The Pentecost by a follower of Bernard van Orley, c 1530, North Carolina Museum of Art
FEAST OF PENTECOST
Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23
This weekend the church celebrates the Feast of Pentecost, one of the most important feasts of its liturgical year. It is richly biblical in its background, and it is profoundly educational both in its own message as well as in its place in the chronology of events commemorated these past weeks, Good Friday, Easter, and the Feast of the Ascension being the most important.
Once Christians chiefly were of Jewish origin and therefore observed the Jewish holy days. Very early in the history of Christianity, this fact changed. Missionaries such as St. Paul himself took the Gospel far and wide, winning converts from paganism. Then, as a result of rebelling against the Romans in 70 A.D., the Jews themselves almost were annihilated.
Consequently, Christians stopped celebrating the Jewish holy days. An exception was Pentecost, although the Christian observance centers upon the distinctly Christian character of the day.
Nevertheless, the Christian character heavily draws upon the Jewish context of the past. In time, Pentecost had become for Jews a celebration of Jewish identity, rejoicing in the collective mission of the Chosen People.
For Christians, Pentecost commemorates the formation by God of the church. This process reveals the divinity of Jesus, and the perfect union of the Holy Trinity not just in essence or being, but also in purpose.
Important in this reading is the close community of the Apostles and of believers with them. Together, as one, they received the power of the Holy Spirit, promised and sent by Christ.
The Holy Spirit comes as God. The imagery is strong with Old Testament associations. The divine Spirit comes as fire, an image so often used for God in the Scriptures.
Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles have divine power itself. They are without fear. Fortified too are all the members of the community.
Composing the community were people from every place. Salvation is offered all who love God.
First Corinthians furnishes the second reading. This reading clearly states that belief in Jesus as Lord belongs to all. No accident makes one person more worthy of salvation than another. The key is humility and a full and genuine acceptance of Christ.
St. John’s Gospel provides the last reading. It is a Resurrection Narrative. The Risen Lord appears before the Apostles, the specially chosen and commissioned, and the special students. He is God, possessing the Holy Spirit, able to give the life and power of the Spirit. He gives this power to the Apostles, specifically vesting them with the most divine of powers, the power to forgive sins.
Reflection
The church concludes its brilliant story of the sacrifice and then Resurrection of Jesus, the Savior. In Jesus, all people have a place with God, and eternal life in God. In Jesus, all have the guidance and strength to live amid God’s Chosen.
In this great promise, the critical figure is Jesus the Lord. He lived a human life. While God in every sense, Jesus was human. It is the mystery and miracle of the Incarnation.
Jesus ascended to heaven, but we were not abandoned. To continue salvation, Jesus sent the Apostles. Specially taught, present when no one else was present, they had unique revelations from the Lord.
Their task is to assist us in overcoming our human limitations and in understanding the Gospel.
The community of believers is not a happenstance of people standing side by side. In the Spirit they share one source of life, live and act in communion — ideally.
Pope Pius XII three generations ago masterfully told us that the church is the “Mystical Body of Christ,” no mere human institution. Holiness is not automatic, however, for its members. They must perfect themselves, transforming themselves according to the image of Christ.
