Pentecost Sunday 5/6/2022 Jn 14, 15-16,23-26
We are today on the Pentecost Sunday, the day the Apostles received the gift of the Holy Spirit as Jesus had promised.
Everyone likes receiving a gift.
When we give something to someone because we think that they may need it. They may be happy with it. It depends on its value, and also the way to receive or give it. But the only purpose of the gift is the happiness of the person who receives it.
We celebrate today the feast of Pentecost. It is the celebration of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church. The story of Pentecost is found in the Acts of the Apostles, as we heard in the first reading. We celebrate this solemnity fifty (50) days after Easter as the fullness of Easter itself. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the strength of faith that we may have.
Pentecost is the celebration of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It marks the beginning and the birth of the public life of the Church.
As we give something to someone because we think that they may need it. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit for the same purpose. We heard in the Acts of the Apostles. The apostles stay in the room upstairs to pray. This time the acts do not mention that “because of their fear of the Jew” but it was still there. They did not understand, not dare to go out to preach what they saw and heard from the Risen Lord. Jesus promised the gift of the Holy Spirit who would “come and teach them everything” Jn 14,26.
They need the Holy Spirit to teach them and remind them all of what Jesus had done. As we heard in the Acts of the Apostle 1, 6 they asked him “ Is it now that you will restore the Kingdom of Israel? They don’t understand Jesus’ teaching and his mission even after his resurrection.
That is also our need. The Spirit teaches us to know God better, to recognize His presence and action in the little things. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to pray as sons and daughters of God. It makes us cry out “ Abba, Father”
The Holy Spirit came upon Mary and it turned her life upside down. The Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles, they left their fears and went out to preach the Good News. Today Pope Francis invites the Church to go out and we don't know what to do with it. Let us ask for light and strength from the Spirit of God.
The gift is always free and we think that it makes them happy. It does not depend on how much? Rather than our love for them. The love of God is free, he gave us his only Son, and He gave us his Holy Spirit. Last Sunday, Jesus pray to the Father for his disciples to love one another, to become one as the Father and the Son. Today, Jesus tells us to keep his commandments, the commandment of love. So the Son and The Father will dwell in our hearts, our family, and our community. “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words.” When we love one another the Kingdome of God is there, the heaven is there in our life. And the Holy Spirit will tell us to do what is good and pleases God. The gift of the Holy Spirit is the guidance for our happiness not only for this world but also for the life to come.
May the gift of the Holy Spirit help us to understand, listen and discern our Christian life. May the love of God by the gift of the Holy Spirit transform our life.