Pentecost/The Descend of the Holy Spirit
May 19, 2013
Year of Faith
First Reading: Acts 2: 1-11
Psalm 104:1, 24,
29-30, 31, 34
Second Reading: Romans 8: 8-17
Gospel Reading: John 14:15-16, 23-26
Jesus, before ascending to the Father in
heaven, as St. John the Evangelist wrote in his gospel, said to his disciples,
“If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always . . . ; yet the word you hear is not mine but that
of the Father who sent me. I have told you this while I am with
you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that
the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you
of all that I told you.”(John 14:15-16, 24-26).
This inspiration was re-echoed once more
by St. Luke the Evangelist in his second book, the Acts of the Apostles, “When
the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, . . .” (Acts 2:1). The disciples of Jesus were still following the Jewish
tradition of the Passover in remembrance of their deliverance from slavery in
Egypt until they reached Mount Sinai where God gave them the Ten Commandments
to be followed when they arrived in the Promised Land as free people and nation,
on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost is
one of the Jewish important festivals.
They called it, Shavuot.
Pentecost or Shavuot (in Hebrew:
שבועות,
lit. "Weeks"), or the Feast of Weeks, is a Jewish holiday
that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan (late May or early June).
Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God
gave the Torah to the entire
nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai,
although the association between the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah)
and Shavuot is not explicit in the Biblical text. The holiday is one of the Shalosh Regalim,
the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer. (Counting of the Omer (Hebrew:
ספירת העומר,
Sefirat HaOmer, sometimes
abbreviated as Sefira or the Omer) is a verbal counting of each
of the forty-nine days between the Jewish
holidays of Passover and Shavuot as stated in the Hebrew
Bible: Leviticus
23:15-16.)
The date of Shavuot is directly linked to that
of Passover.
The Torah mandates the
seven-week Counting of the Omer, beginning on the second day of Passover and
immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood
to express anticipation and desire for the Giving of the Torah. On Passover,
the people of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and
became a nation committed to serving God.
The word Shavuot means weeks, and the festival
of Shavuot marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between
Passover and Shavuot.
In Hasidic
thought, the word Shavuot "Weeks" is interpreted as also an
acronym for Shavuot, Bikkurim, Atzeret, Torah.
Shavuot is one of the lesser known Jewish holidays
among secular Jews in the Jewish diaspora,
while those in Israel are more aware of it.
According to Jewish law,
Shavuot is celebrated in Israel
for one day and in the Diaspora
(outside of Israel) for two days. Reform
Judaism celebrates only one day, even in
the Diaspora. [Source: Shavuot, Wikipedia]
St. Luke continued and described what was
happening inside the house, in the upper room where the Last Supper with Jesus
took place, to the Apostles and disciples, “. . . 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). There were praising and
singing, praying and rejoicing, prophesying, and common wisdom and
understanding inside the house.
Pentecost (in Ancient
Greek: Πεντηκοστή [ἡμέρα], Pentēkostē [hēmera], "the Fiftieth
[day]") is the Greek name for the Feast
of Weeks, a prominent feast in the calendar of ancient Israel celebrating
the giving of the Law on Sinai. This feast is still
celebrated as Shavuot.
Later, in the Christian liturgical
year, it is also a feast commemorating the descent of the Holy
Spirit upon the twelve Apostles of Christ Among Christians, Pentecost
commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Twelve
Apostles and other followers of Jesus as described
in the Acts of the Apostles 2:1–31. For this reason,
Pentecost is sometimes described by some Christians today as the "Birthday
of the Church."
The
biblical narrative of Pentecost, where the 11 Disciples of Christ (Acts 1:13,
26), along with about 109 other individuals (Acts 1:15), including many women,
among whom was Mary the mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14), received the Baptism in
the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, is given in the second chapter of the Book of Acts. As recounted in Acts 2:1–6. [Source: Pentecost, Wikipedia]
But something also was happening outside
the house; for an event different from the rest of Pentecost or other Shavuot
the Jewish people and converted to Judaism had never experienced, heard or seen
before. Luke described it. “Now
there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in
Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered
in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking
in his own language. They were astounded,
and in amazement they asked, ‘Are not all these people who are speaking
Galileans? Then how does each of us hear
them in his own native language? We are
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers
from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear
them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God’.”(Acts 2:5-11). There were confusions in the large, international
crowd, because of what they have heard – the loud noise and wind from the sky;
of what they have seen – bright light and fire filled the entire house; of what
people inside the house were speaking in tongues – of all the languages of the
peoples on earth were spoken. Everybody,
outside the house, understood what this small group of Jesus’ followers was
speaking about – the mighty acts of God.
There is confusion and mesmerizing when
we are not keeping what the Lord God commanded us to do and to be. And, there is oneness and unity when we are
captivated by common love in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Second Reading, we can explain
the commandment of Jesus, “Whoever loves
me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23), as Saint Paul enlightened the Romans,
most probably in two opposing descriptions.
First, those who are in the Spirit of God:
“But you are not in the flesh; on the
contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you”
(Romans 8:9). “But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the
spirit is alive because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you,
the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies
also, through his Spirit that dwells in you” (Romans 8:10-11). “. . .but
if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God
are children of God” (Romans 8:13-14).
