May 23, 2010
The Solemnity of Pentecost
By Rev. Joe McCloskey, SJ
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Acts 2:1-4
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:15-17
(Jesus) said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." John 20:21-23
Piety
Pentecost is the day when the Word of God became personal to the Church. Pentecost for us today is the sending forth with the blessings of God. The Apostles were shut up in their room behind locked doors when the Spirit came upon them with the Mission of Christ. They went forth into their world with the joy and the excitement of the Risen Christ. Pentecost implores the blessing of God through the Spirit on all of us that we may be equal to the task of sharing Christ with our world. Pentecost gives us the openness to change and to growth. With Pentecost the Apostles burst forth from the closed doors of their fears that what happened to Christ might happen to them. Pentecost made them ready for what was coming. Our Pentecostal Mass is the swinging open of the doors of hearts where indwelling takes place. Our piety is how we let Christ out of hearts upon our world.
Study
Years ago I was the designated driver to bring my niece and her first child home from the hospital. I heard my niece say. “Are they not going to tell me what to do next?” She realized that there would be no one but the child and her needs to tell her what comes next. In all our lives there comes that day when we have to trust in the Spirit. It is fitting that we celebrate the feast of Pentecost because the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude and the Fear of the Lord, - all are the tools of Pentecost that we will put to work in the days that are coming. The big decisions of our life will be made out of the light of these gifts of the Spirit that have been nourished by our parents and deepened by our teachers and our friends over the last years of our lives.
Action
Pentecost is the celebration of our coming of age in the responsibility of making good decisions. We are challenged to use our gifts well to make a better world.
The Spirit is the embodiment of the Father’s Love for the Son in the total giving of self that is the Father giving all of himself to the Son. The Son is the Eternal Word Spoken forever by the Father in The Word that is the total receiving of the gift of the Father. Spirit is the meeting of total giving and total receiving. Pentecost is the word of God’s love for us that you have received. We are the embodiment of the Word that is to be spoken by the goodness of our lives. It is hard to imagine all the wonderful things that Pentecost gives us the chance to do with God’s action in us.
My prayer on this feast of Pentecost is that we will recognize the wonderful gifts you have to share. I pray that we will have wonderful opportunities to share our gifts in the future. Pentecost will always have the special meaning of our being sent forth to share Christ. The Spirit is also the source of the energy of a fullness of life that we will bring to our worlds of tomorrows. I pray that we may have the gentle breeze of the winds of the Spirit at our backs protecting us and easing the harshness of the journey. May the abiding presence of our friends and their love always ease the journey! May we pleasure in what our life gives us in the gift of spiritual friendships! We will never be alone because we go in the Spirit of God’s love in each other. Be God’s love for one another!
