Pentecost Sunday
[Acts 2:1–11; 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23]
INTRO:
The Jewish Pentecost:
Both the Jews and the Christians celebrate Pentecost. The word Pentecost is Greek for pentecostes which means "fiftieth." The feast received this name because it was celebrated fifty days after the Feast of the Passover. It was originally a day of thanksgiving celebrated seven weeks after the beginning of the harvesting for the completion of the harvest.
The Christian Pentecost:
For Christians, Pentecost marks the end and the goal of the Easter season. It is a memorial of the day the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles and the Virgin Mary in the form of fiery tongues, an event that took place fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. The feast also commemorates the official inauguration of the Christian Church by St. Peter's apostolic preaching, which resulted in the conversion of 3000 Jews to the Christian faith. Pentecost is thus the official birthday of the Church. So, let me wish you all, "Happy Birthday!"
Today's three readings make reference to the arrival of the Holy Spirit, being baptized in the Spirit and being sent forth to proclaim the Word of God.
The First Reading [Acts 2:1-11] tells us, "All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages." St. Paul affirms in the Second Reading [1 Cor. 12:3b-7, 12- 13], "In the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body." And Jesus gives us a mission in the Gospel Reading [Jn. 20:19-23], "As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
HOMILY: "Come Holy Spirit! Fill our Hearts!"
1. Story: "Well, Chippie doesn't sing much anymore."
A woman was cleaning the bottom of the cage of her parrot Chippie with the canister vacuum cleaner. She was not using an attachment on the tube. When the telephone rang, she turned her head to pick it up, continuing to vacuum the cage as she said, "Hello," into the phone. Then she heard the horrible noise of Chippie being sucked into the vacuum. Immediately she put down the phone, ripped open the vacuum bag, and found Chippie in there, stunned but still alive. Since the bird was covered with dust and dirt, she grabbed it, ran it into the bathroom, turned on the tap, and held the bird under the water to clean it off. When she finished that, she saw the hair dryer on the bathroom shelf. She turned it on and held the bird in front of the blast of hot air to dry him off. A few weeks later, a reporter from the newspaper that originally published the story went out to the house to ask the woman, "How's Chippie doing now?" She said, "Well, Chippie doesn't sing much anymore. He just sort of sits and stares."
Today's gospel tells us that it was what happened to the apostles. They all were traumatized by the arrest and crucifixion of their master and bewildered by his post-resurrection appearances and his command to prepare for the coming of his Holy Spirit.
2. Full of symbols
Most of us are more familiar with the account given in the Acts of the Apostles which is the First Reading of today's Mass. What follows is a scene filled with scriptural symbols. First, there is the sound of a mighty wind from heaven filling the whole house. The word in Greek for 'spirit' and 'wind' is the same, so the wind clearly indicates the Spirit of God.
Then there appeared tongues of fire which rested on the head of each one present. Again we have a symbol of God's presence. We remember Moses speaking to God out of the bush which was on fire. We remember that, as the Israelites wandered through the desert, they were accompanied during the night by a pillar of fire – God was with them. All present are then filled with the Spirit. The sign of this presence is their ability to speak in different languages.
3. A message for all
Immediately, the apostles go out and begin to speak to the crowds of people. These people are amazed to hear these men, who are clearly relatively unlettered people from the province of Galilee, speaking to them in so many languages.
The meaning is clear. What the apostles are preaching is a message destined for the whole world and not just for one people. A long time ago, as described in the book of Genesis, men tried to build a tower right up to heaven – means trying to reach God. For such arrogance they were punished by having to speak in a myriad of languages unintelligible to others. Humanity became deeply divided.
Today, Babel is reversed. It is not babbling of unintelligible sounds! All are speaking and hearing the message with full understanding. People are being brought together in unity under God.
4. Receiving a mission
The Gospel today has a quite different account of the coming of the Spirit on the disciples. It is the evening of Easter Sunday and the disciples are in a room, with the doors firmly locked. All of a sudden, Jesus is there in their midst. "Shalom, Peace with you" is his greeting. A peace they could not get anywhere else and a peace that no one and nothing could take away from them. Then he breathes on them. Breath symbolises life.
And then he gives their mission: "As the Father sent me, so am I sending you." Their mission is the same as his; they are to continue doing what he did.
5. My Mission
On this feast of Pentecost, we also need to reflect on the particular role that God has for me, to reflect on the particular contribution that I can make to the mission of the Church.
Many of us can identify with Chippie and the apostles. Life has sucked us up, thrown cold water on us, and blown us away. Somewhere in the trauma, we have lost our song. Hence, we, too, need the daily anointing of the Holy Spirit to keep us singing songs of Christian witnessing through agape love.
How will the Holy Spirit work in us? Do we need to wait for the wind to gush in through the windows and doors and fire descend on us?
Story2: "Lower your bucket-- taste and see":
More than a century ago, a great sailing ship was stranded off the coast of South America. Week after week the ship lay there in the still waters with not a hint of a breeze. The captain was desperate; the crew was dying of thirst. And then, on the far horizon, a steamship appeared, heading directly toward them. As it drew near, the captain called out, "We need water! Give us water!" The steamship replied, "Lower your buckets where you are." The captain was furious at this cavalier response but called out again, "Please, give us water." But the steamer gave the same reply, "Lower your buckets where you are!" And with that they sailed away! The captain was beside himself with anger and despair, and he went below. But a little later, when no one was looking, a yeoman lowered a bucket into the sea and then tasted what he brought up: It was perfectly sweet, fresh water! For you see, the ship was just out of sight of the mouth of the Amazon. And for all those weeks they had been sitting right on top of all the fresh water they needed!
What we are really seeking is already inside us, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be embraced: the Holy Spirit of God who has been living within us from the first moment of our life. The Holy Spirit is saying to us at this very moment, "Lower your buckets where you are. Taste and see!" Let us be aware of that Spirit within us and say from the depth of our hearts: "Come, Holy Spirit! Fill our hearts, and set us on fire!" Amen.
Reference:
http://www.catholicdoors.com/homilies/2012/120527.htm
http://www.biblestudyresources.com/devotionals/jesus/he_keeps_me_singing.htm
http://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/EB081/
Vally Mendonca, S.J.
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