By F. Luis Casasus, General Superior of idente missionaries
Commentary on the Pentecost Sunday Gospel of 04-05-2017, Second Sunday of Easter (Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11; 1Corinthians 12:3b-7.12-13.; St. John 20:19-23)
It was not by coincidence that God poured out the Holy Spirit on his disciples on that day, the Feast where the Jews offered the Lord the first harvest, sometimes called Festival of Reaping and Day of the First Fruits.
The divine Providence wanted to put a sign of abundance that Saint Paul and the first disciples experienced immediately as the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe (Eph 1: 19). This day brings the promised baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Today’s first reading of the Acts of the Apostles represents a new period in God’s dealing with His people. The meaning of Pentecost is God’s equipping his church with the power of His spirit to draw all every human being to himself in Christ.
At Pentecost, the remarkable change that takes place in the apostles is a sign to us of the remarkable gift we ourselves have received. This is very challenging, because we should ask ourselves today: Why do we feel so powerless? One likely reason is that we all too often rely on our own power, not on the power of the Holy Spirit.
Our faith is very limited as well as our spiritual memory. We forget the works of the Holy Spirit, always unexpected and surprising. In the case of the first disciples, the initial outpouring of the Holy Spirit was marked by the violent wind that filled the house, the sign of tongues of fire resting on each person and the miraculous speaking in foreign languages which none had previously learned.
* In Hebrew, the words for wind and spirit are the same, symbolizing the invisible yet powerful work of the Holy Spirit, the act of change or the bringing in the new and sweeping out the old.
*Throughout the Bible, fire symbolizes God’s holy presence, but also Purification.
*The apostles were speaking languages which the native speakers could understand (not just nonsense syllables): this is a sign of the Church’s universality and of the concern of the apostle for each and every human being. In the final analysis, love and mercy is the language that we all can understand. In the Gospel, we are told that the first gift of the Risen Christ is the gift of forgiveness. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.’
Today we do not need that class of miracles, but we all have personal experience of the education of our ecstasy by the Holy Spirit:
We continually close our doors; we continually want to feel secure and do not want to be disturbed by others and by God. And so, we can continually implore the Lord just for this, that he come to us, overcoming our closure, to bring us his greeting: Peace be with you. (Benedict XVI 15 May 2005)
Saint Paul refers the evidence of the presence of the Spirit in our lives as “fruits of the Spirit” and records some in his letter to Galatians as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When we experience these virtues and gifts we are experiencing the peace that Jesus wished for us when he said, Peace be with you.
Forgiveness, freely given by God to us through Christ, is our gift to one another as inheritors of the Holy Spirit of God that dwells within us. There’s more than just a little truth in the old saying, To err is human; to forgive, divine. For when you do this thing we regard as divine, you have unlocked the door through which the Risen Lord enters into your life, as a powerful sign of what is possible for the world, and all simply because we are willing to share the gift, the power, the act of God’s forgiveness.
The original community of disciples was clearly an imperfect group. There was bitterness toward Judas, jealousy toward James and John, disappointment in Peter’s denials, and suspicion of his claims to leadership. Then there was Thomas, the one known only for his doubting. But God equipped this band of disciples with the capacity to discern His will, and empowered them to do it. The first step was their willingness to give up their disappointments in one another, which opened them to the next step, namely, to receive God’s forgiveness, followed by their willingness to extend this forgiveness to one another. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. That is the defining mark of the Spirit’s presence in us, and the decisive sign of the Spirit’s power in your life. It never gets any clearer, any more remarkable, any more miraculous, any better than that.
At the Tower of Babel in Genesis God scattered the pretentious human race across the earth confusing them by having them speak many languages rather than one. At Pentecost God reunites the scattered people into a new beloved community, one that is able to bridge differences and value diversity, where there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave or free, male or female.
Now most of us have some difficulty in giving credit to the Holy Spirit for countless blessings received, countless inspirations conceived and countless decisions arranged. But many times we have forgotten to give credit to the Holy Spirit where credit is most desired: in bringing about unity. As we have heard today:
There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.
Jesus offers his peace. He lets his disciples, the ones we never call doubters, touch his wounds so they can see for themselves. And he gives them his peace again, along with an instruction: As the Father has sent me, so I send you.
Jesus could have gone and sent other people, presumably people with more courage, people who weren’t hiding, or whomever. But he’s sending his people. His friends. His disciples. So this is good news. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. We are chosen and sent even with our human brokenness, not in spite of it. But it is also be challenging news. Because “as the Father sent” Jesus ended up leading to death on a cross. And at that moment, after just having seen the wounds up close and personal on their resurrected friend, they weren’t likely to forget it. The good news of the gospel is that it is for you and I, flawed and loving disciples.
But, like the disciples, we ask, Lord, has the time come? Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel? These are signs of insecurity. I cannot wait for a “better spiritual moment” in my existence or the “appropriate conditions” for an apostolic life.
However, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal 2:20). I can be another person! I can be another Christ! I can enter into communion with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Every word I speak and every act I commit can be through Him, with Him and in Him. My life can be lived now through Him, with Him and in Him. Even my death can be experienced through Him, with Him and in Him. For this reason, the Church is known as the mystical body of Christ.
We rejoice at the daring spontaneity Holy Spirit and find ourselves caught off guard by his unexpected communications. In a world that can seem predictable, he sparks into being new possibilities. In a world that can be hostile, his love builds a path from loneliness to conviviality, from antagonism to co-operation.
Very few talks and homilies about the Holy Spirit refer to Purification, although He is the active agent of every Purification; the first one (General Purification) immediately concerns to the link between our faculties (mind, will, union) and our passions. This is our experience:
There is no proportion between my efforts in taming my passions to follow Jesus and the “visible” results (new sensations or feelings). For example:
I have been able to forgive, but I am not stronger than before, I feel I am as vulnerable and weak as ever (Apathy).
I cannot understand the importance of avoiding useless thoughts. Who do I harm with that? (Aridity).
I don’t feel comfortable with my desires: I struggle to live according to Jesus’ teaching. But at the same time I feel nostalgia or even a desire for the things I left behind (Contrariety).
This is the perfect moment for the manifestation of the Diabolical Signs. As our Father Founder says, the presence of diabolism begins to occur, or to get its way, formally, in the General Purification.
At this time, as would be expected, when I have been denied the food of children, a subtle attack takes place in relation to my sins and tendencies:
– Sure, this ‘faith stuff’ works for other people, but it doesn’t work for you.
– Sure you have sinned, as everybody else, but don’t make a big deal of it; it’s not as bad as you think.
The enemy’s strategy to keep you locked into a lifestyle of fear is to try and keep you in doubt as to the truth of God’s promises. This is a powerful weapon. With the Diabolical Signs, just making use of your experiences, indirectly, distorting your faults and mistakes, the devil will try to get you to question the authority and accuracy of what God has said.
With humility and realism, we are called to accept our condition and to open our heart to the healing action of the Holy Spirit: I am a sinner. This is the most accurate definition. It is not a figure of speech, a literary genre. I am a sinner (Pope Francis).
When the Spirit of God came on the day of Pentecost, the first person he looked at was Mary, who was not an Apostle, but who was, as his spouse, even dearer to his heart; by the very fact that Mary had become the Mother of God and of Christ, she also became the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. So, on this most holy day of Pentecost, let us have recourse to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and of Mystical life: let us ask her to prepare us to receive her Son in the Eucharist, let us ask her that the Holy Spirit may always be ever more visible throughout our communities and throughout the world.
