TODAY'S GREAT AND JOYFUL FEAST rounds off the tremendous mysteries that
we have been commemorating since Holy Week - the Passion, the Death, the
Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus culminates in the sending of the
Spirit of the Father and the Son on his disciples. As has been said
previously, we are not dealing here merely with separate historical
incidents but with one reality - the extraordinary intervention of God
into our lives by what we can only call the "mystery" of Christ. And
today's feast indicates that it is an ongoing reality, which still
touches our lives every single day.
Two models, one reality
What we said, too, of the Ascension last week applies with equal force
to the meaning of Pentecost. In other words, we would be making a
mistake to read the Scripture texts too literally, otherwise we will run
into unnecessary conflicts. As with the Ascension, our traditional
catechisms tends to identify Pentecost only with the version in the Acts
(the First Reading of today's Mass). But in today's Gospel, which takes
place on Easter Sunday, Jesus, before his Ascension, gives his Spirit to
his disciples and the mission which follows from that. The two accounts
are two different ways of describing the same reality. Actual time and
place are not important.
A new creation
Let us go to the Gospel first. It is "the first day of the week", that
is, the Sunday after Good Friday, the day of the Resurrection - or
Easter Sunday. Jesus' disciples are cowering in fear behind locked doors.
As colleagues of Jesus they are afraid they may have to face arrest or
even worse. Suddenly, there is Jesus among them. He gives them the usual
Jewish greeting 'Shalom' but here it is filled with meaning. "Peace with
you" can be taken as a wish ('Peace be with you') or more truly ('Peace
is with you'). In the presence of Jesus we experience a kind of peace
which only he can give.
It is no wonder that the disciples, who just now were terrified, are
filled with joy. There are two qualities that always accompany the
presence of Jesus in our lives - peace and joy.
Passing the baton
Now comes the mission: "As the Father sent me, so am I sending you." The
baton is being passed. They have a job to do and it is exactly what
Jesus himself came to do - to establish the Kingdom on earth.
Jesus now breathes on them. In Greek the word for 'breath' and 'spirit'
are the same. The breathing recalls God breathing life into the dust and
bringing the first human being into existence. Here too there is a kind
of creation, as the disciples are re-created into the 'new person' that
Paul will speak about in his letters, a person filled with the Spirit of
Jesus and mandated to continue his work.
Agents of unity and peace
And how is that work expressed? "For those whose sins you forgive, they
are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained." This
is their job - to be agents of reconciliation. Reconciliation of people
everywhere with their God and reconciliation with each other as brothers
and sisters, children of one common Father. Reconciliation means the
healing of wounds, of all forms of division. This is the work of the
Kingdom. It is what we are called to do.
We use this text for the institution of the Sacrament of Reconciliation
but I believe that the meaning of the words includes this but goes much
further than just referring to a Sacrament.
A mind-blowing experience
Let us now turn to the second Spirit-experience as it is described in
Luke's account in the Acts (First Reading). This is sometimes called the
Exodus account, for it reminds us of the great event commemorating the
liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.
Here, too, there are significant elements:
a. There is the powerful wind, which, of course, is the Spirit and which,
in John's gospel, is translated as "breath".
b. There is the fire - the tongues of fire over each one in the place.
This, as in the Exodus narrative, indicates God's power and presence. We
think of the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses and gave him his
mission to his people. It reminds us of the pillar of fire, which, by
night, accompanied and guided the Jews on their wanderings through the
desert. They knew they were not alone.
Extraordinary change
And what an extraordinary result this experience had on the disciples!
These men, huddled fearfully behind locked doors are almost blown from
the room. No longer afraid, they have an almost uncontrollable urge to
share what they have experienced, to share their knowledge but, even
more, their experience of Jesus. Threats of prison or torture in no way
intimidate them.
A message for all
Together with this, they are given a power to communicate. Their message
is heard and understood by all. The linguistic barriers of Babel have
collapsed. This is less, I believe, a miracle of instantaneous language-
learning than a way of saying that the message of Jesus is for all and
can be understood by all. And this is so because, deep down, the message
of God through Jesus speaks to the deepest desires of each one's heart.
"Our hearts can find no rest until they rest in you."
There is no longer a Chosen People. Or, to put it another way, now all
are God's people and all are called. The responses, of course, will be
uneven because we are invited, not conscripted, into the Kingdom.
Effects of the Spirit
What are the effects of the Spirit in our lives? That is expressed very
well in the Second Reading from the First Letter of Paul to the
Corinthians.
First, Paul says we cannot even call Jesus "Lord" unless we have his
Spirit. To call Jesus "Lord" is not just uttering a pious phrase; it
implies a real faith in who Jesus is and the proof of that will be in
the way we live our lives.
Special gifts for each one
Second, the Spirit is the source of the special gifts (or 'charisms')
which each member of the community receives. The Source of the gifts is
one - the Spirit of God and that is what unites together all those who
receive them into one community. But there is a huge variety of gifts.
It is important to note that the gifts are not given as a personal grace
for oneself. They are rather special abilities by which each one serves
the needs of the community. We have all to work together, using our
gifts, to build up the community to which we belong.
We are many in number but, through the working of the Spirit, we become
like one body, in fact, we are the Body of Christ. Just as one body has
many limbs and organs working together as a harmonious unit, so we as
the Body of Christ each make our distinct contribution to the life and
work of the community. "In one Spirit, we were all baptised, Jews as
well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to
us all to drink."
The way to freedom
The Spirit is a way of true freedom and liberation; his is not a way of
slavery, compulsion, addiction, greed or fear. Through the Spirit there
is a close, warm, confident relationship with God who can be boldly
addressed by the intimate term "Abba" (Papa). Filled with the Spirit, we
are in the fullest sense children of God, living images of our Father.
The Spirit makes us co-heirs with Christ to "suffer with him that we may
also be glorified with him ". The suffering does not arise from
restrictions on our freedom but because, in our total commitment to
truth, love, genuine freedom and human dignity, we are prepared to pay
any price, even, if necessary, the surrender of life itself. We could
not be truly happy otherwise.
Gifts to be shared
We radiate that Spirit and by our word and example invite others to
share it. The gifts of the Spirit are not for ourselves: they are to be
shared. After the coming of the Holy Spirit, as we have seen, the
disciples did not stay in that room luxuriating in what they had been
given. They burst out to tell the world how much God loves everyone and
how he wants everyone to experience that love. How he wants people
liberated from the destructive constraints of the flesh to an unlimited
blossoming in the Spirit.
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