“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).
And secondly, those who do not have the
Spirit of God. As Jesus said, “Whoever does not love me does not keep my
words” (John 14:24). It simply
means, as Saint Paul described it,
“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God”
(Romans 8:8). “Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans
8:9). “Consequently, brothers, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live
according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
. . .” (Romans 8:12-13).
The Holy Spirit, which comes from God the
Father in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, which the Apostles and disciples
received during Pentecost, is sending also upon us to guide us and to
strengthen us in our resolve – that is to live in Jesus’ love, truth and
fidelity, with the power of the Holy Spirit to move our hearts and minds; also it
will become easy for us, with the help of the Holy Spirit to obey His commandments
since God the Father and the Son live in our heart when we confess our love for
Jesus Christ, who loved us first before we knew it.
This sending of the Holy Spirit did not
happen only in the upper room in Jerusalem after the Pentecost. Even during our Baptism, the Holy Spirit is
sent upon us, and remains in us until now. As in our Lord Jesus Christ when he
was baptized by John in the Jordan River and afterwards the Holy Spirit in the
form of a dove descended upon him and a voice was heard, “Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the
Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came
from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke
3:21-22). He was also driven by the Spirit
of the Lord in the desert to be tempted by Satan. Until then, the Holy Spirit did not abandon
Jesus, but He was always in Him until His death in the Calvary.
We can find also many topics about the
Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. For
example, to name but a few, the Holy Spirit is described as wind (ruah) hovering on the surface of the sea
(Genesis 1:2), and rain (Genesis 2:5) during the creation of the entire
universe. It is like the breath of
God. When God created man and woman, He
gave them his spirit/breath in their nostrils and they became alive. (Genesis
2:7). Later on, when there were many
people, God gave His people many talents.
People received talents given by the Spirit of God “with the ability and intelligence, with knowledge and craftsmanship and
the gift of prophesy” (Numbers 11:25-26).
The Holy Spirit also delivered from the enemy his chosen people (Isaiah
63:7-14). He also guided the leaders of
the people (Judges 3:9, 6:34, 11:29), and chosen kings to serve the people’s
needs (1 Samuel 10:10; 11:5; 16:14). To
give justice to his people (Micah 3:8); and filled them with power, with the
Spirit of the Lord with justice and might.
Therefore, they can wait for the great prophet to come who could say, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to
announce deliverance to those who are held captive and recovery of the sight to
the blind, to set free those who are bruised” (Isaiah 61:1-2). The Holy spirit also gives life to the dried
bones (Ezekiel 37:1-10) by calling the Spirit to breathe life so that they may
live – the lifeless bones became a great army ready for action. The
Spirit of the Lord is like sprinkle cleaned water to remove all filthiness upon
us. “I
cleansed you. A new heart I will give
you and a new Spirit I will put in you.
I will take away the stony heart from you and will give you fleshy heart”
(Ezekiel 36:25-27). Also, an abundance
of harvest will be given to us as His blessings. “I will
call for the corn and increase it. I
will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field” (Ezekiel
36:29-30), “because of the abundance of
rain poured upon you” (Joel 2: 18-19).
And, in the New Testament, the Holy
Spirit is seen powerful and full of strength.
In particular, from the Acts of the Apostles, when the Apostles and
disciples together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, were in the upper room in
Jerusalem, a strong rush of wind as if tongue of fire descended upon them. All of them received the Holy Spirit of
God. They were overshadowed by the power
from on high. On this Pentecost day,
when they were overshadowed by the same Holy Spirit, they spoke the Word of God
and proclaimed the news good to all peoples from Jerusalem to Rome, far and
wide. (See the first reading).
This experience on Pentecost Day was
first to happen in the little town of Bethlehem, in Galilee; to a virgin whose
name was Mary, after the annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel to her. (Luke 1:26-39). Mary conceived Jesus after
overshadowing of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God was with her; but, she
remained virgin, for nothing was destroyed on her yet she remained pure in body
and in spirit.
There are still many indications of the presence
of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, but the most intriguing one is that
when Jesus was accused of being possessed by Beelzebub. In Mark 3:22,
the Pharisees
accuse Jesus
of driving out
demons by the power of Beelzebub, prince of demons, the name also
appearing in the expanded version in Matthew 12:24,27
and Luke 11:15,18-19.
The name also occurs in Matthew 10:25. “Jesus
knew their thoughts and said to them, every kingdom divided against itself will
be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.
If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his
kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people
drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or
again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions
unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house”
(Matthew 12:25-29). We are also warned by Jesus who said that
whoever sinned against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever sin against
the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. “Whoever is not with me is
against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every
kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will
not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the
Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will
not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come” (Matthew 12:30-32).
With all these surveys about the Holy Spirit,
from the Old Testament to the descending of the Father in the name of Jesus on
Pentecost day in the New Testament, we can be sure of the many gifts, (e.g.,
wisdom, knowledge, understanding, fear of the Lord, piety, fortitude and
council, etc. [see 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11]) and fruits (e.g., love, joy, peace,
kindness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, etc, [see Galatians
5:22]) of the Holy Spirit as our Advocate, Paraclete, etc., that can be served
as our guide and reminder in our journey in this life.
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