Pentecost Sunday May 11, 2008

John 20:19-23 Notice that Jesus breathes on the disciples as Ezekiel had breathed over the dead bones…the breath of God is the Spirit. The bestowal of the Spirit is given as part of being sent out. The Christian life has two principle dynamics: the inward dynamic of receiving God into one’s life (receiving the gifts, receiving the strength of the Eucharist, etc.) and the outward dynamic of going out and putting the gifts into practice (witnessing, serving, etc.). While Baptism celebrates the first dynamic, Confirmation focuses on the second. These two dynamics are renewed weekly in the Mass. We receive forgiveness of sins, the guidance of God’s word, the strength of the Eucharist, and the support of the community. Then we are sent out to “love and serve the Lord”.

Reading 1, Acts 2:1-11 The Jewish feast of Pentecost was also called the Harvest Festival, initially being a thanksgiving for the harvest, or Feast of Weeks, being celebrated seven weeks after Passover (recall that the number 7 was symbolic of perfection, thus 7 weeks times 7 days). The Spirit is manifested as wind and fire. Hrua, the Hebrew word for Spirit, means wind or breath as the mighty wind sweeping over the waters at the beginning of creation (Genesis 1:2) or when the prophet Ezekiel (chapter 37) was called upon to breath God’s life into dry bones to bring them to life. Here the wind animates the people and gathers them together. God guided the Israelites through the desert with a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21). Here God guides the apostles with a small pillar of fire over each one of them. The people who gather are descendants of Jews who either escaped Israel and Judah during times of war and resettled throughout the Mediterranean region or forcibly resettled in Assyria and Babylonia to the east. Although many of them retained some familiarity with the Hebrew language, they took on the languages of the places where they settled. Being able to understand the message of the apostles recalls the story of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11) in which God confuses the language of people for basically presuming that they could accomplish whatever they wanted on their own. On Pentecost all can understand the message which unites them, not to accomplish great things on their own, but to bring about the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit. 

Reading II, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 The gifts of the Holy Spirit are given for the good of the whole community, not merely for the blessing of the individual. Therefore, gifts vary according to the needs of the community and not by the holiness of the individual. Nevertheless, we are called to cooperate with the gifts we receive and use them for the good of all, not for personal advancement, constantly seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit regarding the specific applications of the gifts given.

Comments

[Raphael Muigai Ikame]

Thank you for your insightful homily. I am the chairman of my church in Thika, Kenya (St Joseph Mukasa Catholic Church) and would greatly benefit from your advice to manage the affairs of the church. We are currently in the process of finalising the construction of the same. Kindly also pray for us. Thank you.