The Solemnity of Pentecost
Today, the Church celebrates Pentecost (Greek “pentekoste” = “fiftieth”): 50 days after Easter Sunday and the birthday of the Church (happy birthday to you who are part of the body of Christ, the Church)! At Pentecost, Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (CCC 731). God is love, and love is his first gift, containing all others. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (CCC 733) to love as God has loved us (CCC 735).
In Acts 2:1-13, the apostles were in the Upper Room when a sound like the rush of a violent wind filled the entire house where they were sitting, a tongue of fire resting on each of them. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit! They began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them, preaching to the diverse crowds who, amazingly, heard them speaking in their native languages.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of love, who calls us to communion and mission, and who gives us the gifts we need for the good of the Church. In today’s first reading from Genesis of the Tower of Babel, the diverse language of the people was what scattered and divided them. Yet on Pentecost, this was a gift of the Spirit for communion!
Acts 2 continues with Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preaching his first sermon to the Jews and non-believers where thereafter, about 3,000 were baptised. The Spirit grafts us onto the true vine, allowing us to be close to Him, to bear the fruits of the Spirit so that we may walk by the Spirit (CCC 736). Our celebration today of the Spirit’s descent invites us outward, to be an evangelistic and missionary Church. It invites us to recognise the gifts the Spirit has blessed us with for His purpose, not with pride or false humility, but with great faith and gratitude.
The mission the Lord calls us to anew today is not an addition to Christ’s, but is its sacrament: the Church is sent to announce, bear witness, make present, and spread the mystery of the communion of the Holy Trinity (CCC 738).
In my life, I see how the Holy Spirit has been my Advocate: He who leads me, teaches me what to say, and guides my disposition! The last year has been one of rapid change, where I often felt I had barely settled into the new season by the time I was thrust into the newer one. Yet, the Spirit continued to animate me with His joy and He opened my heart to recognise His presence in my day whatever it looked like. The Holy Spirit gently taught me what it means to be on mission in the ordinary, to simply love as God has loved me wherever He’s placed me, and to live this out in my everyday life.
Pentecost is our present reality; the same Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts and guides us. May we, like the Apostles, receive the Spirit and exercise our gifts courageously and faithfully, proclaiming the Good News to all nations. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful!