(1.Acts 2:1-11. Psalm 104:1,24,29-31,34. 2. Gal. 5:16-25. Gospel John 15:26-27,16:12-15.)
Theme: That you may renew the face of the earth
The word Pentecost comes from the Greek pentekoste meaning fiftieth (50th).
It was a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover feast
by Jews, and now celebrated on the 50th day after the Resurrection
of Jesus by the Christians. Originally, Pentecost was a post-harvest
thanksgiving feast and one of the major feasts of the Jews alongside Passover
and the feast of the Tabernacles. During these three great Jewish festivals,
every male Jew living within twenty miles from Jerusalem was legally bound to
go to Jerusalem to participate in the feast. For Christians, on the other hand,
Pentecost is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles
and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues. The feast also commemorates
the official inauguration of the Christian Church by the apostolic preaching of
St. Peter, which resulted in the conversion of 3000 Jews to the Christian
faith.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Blessed
Trinity whose presence is felt by the actions and the works He does. Some Bible
readers assume that the Spirit’s activity in the Scripture is limited to the
New Testament but He is actually as active in the Old Testament. At the
creation of the world, the Spirit was there with the father and the Son and
thus participated in the creation of man: “come let us make man in our own
image and likeness” [Gen.1:26]. Again, the book of Genesis records that the
Spirit of God was hovering over the waters [Gen. 1:2]. After the creation of
man, God endowed him with life by breathing into his nostrils the breath of
life, [Gen.7], the word for ‘breath’ is the same word translated elsewhere as ‘Spirit’.
The Spirit came upon certain judges, warriors, and prophets in a way that gave
them extraordinary power; for example:
Joshua [Num.27:18], Othniel [Judg.3:10], Gideon [6:34], Sampson [13:25;
14:16] and Saul [1 Sam. 10:9, 10]. However, the Spirit later departed from Saul
because of his disobedience [1Sam. 16:14]. Ezekiel reported: “the Spirit
entered me when He spoke to me” [Ezek 2:2]. The scripture promised that someday
God would put His Spirit in His people in a way that would cause them to live
according to His statues [Ezek 36:27]. Looking forward to the ministry of Jesus
Christ, the Holy Spirit inspired Isaiah to prophesy: “The Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon Him” [Isaiah 11:12], inspiring God’s chosen one with wisdom,
understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear of the Lord, righteousness and
faithfulness, and Christ in the New Testament was proclaimed to be the
fulfilment of old prophecy [Is. 61:1, Lk. 4:18, 19]
The author of the First Reading (Acts 2:1-11)
presents the account of the descent of the Holy Spirit which appears to differ
from the one presented by John. While Luke in the Acts of the Apostles situates
the descent of the Holy spirit on the Apostles on the 50th day after Easter
which falls on the Pentecost day; John, on the other hand, posits that the Holy
Spirit descended on the Apostles on the day of His resurrection [Jn. 20:22]
However, a close study on both
narratives reveals that they complement each other and teaches us that the
spirit is the New Law which brings about newness of life, the power that
enables human beings to do good and
eventually lead to total transformation that changes and renews the face of the earth.
The feast of Pentecost originated from a very
ancient thanksgiving celebration, in gratitude to God for the yearly harvest
about to be reaped. Later, another motive was added to this day’s celebration
with the remembrance of the promulgation of the law given by God on Mount
Sinai. So when Luke says that the Apostles received the Spirit on Pentecost
day, Luke is teaching us that the Spirit had substituted the New for the Old
Law. With the new heart, Israel would no longer need an external Law; they
would do well by following what was in their heart. So this is what the law of
the heart is. Thus it is like a new heart; God coming into a person and bringing
about a total transformation. So Luke in Acts of the Apostle is not giving us a
sequence of historical facts but trying to explain to us that the Spirit is now
the Christian law and those who allow themselves to be transformed through it,
like the apostles, speak a universal language which everybody hears and
understands and that is the language of love.
Furthermore, Paul in the Second Reading while
writing to the Galatians maintained that anyone who is led by the Spirit has
nothing to fear about the Law because the Spirit strengthens and accompanies
one on the journey in the footstep of Jesus who is the fulfilment of the Old
law. Paul talks about the Holy Spirit as the Spirit that brings about Love,
Joy, Peace etc and warns against self-indulgence which produces bad temper,
fighting, jealousy, cruelty, fornication, and other ugly threats that makes
life miserable. It is good also to remember that the disciples were initially
afraid to speak openly about Christ to the point that they locked up themselves
in a room for the fear of the Jews. But immediately after the descent of the
Spirit on them as Christ promised in the gospel periscope, they became super
human, full of courage and strength, thus the once timid and scared disciples
became emboldened and began to speak of their faith fearlessly.
Based on this, I can humbly submit that the major
thing that took place on the Pentecost day was a transformation which is the
actual work of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the Spirit of God which the disciples
experienced or encountered turned them around into new creatures and new persons.
However, it is not just external but an internal transformation that brings
about newness of life that leads to interior conversion. It is not also the
sound of the mighty wind; it is not the tongues of fire but the new creation
which took place on this day that forms the core of the Pentecost event.
Unfortunately many have reduced the Pentecost event to noise making while
paying less attention to its internal manifestation; and have mistaken the
gifts of the spirit to some confusion of sounds and eternal display.
So the question now is: why then the violent
wind? This represents the process of
change because change does not come so easily. There are always some forms of
violence that accompanies any change and this violence means “the force of
turning a reluctant self to a direction it was initially unwilling to venture”.
In this context, we can understand the statement of Jesus that “it is only the
violent that can enter the kingdom of God”. This shows that changing from bad
to good is not always easy. If you are not prepared to work on yourself, or
even discomfort yourself, nothing good can come out of it. When people talk of
the Pentecost experience, it is largely in the noisy aspect and other forms of
dramatizations. Little attention is paid to this inner change of the person and
this near violence to the self in order to change. However what has not
received sufficient attention is this interior transformation of a person. It
is precisely because of this lack of internal change that has made some people
sceptical of the genuineness of those who claim gifts of the spirit. No doubt,
it is the work of the spirit to renew the face of the earth but the change must
begin from you; not the external but the internal you.
Finally the Holy Spirit comes to renew us from
within. Without this interior renewal, the we are nothing, meaningless and only
reducible to empty show. The Holy Spirit is real and his activities and powers
are real and He can transform us if we wish. So the questions we shall never
forget to ask ourselves are: what are those areas of my life that need an
urgent transformation and renewal? Am I so envious that I am capable of doing
anything? Do I still have sense of shame concerning evil and sin? Have I grown
so used to sin? Am I ruled by passion? Am I so greedy? These and many other
questions should occupy our minds in this great feast of the church while we
pray for the renewal on the face of the earth by the Holy Spirit.
Wonderful and inspiring!!!
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