. As his witnesses they would need light to understand the mystery of salvation through Christ and they would need strength to preach courageously against all opposition Then the Spirit came he came in the form of light, because flames rested on the heads of those who received him, and in the form of power, because there was the sound of a strong wind blowing. Remember Spirit comes from the word meaning “breeze” or “blow” and it is a suitable way of describing the Holy Spirit, because the wind is invisible, but we can always see the effects of its power.
Paul speaks here of the gifts of the Holy Spirit which were very evident in the early church. These gifts are given not for the glory of the individual to whom they are given, but to help him to play a part in the service and for the building up of the Christian community in a particular place. The first verse of the reading is Paul’s way of expressing the first gift of the Holy Spirit which must be conformity with true Christian faith. Moreover, all the gifts given to the new Christians come from the same Holy Spirit and that is a reason why no one has any right to boast that he has a better gift than his neighbour, no one can claim the gift as his own, no one can refuse to use the gift, everyone must use the gift he has for the good of the community to which he belongs. The Christian community is the Body of Christ, and the members of the Christian community are all different like the parts of a person’s body. One part of the body uses its own kind of power to do its own work and all the other parts of the body use their own power to do their own work so that the whole body may function well. So it is with the Christian community. Different kinds of people, with all their different gifts of mind and character and body all do their part and at the same time all work with all the others to make an active Christian community. All the members receive their gifts from the Spirit and all most use their gifts under the direction of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit were very evident in the early church, have been evident throughout the history of the church and are evident again in our own day. Pope John XXIII prayed that in our days there would be a new outpouring of the Spirit as at the first Pentecost. Each one of us needs to pray that the Holy Spirit will work in us in a new way and in other people, that the Christian life throughout the parish may become better. May the prayers of those who have taken part in the Novena bear fruit.
Kefa W. MHM
What you’ll find here is my personal reflection on Scripture. I don’t claim to have all the answers, only a sincere desire to seek truth. Some of the references used are drawn from past study and experience, and I may no longer be able to recall all their exact sources. This reflection is not intended to establish official doctrine, theology, or official teaching. Feel free to leave your comments or personal reflections below as we continue to grow deeper together in the Word of God. I’ll see you next Sunday.
