On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended with power upon the Apostles in
the image of tongues of fire and thus began the mission of the Church in the world.
Once they received the Spirit, they went out boldly and preached to all in Jerusalem
and elsewhere. Today is also the birthday of the Church. The Church is basically that
community and complex of communities spread all over the world which is continuing
the visible presence of God and his work by living openly in the Spirit of Jesus and
offering its experience of knowing Christ to the world. During his apparitions Jesus
gives two gifts to his followers, the gift of his abiding peace and the power to forgive
sins. He commissions them to carry on his work, empowered by the gift of the Holy
Spirit. The Holy Spirit will continue to teach them the message of Jesus Pentecost
which means fiftieth was the second of three most important Jewish Feasts. For the
Jews it was a day of gratitude and a day of thanksgiving for the completion of the
harvest. It occurred seven weeks after the Passover and on this day the first fruits
of the wheat crop were offered to God. On this day the Spirit came down on the Disciples
and the church was born. On this fiftieth day after the resurrection a great transformation
took place in the small group of disciples. At this time people had come to Jerusalem
from every nation to express their harvest gratitude. They spoke different languages;
they came with different intentions; they had different motives. All are aware how
difficult it is to learn another language. Yet we are told that these disciples spoke
freely in different languages and people, coming from various nations, understood
them perfectly. It is the hearers and not the speakers who make this claim. This
was the novel experience of the new harvest, Pentecost. The Gospel from John
presents us with a different account of the coming of the Spirit. It was Easter Sunday.
The disciples were locked into the house, terrified of the authorities. Suddenly the
risen Jesus was there among them. "Peace with you," was his greeting. It was both
a wish and a statement. Where Jesus is present there is peace. The presence of Jesus
in our lives always brings peace and removes our anxieties and fears. Then he gave
them their mission: "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." The mission given
to the apostles in which we share was exactly the same as His. He then breathed on
them. He gave them the Holy Spirit as the Gift of God. The breathing symbolizes the
Spirit of God and of Jesus. So he said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." With the
giving of the Spirit came also the authority to speak and act in the name of Jesus
and forgive sins. This was not just a reference to the Sacrament of Reconciliation
and the power to forgive sin. Forgiving sin, reconciling people with God has been
the very core of the work of Christ and the Christian mission. The disciples are now
the Body of Christ, the ongoing visible presence of Christ in the world. In today's
First Reading from The Acts of the Apostles we find that the apostles spent their
time in prayer. In obedience to Jesus, the disciples gathered together in Jerusalem
and experienced the divine sign. The disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit
on Pentecost Day. It was like the repetition of the first creation where breath of
God gave life. The arrival of the Holy Spirit was accompanied with a sound like the
rush of a violent wind. So powerful was the sound that it was also heard by devout
Jews from every nation under heaven who were living in Jerusalem. It is interesting
to note here that not everybody heard the sound, only the "devout" Jews. The non-
believers and those who are indifferent to their living faith were not receptive to
the grace of God and the manifested power of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit
arrived in the form of divided tongues, as of fire, rested on each of the disciples.
This is the Biblical sign of the divine presence. They were filled with the Holy
Spirit and spoke in other languages and could reach anywhere through their message.
Today's Second Reading from the Letters to the Galatians reminds us how the persons
baptized for Christ should conduct themselves once they have received the gift of
the Holy Spirit during the Sacrament of Confirmation. They are called to embrace the
spiritual ways of the spirit. They are called to live a holy life as children of God.
He enumerates the nine gifts that the Spirit produces in the Christians. These are
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
In the Gospel of today Jesus tells us that when the Advocate comes, whom the Lord
will send to his disciples from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the
Father, he will testify on behalf of Jesus. An Advocate as we understand is like an
honest lawyer who defends and supports someone's cause. He is a true champion who
encourages, supports and upholds the rights of the person. This description of the
Holy Spirit as an Advocate perfectly described His personal interest in our spiritual
well-being. The Holy Spirit always pleads for us to receive the graces, the Father
will shower on us. The Gospel passage taken from the last discourse of Jesus at
the Last Supper continues with the instructions of Jesus to the disciples, as he tells
them that they are to testify because they have been with him from the beginning.
They had lived with him, shared his life and his ministry, they had listened to his
teachings, taken part in his miracles, were the witnesses to his life, sufferings
and death. They had now experienced the glory of his resurrection. When taking the
entire context of the instructions that Jesus was giving, it is realized that these
specific instructions were given to his disciples who were called to administer on
earth the Catholic Church that Jesus had just instituted. When Jesus said that the
Spirit of truth will guide you into all the truth, this particular reference was meant
for the apostles and to the early Church. Further Jesus said that he the Spirit will
not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears. The church tells us of
the seven gifts of the Spirit. The Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are the following:
Wisdom - desire for the things of God, and to direct our whole life and all our actions
to his honor and glory. Here we see God at work in our lives and in the world. Second,
Understanding - enables us to know more clearly the mysteries of faith. It perfects
a person's speculative reason in the apprehension of truth. Third, Counsel - warns
us of the deceits of the evil one, and of the dangers to salvation. With the gift
of right judgment, we know the difference between right and wrong, and we choose to
do what is right. Fourth, Fortitude (courage) - With the gift of courage, we overcome
our fear and are willing to take risks as a follower of Jesus Christ. It strengthens
us to do the will of God in all things. Fifth, Knowledge - With the gift of knowledge,
the Spirit enables us to discover the will of God in all things. Sixth, Piety (Reverence)
- With the gift of reverence, sometimes called piety, we have a deep sense of respect
for God and the church. And finally the seventh, Fear of the Lord (awe of God) - With
the gift of wonder, prayerful respect and awe we are aware of the glory and majesty
of God. A person with such awe and wonder has perfect knowledge, perfect goodness,
perfect power, and perfect love. The feast of Pentecost rounds off the tremendous
mysteries that we have been commemorating since Holy Week - the Passion, the Death,
the Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus. This feast culminates in the sending of
the Spirit of the Father and the Son on his disciples. This feast indicates the extraordinary
intervention of God into our lives by which Jesus makes us partakers in the mystery
of the Trinity. Today's feast indicates that it is an on-going reality, which still
touches our lives every single day. This week, let us reflect upon the purpose of
the Holy Spirit in the Church. He can guide and teach us according to the purpose
for which he has been sent. Through the power of the Spirit we ask for the grace to
be forgiven and the grace to forgive others. Today Jesus fills us with the same Spirit
to send us out on his mission to preach, reconcile and to heal. Gordon Brownville's Symbols
of the Holy Spirit tells about the great Norwegian explorer Ronald Amundsen, the
first to discover the magnetic meridian of the North Pole and to discover the South
Pole. On one of his trips, Amundsen took a homing pigeon with him. When he had finally
reached the top of the world, he opened the bird's cage and set it free. Imagine the
delight of Amundsen's wife, back in Norway, when she looked up from the doorway of
her home and saw the pigeon circling in the sky above. No doubt she exclaimed, "He's
alive! My husband is still alive!" So it was when Jesus ascended. He was gone,
but the disciples clung to his promise to send them the Holy Spirit. What joy, then,
when the dovelike Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost. The disciples had with them
the continual reminder that Jesus was alive and victorious at the right of the Father.
This continues to be the Spirit's message.