PENTECOST SUNDAY
31 MAY 2020
On
Easter Sunday, we heard this Gospel. The
risen Christ breaks through the locked doors of the upper room, where his
disciples are huddled in fear. They are
afraid of the Jewish authorities who killed their leader. Would those authorities now come for
them? But, they might also be afraid of
a particular Jew, who had been their leader.
If he is truly raised from the dead, as Mary Magdalene alleges, he would
surely be upset with them for abandoning him in his darkest hour. But he breaks through those locked doors,
shows them the wounds on his glorified body, and gives them the gift of
peace. He forgives them for their
cowardly behavior. His gift of peace is
a gift that the world cannot give.
On this,
the last day of the Easter Season, we hear the same Gospel. On Pentecost, we focus on the risen Lord
giving them another gift. In breathing
on them, he gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Centuries before, the prophet Elijah had
encountered God in a tiny whispering sound on Mount Sinai. With God’s strength, he mustered the courage
to continue his prophetic mission in the face of opposition and death
threats. Now the risen Christ breathes
on his disciples and empowers them to grant that same mercy and forgiveness to
everyone else.
In the Acts
of the Apostles, Saint Luke gives a different account of the gift of the Holy
Spirit. He recalls an earlier encounter
between God and the Israelites at Mount Sinai in their journey from slavery in
Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land.
Under the leadership of Moses, the people experienced God in dramatic
signs: an earthquake, thunder,
lightning, and a mighty wind. Similar
dramatic signs accompany the giving of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles gathered
in the upper room. Driven quite
literally out of their comfort zone, they proclaim the Good News of Salvation
to their Jewish brothers and sisters on the fiftieth day after the Feast of
Passover. Even though the large crowd
includes people from many different cultures who speak many different languages,
they understand the message clearly.
Today is
the birthday of the Church. As members
of Christ’s body, we open ourselves to new ways in which the Holy Spirit is
given to us. Sometimes the Holy Spirit nudges
us to move out of our comfort zones and be more intentional about being
effective evangelists. So many times,
the Holy Spirit gently gives us the courage to undertake tasks that we think
are beyond our abilities. At other
times, the Holy Spirit is much more forceful in pushing us to be reconciled
with alienated family members. The Holy
Spirit can fire us with the zeal to tear down the walls of hatred or racism
that we have built around ourselves.
Whether we
experience the Holy Spirit as a gentle breath or powerful gusts of wind with
tongues of fire, the Holy Spirit is given to us as members of the Body of
Christ. Just as there were many
different gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Church at Corinth, so there are many
different and varied gifts in our parish community. In that community, the variety of gifts
caused many divisions and arguments.
Some argued that their gifts were better than others, making them
superior members of the Christian community.
Instead of allowing the gifts of the Holy Spirit bring them closer
together, they used the gifts to further emphasize their differences.
Just as
Saint Paul reminded the Corinthians that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given
for the common good, so he says the same for us. We are gingerly emerging from our isolation
to realize how important this community is for all of us. We need to discern through our prayer the
individual gifts which the Holy Spirit has given to each of us. We need to trust that the Holy Spirit will
give us the courage to place those gifts at the service of this parish
community to help us recover from the time spent apart.
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