PENTECOST
SUNDAY (2022, Year C)
(Acts
2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23)
No one can say, “Jesus is
Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, those words of St.
Paul are special to me not only because of what they express but also because
of what they embrace. Jesus had said
earlier (John 6:44):
No one can come to Me unless
the Father Who sent Me draw him;
and so, we now know that no one can come to Jesus and learn
from Him unless the Father first of all draws him, and then the Holy Spirit
enables him to say “Jesus is Lord”. That
is, the goodness of the Father draws us to Jesus in order that subsequently,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, we might confess and proclaim, Him.
The Father does not draw anyone to Jesus and just leave it
at that. The Father, the Son (the Word of God), and the Holy Spirit, are One for
Jesus the incarnate Word: the Father draws us to Jesus that we might, as
true disciples, learn by the Holy Spirit to confess Jesus as both Lord (God) and
Saviour.
Now, all that is mirrored in Jesus’ very first words to the
disciples after having risen from the dead, and while they were still keeping
behind locked doors for fear of the Jews:
Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you: receive
the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive
are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.
In that way the Risen Lord showed Himself to be indeed the
Lord and Master they had lovingly known and obediently followed; and He now confirmed
His identity by means of the wounds of His body and the words of His mind and
heart …. There was no room for doubt after such testimony!
‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ … such was to be their personal
endowment when Jesus Himself would no longer be with them (Jn. 14:16-17):
I will ask the Father, and He will give
you another Helper to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, Whom the world
cannot accept, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him because He abides with you (in
Mother Church), and will be in you (personally as true disciples).
Thus the gift of the Spirit was for their sanctification and
peace in Mother Church and for their personal guidance, strength, and comfort as
disciples of the Lord. There was also,
however, to be a special dispensation for them as Apostles: the Holy Spirit would
inspire, support, and sustain their endeavours for the continuation of Jesus’ public
ministry by their world-wide proclamation of Jesus’ Gospel of Salvation, and the
Apostolic establishment of Mother Church as citadel and source of sacramental life
and divine truth:
I have told you this while I
am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father
will send in My name — He will teach you everything and remind you of all that
(I) told you. (14:25-26)
They had to wait and pray in Jerusalem for a short while
before receiving that promised gift of the Spirit … praying with Mary above all,
and looking back to those days, months, and few years spent with the Lord: thinking
over all that He had said and done in their presence, and wondering where the
Spirit might lead them for Jesus’ glory.
When the time for Pentecost
was fulfilled, they were all in one place together, and suddenly there came
from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house
in which they were. Then there
appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one
of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled
them to proclaim.
Whom, what, did they proclaim? The mighty acts of God manifested in Jesus,
and proclaimed in the Good News of Jesus!
You knew that of course; but notice how they proclaimed Jesus: IN
THE SPIRIT!
Mother Church has never proclaimed Jesus merely as One attested
by trustworthy historical records; her memory of Him is also and has always
been her abiding experience of Him as the living Lord in heaven, and our loving
Saviour still present to and working with His Church on earth through His most
Holy Spirit. And what exultation must
have thrilled the hearts and minds of the Apostles when the Spirit came upon them
in the presence of the assembled Church for the very first time, to inaugurate
that abiding presence and power!
Now there were devout Jews
from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large
crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own
language. They were astounded, and in
amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking
Galileans? Then how does each of us hear
them in his own native language? We are
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of
Libya near Cyrene, as well as travellers from Rome, both Jews and converts to
Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the
mighty acts of God.” They were all
astounded and bewildered, and said to one another, “What does this mean?”
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us give heart-felt
thanks for, and lovingly meditate on, God’s Gift of the Holy Spirit Who
is ours in a truly special way on this most holy day in Mother Church, for there
is supreme comfort, confidence, and joy for us in the presence of the Spirit.
Above all, He is the Advocate, Strength, Light, and inalienable
Hope and Peace of Mother Church, for He abides in her; but also, there
is comfort in the Spirit for all true disciples wanting to know, seeking to
serve, and longing to experience, Jesus as their very own Lord and Saviour. Only
the most Holy Spirit can lead us, in conformity with the Scriptures, along the
ways of Jesus to serve and help fulfil His saving purposes for our world today,
and also to form us individually in the likeness of Jesus that we may find true
joy in a personal relationship with Him.
For what deeper comfort and joy can there be, than that of becoming more
and more one with Jesus, Perfect Man and Perfect God, the most beloved Son of His
God and Father, and of thus discovering ourselves in Him as truly adopted
children of the heavenly Father, fulfilling our deepest personal being and our highest
spiritual aspirations.
But there is yet more, for there is also earthly power and
purpose available for us in the Spirit; because each of us is offered, and can have,
abilities and gifts able to respond to and conspire with such power. All our hopes and aspirations can, in that
way, find true fulfilment in the prospect and purpose the Spirit opens up
before us: all that God has prepared for those who love Him here on earth:
To each individual the
manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the
expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the
same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing
by the one Spirit; to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to
another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another
interpretation of tongues. But one
and the same Spirit produces all of these.
My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ that is yours,
mine, and every faithful Catholic and Christian’s vocation:
To each
individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.
And to discover, re-discover, confirm, and fulfil, that
vocation it is necessary, above all, to let God speak to you; do not
crowd His voice out, do not let His voice be crowded out by activities,
thoughts and/or fears; that is exactly what so many do in order to avoid
hearing God’s voice in their deepest heart and conscience, they are too
busy, too occupied, too worried or fearful, to LISTEN. They use such preoccupations as excuses; but
those are truly foolish and futile excuses, because God most certainly does
speak and can be heard by all who will to listen; and He wants to speak words
of love and salvation to all. To that
end He has given His only-begotten and truly beloved Son Who, by the power and
inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Mary of Nazareth listened to Him!)
became Man … perfect Man. And today, God offers and sends anew His most Holy Spirit to all who will, like Mary, allow
themselves to hear and listen to his words of love and fulfilment, promise and
peace – as calmly and quietly as they can, and with what love they have -- shutting
out, not God this time, but the clamour of self and the world
subject to the devil’s mockery, bombast, and lies.
(2022)
