PENTECOST SUNDAY

            Pentecost

            Today is Pentecost Sunday which we better call the Feast of the Holy Spirit. This feast of Pentecost is a very ancient feast that goes back before Christ. It was one of the most important Jewish feasts. The meaning of the word Pentecost is ‘fiftieth’ and was the fiftieth day after Passover in the Jewish calendar. And original, Pentecost was a harvest feast on which the first fruits were offered in gratitude to God. It later came to be celebrated as the anniversary of the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. For us Christians especially Catholics, this Pentecost feast occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, and we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.

            Pentecost Sunday is always associated with the descent and giving as a gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This Pentecost feast is called also the Birthday of the Church. It is because even though the apostles received the Holy Spirit on Christ’s first appearance to them after His resurrection as we heard it in the gospel, but it was on Pentecost day this descent of the Holy Spirit became a public manifestation by which the crowds were amazed at the preaching of the apostles because it was heard in different languages.

            Since today is the feast of the coming of the Holy Spirit to apostles and to us too, let us talk about the Holy Spirit in order to have a better understanding of this Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. Holy Spirit is the proper name of the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is a true God just like the Father and the Son. He is a Person, distinct from the Father and distinct from the Son. This name is frequently used in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Epistles. When Jesus proclaims and promises the coming of the Holy Spirit, he calls Him the “Paraclete” meaning the defender, and commonly translated as “Consoler”. He is the Advocate since He is a witness for the defense on behalf of Christ and assisting the disciples testifying for the Lord. Jesus also calls Him the “Spirit of truth.” St. Paul addresses Him as the “Spirit of the promise, the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of God”. St. Peter also called Him as the “Spirit of glory” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 691-693).  

            Seeing all these names for the Holy Spirit, there is a need to ask ourselves: what is Pentecost for us? Pentecost is not just the celebration of a past event when the Spirit descended on the Apostles. Pentecost is the celebration of God's manifestation in a hidden way, silent and simply way in our daily life. As Christians we receive the Holy Spirit first at the moment of our baptism, more fully at our confirmation, infusing in us his gifts together with sanctifying grace and the three theological virtues of faith, hope and love. The Holy Spirit gives to us His seven gifts of: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. Also, this Holy Spirit gives to us the twelve fruits of these seven gifts, namely: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, forbearance, meekness, fidelity, modesty, continence and chastity (cf. Gal 5:16-25). Without the Holy Spirit, nobody can believe or hope or repent his/her sins. Without the Holy Spirit there is no Christian life. The Holy Spirit is the giver of life.

            The celebration of this feast of Pentecost invites us to reflect on how we participate in Christ's mission of transforming the world into a better place for living. How is the Holy Spirit whom we received on baptism and confirmation, effective in our lives? Pentecost tells us that God needs us to cooperate with Him in the transformation of the world.  It is not enough to have faith in the power of the Spirit; our faith must blossom into works.

            Pentecost, on the other hand, brings all peoples together and reunifies them under one universal family. This universal family embracing all races and nationalities is called church. Today is our personal Pentecost.  Today the Holy Spirit comes upon each and every one of us as He does every day, to strengthen us and enable us to go out into the world and proclaim the Gospel.  Just as Mary and the apostles, we are filled with the Holy Spirit and we are the Church.  Jesus promised that He would not leave us alone, but would send the Holy Spirit to be with us always. It remains our task as Church today to proclaim God's love.