Pentecost- The Birthday of the Church
Pentecost is a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover feast by the Jews, and it is a
feast celebrated on the 50th day after the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus by the Christians.
The Jewish Pentecost was originally a post-harvest thanksgiving feast. Later, the Jews
included in it the remembrance of God’s Covenants with Noah after the Deluge and with
Moses at Mt. Sinai. Pentecost (also known as Whitsunday), with Christmas and Easter,
ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. On Christmas we celebrate the birthday of
Christ in His Physical Body. Today is the birthday of the Church, of all those who have been
reborn into His Mystical Body.
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, headed 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!
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, living within us from the moment of our
Baptism. The Holy Spirit is saying to us at this very moment from deep in our heart,
“Lower your buckets where you are. Taste and see!” Come, Holy Spirit! Fill our hearts and
set us on fire! Amen.
Reading: – (St. John 20:19-23)
This Gospel passage relates how the risen Jesus gave his apostles a foretaste of Pentecost on
the evening of Easter Sunday by appearing to them and sending them to carry on the mission
given him by his Heavenly Father. He then empowered them to do so by breathing upon
them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled his
promise to send the Advocate or Paraclete. The gift of the Spirit would enable them to fulfill
Jesus’ commission to preach the Gospel to all nations. Today’s Gospel passage also tells us
how Jesus gave to the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins. “Receive the Holy
Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.” These wonderful words, which bind together inseparably the presence
of the Holy Spirit and the gift of forgiveness, are referred to directly in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation. But they have a much wider meaning. Those words remind us of the
Christian vocation we are all have, to love and forgive as we have been loved and forgiven,
in the world of today, which is often fiercely judgmental and vengeful.
The Holy Spirit, the Helper is quietly at work in the sincere concern of a friend for our
health; in the generosity of those who give us so much help; in the inner strength we
discover in times of crisis; in those moments when we admit that we have been wrong; in
the struggle of making a tough choice; in the resilience of people who face one bad thing
after another; in those times when we have dared to love even though it was hard to do so.
The Holy Spirit, the Helper is quietly at work: in our taking on responsibilities that we once
thought beyond us; in our refusing to let the greed of society take over our soul; in our
giving thanks always even though times have been hard; in our rising above past failures
and putting past hurts behind us; in our finding a central core of peace in the midst of
turmoil; in the adult patiently teaching a child self-esteem and self-control; in the person
sitting quietly beside a hospital bed; in the parent praying for a troubled son or daughter.
The Spirit calls us to repentance, to turn our lives around; He calls us to Faith and to take up
our cross and follow Jesus. However, we look at the Holy Spirit, He is always our Helper,
always helping us to be what God made us to be. He helps us to be truly great, namely, to
be servants to one another. Likewise, the Spirit promotes Jesus in our lives; He gathers us
around the cross of Jesus; He changes our lives, helping us to be more patient and forgiving,
to seek new beginnings in our relationships with one another and to let the power of God’s
love have the final say over the conflicts we get into. He is available to us every moment of
every day as we face the choices between self-centeredness or being the God-centered
people, the Spirit has called us to be in Christ.
For this …….
We need to permit the Holy Spirit to direct our lives:
• by constantly remembering and appreciating His Holy Presence within us,
especially through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation;
• by fortifying ourselves with the help of the Spirit against all types of
temptations;
• by seeking the assistance of the Spirit in our thoughts, words, and deeds, and
in the breaking of our evil habits;
• by listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us through the Bible
and through the good counsel of others;
• by fervently praying for the gifts, fruits and charisms of the Holy Spirit;
• by renewing our lives through the anointing of the Holy Spirit; and
• by living our lives in the Holy Spirit as lives of commitment, of sacrifice,
and of joy.
We are called to love as Jesus loved, not counting the cost. As Saint Paul exhorts us, “Walk
by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. If we live by the Spirit, let us also
walk by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25).
We need to cultivate the spirit of forgiveness: The Feast of Pentecost offers us the
chance to look at the role which forgiveness should play in our dealings with
others. Thus, we are challenged to examine our sense of compassion, patience,
tolerance and magnanimity. Learning to forgive is a lifelong task, but the Holy Spirit
is with us to make us agents of forgiveness. If we are prepared on this day of
Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit into our lives, we can have confidence that
our lives will be marked by the Spirit of forgiveness.
We need to observe Pentecost every day: When the Church ceases to let her
strength rest on the Power from above which Christ promised her and which he gave
her on that day, and when the Church leans rather on the weak forces of the power or
wealth of this earth, then the Church ceases to be newsworthy. The Church will be
fair to see, perennially young, attractive in every age, as long as she is faithful to the
Spirit that floods her and she reflects that Spirit through her communities, through her
pastors, through her very life: Pentecost is not just one day, but every day. Without
breath, there is no life. Without the Spirit, the Church is a field of dry, dead bones.
The Venerable Fulton J. Sheen once said about the Church, “Even though we are
God’s chosen people, we often behave more like God’s frozen people–frozen in our
prayer life, frozen in the way we relate with one another, frozen in the way we
celebrate our Faith.” Today is a great day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the
spirit of new life and enthusiasm, the fire of God’s love.
We need to be Spirit-filled Christians: Spirit-filled people acknowledge their
weaknesses, ask for the strengthening, anointing and guidance of the Holy Spirit
every morning, ask for His forgiveness every evening and pass on that forgiveness to
those who sin against them. Spirit-filled people are praying people. Paul encourages
us, “Pray on every occasion as the Spirit leads. For this reason, keep alert and never
give up; pray for all God’s people” (Eph 6:18). Spirit-filled people are praying and
worshipping God in their families and parishes. They try to grow continually in their
Faith, and they seek out every opportunity to discover Christ and what it means to be
children of God. Spirit-filled people are people who allow the Spirit to change their
lives through their daily reading of the Bible and their frequenting of the Sacraments
of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist. Spirit-filled people speak words that heal,
restore, make people happy and build people up instead of tearing them down. Spiritfilled people pass on the love of God to the people living around them by their acts of
kindness, mercy and charity. Hence, let us pray for a spirit of love instead of hate, a
spirit of helpfulness instead of non-cooperation, a spirit of generosity instead of greed
and a spirit of gentleness instead of ruthlessness.
O Holy Spirit, help me to walk in Your path, guiding each of my steps. Let wisdom fill my
mind, so that I may make good decisions and give me strength for action, too, as I
acknowledge and give thanks for Your grace. Amen.
Sr. Philda Varghese
General Councillor In charge of Spirituality
