PENTECOST SUNDAY
8 JUNE 2025
Today we hear
two different versions of the gift of the Holy Spirit. In the Acts of the Apostles, Saint Luke presents
the Holy Spirit given to the disciples of Jesus on the Jewish Feast of
Pentecost, celebrated fifty days after the Passover. Faithful Jews would travel from all around
the Mediterranean Sea to celebrate the giving of the Law through Moses on Mount
Sinai. They would recall the display of
God’s might in the strong driving wind.
They would speak of the signs of God’s presence in the burning bush
calling Moses to lead his people out of slavery. They would remember God leading his people
through the desert in a pillar of fire.
Saint Luke
places the giving of the Holy Spirit on the fiftieth day after the Passover of
Jesus from death into resurrected life. Luke
connects the giving of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem with the giving of the Law
on Mount Sinai. The disciples are in one
place where a noise like a strong driving wind fills the entire house. Tongues as of fire appear and come to rest on
each of them. They receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit that fulfills all the expectations of the giving of the Law at
Mount Sinai. Instead of being unable to
communicate at the Tower of Babel, they speak so that Jews of every nationality
and language can understand them. The
gift of the Law had guided the twelve tribes of Israel in their passing in the
desert from slavery into freedom. The gift of the Holy Spirit now guides all
who have come to believe in the Lord’s passing from death into life. It is the birthday of the Church, built on
the witness of the twelve apostles.
In the
Gospel, Saint John describes the giving of the Holy Spirit in a different
way. The disciples lock themselves in
one place out of fear following the death of their friend and master. On that first day of the week, the risen Lord
has appeared to Mary Magdalene, who had come to the tomb in the darkness of
that morning. On that same day, he
breaks through the locked doors in the darkness of the evening. Instead of yelling at them for abandoning him
in his darkest hour, he gives them the gift of peace. Transformed in the resurrection, he shows
them his hands and his side, bearing those same wounds of his crucified body. When they recognize him, he gives them the
gift of peace again. Instead of a mighty
wind, he breathes on them and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit. He sends them out in the power of the Holy
Spirit to give that same gift of peace and mercy to all whom they will
encounter.
On this
fiftieth day after we have celebrated the Passover over of Jesus Christ from
death into life, we are given the same gift of the Holy Spirit. As the Pentecost Sequence assures us, we too
are connected with the Father of the poor to reach out to the poor. In our labor, the Holy Spirit gives us rest
in our labor, coolness in the heat, and solace in the midst of woe. The Holy Spirit is truly our blessed light
divine, healing our wounds, renewing our strength, and washing the stains of
guilt away. The Holy Spirit bends our
stubborn hearts and wills, melts the frozen and warms the chill. The Holy Spirit guides the steps that go astray.
The Holy
Spirit can accomplish these incredible actions through us if we are willing to
surrender ourselves and be open to the Holy Spirit’s presence in our
lives. Jesus fulfills the Law of Moses
by giving his entire life for us and by commanding that we love God and
neighbor as ourselves. That law is both
very simple and very demanding, requiring the gift of ourselves in the service
of others. We can love others as Christ
has loved us. In the process, Christ
loves us in living his law. Ask anyone
who has ever participated in a twelve-step program. Despite our weakness, our brokenness, and our
attraction to sin, we can do this! But we
can do it only in surrendering to the power of the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of the faithful.
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