PENTECOST SUNDAY (2025)
Readings:
Acts 2:1-11
Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34
1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
John 20:19-23
Without this feast of Pentecost there would be no Church, which is why Pentecost is often referred to as the ‘birthday’ of the Church. Our fifty-day celebration of Christ’s resurrection has led us to this most important day in the Church’s liturgical calendar, and looming in the background is the Jewish feast of Pentecost which commemorates God’s covenant with Moses and the delivery of the Ten Commandments. Indeed, the “strong driving wind” described in today’s reading from Acts is like the “strong wind” that swept over the face of the earth in Genesis at Creation. God’s eternal plan for the world included a “new covenant,” with Jesus at its core, and replacing all previous covenants. It would not be written on tablets of stone, but rather it is written on the hearts of all peoples who place their faith in the Son of God, who gave His life on the cross that all people might be saved. The gift of the Holy Spirit ratifies the covenant the Father made with us, and crowns all of God’s mighty acts from the beginning of time. As Paul says to the Corinthians, “no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit.” And no one can build a church without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
That last point is so obvious in John’s gospel, which all may recall from the beginning of the Easter season. The rest of the gospel (not quoted) is about Thomas, but even the small snippet that is today’s gospel, gives us a glimpse of the time following the crucifixion. The disciples were not so much worried about building a church, or adding to the number of disciples, they were worried about themselves. People know us and will recognize us as His disciples, and if they did this to Him, they are likely to do the same thing to us! Fear was in the air; the doors were locked, and they were safe.
It is in this fear-laden time, on Easter Sunday, that Jesus breaks through, not only the doors, but He dispels the fears of the disciples. Jesus gives those in the room two things: one they desperately wanted, “Peace,” and another that they didn’t know they needed: “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’.” It’s not as though they never heard Jesus speak about the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete), especially in John’s gospel. The church of the gospels often saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, a harmless little bird, who fishermen likely had very little respect for. It is in the pages of Acts, which we have been reading throughout this entire Easter season, that we see the effects of the Holy Spirit. We see energetic, not fear-filled men preaching the gospel as taught to them by the Savior. We see men healing bodies and souls, and acknowledging that any power that might be visible in them is not their own doing, but it is because the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit dwells within them. The Holy Spirit is the giver of spiritual gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. If the Spirit shared with us at our baptism gave us wisdom, then why are we not any wiser? More understanding? More brave and courageous? If we are cooperating with the Spirit within us why do we not have more knowledge of God’s ways, better discernment, and more reverence for God?
If the truth be told, our humanity weighs us down, and our instincts are sometimes at odds with the inclinations of the Spirit. Blinded by other realities – power, vengeance, money and the goods of this world – we sometimes fail to see the precious Spirit living within us. To the extent that we act virtuously, to that extent are we likely to be in tune with what the Spirit desires us to do. Imagine the overwhelming change that would be possible in the world if every Christian acted in consort with the Holy Spirit!
The world outside of the empty tomb was waiting to be changed for the better, and eleven friends of Jesus, who appeared at first to be so cowardly, were given an injection of the Spirit by the Master Himself, and now they were ready to take on the known world, one soul at a time. The ancient world was made better because eleven Spirit-filled men had the fortitude to preach what was taught to them. May our world be made better by our full cooperation with the Spirit dwelling within us. Come, Holy Spirit, whose gift we celebrate today, and fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. Amen.
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