PENTECOST SUNDAY:Homily

First Reading Acts 2, 1-11
Second Reading 1 Corinthians 12, 3-7. 12-13
Gospel John 20, 19-23
                               
                                   By Fr. Solomon Zaku


My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, today we celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost. It is a day on which we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus. Pentecost is the birth day of the church because the church started on Pentecost day. Pentecost was originally a Jewish feast which is celebrated every fifty days after the feast of Passover. This feast usually brings many devout Jews to Jerusalem; this explains why there were many Jews in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles.
The Holy Spirit came in fulfillment of the promise of Jesus to his disciples. The Holy Spirit is the advocate who came in order to teach, empower and guide the apostles. After the death of Jesus, the disciples of Jesus became despaired, afraid and locked themselves in a room for fear of the Jews. They thought that was the end of everything because their Master has been killed. Even though Jesus had told them that he will die on the cross and rise on the third day, and send the Holy Spirit they forgot about all the promises that he made to them.

However with the resurrection of Jesus and the descent of the Holy Spirit the story changed. When the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples of Jesus, the hope that was lost was restored and their fear left them. The apostles went out to preach about Jesus fearlessly and with conviction. The text we read from the Acts of the Apostle described how this incidence took place. The Holy Spirit came on the disciples of Jesus in the form of the flames of fire and gave them the gift of speaking in tongue.  The apostles preached and all the people heard them in their different languages.  Acts 2:41 tells us that about three thousand people were converted. Only one sermon converted three thousand people. On the contrary today one may need to preach three thousand sermons to convert one person. Why? This is because today many of us find pleasure in sinning; many don’t see the need for repentance and many of us have lost the sense of sin.
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus is a reversal of what happened at Babel. In Gen 11:1-9 we hear of the story of how God confused the language of the people who were trying to build a tower that would reach heaven. They did not understand each other anymore and so moved away from each other. At Pentecost, the Spirit gathers again together those who had dispersed. Today all those who allow themselves to be transformed by the word of the Gospel and by the Spirit now speak a language that everybody can understand and that bring people together once again: the language of love. It is the Spirit that forms a new family where all can understand and love each other. Love is the mark of a true follower of Jesus. (Story of mother Teresa)
There are three basic elements marking the event: the sound of a mighty wind, tongues of fire and charism of speaking in other languages. All these three elements are rich in symbolic meaning.
First of all the sound of a mighty wind. In Hebrew as in Greek, “wind” is a synonym of “Spirit” (ruah, pneuma). It also means “breath”. In the Bible a strong wind announces the presence of God. It is the sign of theophany. “He (the Lord) rode on a cherub, and flew; he was seen upon the wings of the wind” (2 Sam 22, 11). In the Book of Ezekiel we read: “As I looked, a stormy wind came out of the north, a great cloud, with brightness round about it, and fire, flashing forth continually, and in the middle of the fire, something like gleaming amber” (1, 4).
In particular, the breath of wind is the expression of the divine power which draws forth chaos the order of creation. “The earth was a formless void, and the darkness covered the face of the deep; while a wind from God swept over the face of waters” (Gen 1, 2). In the account of the creation of man the book of Genesis says: “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being” (2, 7).
After the resurrection “(Jesus) breathed on them (the Apostles), and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them, if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (Jn 20, 22-23). Here there is recreation. The Holy Spirit’s action through which one is born of the Spirit (cf. Jn 3, 5), as it happens in the adoptive son ship worked by divine grace, is compared to the wind. This analogy used by Jesus highlights the total spontaneity and generosity of this action, through which people are made participants in God’s life. The symbol of the wind seems to bring about in a special way that supernatural dynamism through which God himself draws near to people to transform them from within, to sanctify them and in a certain sense, to divinize them.
“The wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (Jn 3, 8).
The breath is the most immaterial reality we perceive. It cannot be seen. It is intangible. It cannot be grasped by the hand. It seems to be nothing and yet it is vitally important. The person who does not breathe cannot live. The difference between a living person and a dead person is that the former has breath and the latter has not.
Life comes from God. Therefore God is said to be the breath itself. He is “Spirit”, “Ruah”. The fundamental idea expressed in the biblical name of the spirit is, therefore, not that of an intellectual power, but that of a dynamic impulse, similar to the force of the wind. The function of the spirit is dynamism, to give movement. There is also the aspect of interiority. Indeed breath enters into man.
A sound like the rush of a mighty wind is the first element of the theophany of Pentecost, a manifestation of the divine power.
The second element of the Pentecost event is fire. “Divided tongues as of fire appeared among them” (Acts 2, 3). Fire is always present in the manifestation of God in the Old Testament. We see this in the covenant between God and Abraham. Abraham saw a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passing through the cut pieces of sacrifice (cf. Gen 15, 17). Likewise “the angel of the Lord appeared to him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of a bush; …the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed” (Ex 3, 2). Again, the column of fire guided the people of Israel by night through the desert (cf. Ex 13, 21-22). Fire is present particularly in the manifestation of God on Mount Sinai.  Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke, because the Lord had descended upon it in fire” (Ex 19, 18). Fire, therefore, symbolizes the presence of God. On several occasions the Holy Scripture states that “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb 12, 29; cf. also Deut 4, 24; 9, 3).
The memory of the special manifestation of God in the form of fire was alive in the soul of Israel and disposed the disciples of Jesus to understand the meaning of the new communications contained on the day of Pentecost. They understood that the tongues of fire signified their mission of proclamation, witness and preaching the Word of God which Jesus himself had enjoined on them. They understood that fire was not only in relation to the Law of God which Jesus had confirmed and brought to completion, but also to himself, to his person, and to his life, death and resurrection.  If fire symbolizes God’s presence, the tongues of fire distributed and resting on their heads seem to indicate the descent of God, the Holy Spirit, on those present, the gift of himself to each of them to prepare them for their mission.
Tongues of fire which appeared over the head of each one present also signify the enthusiasm enkindled in them by the Holy Spirit. The apostles extended this enthusiasm to their listeners, as already happen after peter’s first discourse on the first day of Pentecost. “Those who welcomed his message were baptized and that day about three thousand persons were added” (Acts 2, 41).
Tongues of fire also mean various gifts and tasks, various paths and vocations in the manifold sensitiveness to the needs of the Church and the world. They main various services of salvation, various initiatives and programs he has given to us so that in this richness, plurality and multiplicity we may form by the working of the holy spirit, the unity of the Body.
St. Paul tells us : “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activate all of them in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… for just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. for in the one spirit we were all baptized into one body--- Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Cor 12, 4-7. 12-13).
Under the action of the Holy Spirit the tongues of fire became the Word on the lips of the Apostles. “And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2, 4).
Here is, then, the third element marking the event of Pentecost, tongues of fire and the charism of speaking in other tongues. The words that come from the Holy Spirit are like fire (cf. Jer 5, 14; 23,29). They have efficacy that mere human words do not possess. In this third element of the manifestation of God at Pentecost, God the Holy Spirit is giving himself to men, produces in them an effect which is both real and symbolic. It is real in that it concerns the faculty of speech which is a natural property of men. However, it is also symbolic since those men from Galilee while using their own language or dialect, speak in other languages so that in the multitude that speedily gathered each one hears his own language, although representatives of many different people were present (cf. Acts 2, 6).
The symbolism of multiplication of languages is very significant. According to the Bible the diversity of languages was the sign of the multiplication of peoples and nations and indeed of their dispersal following on the construction of the tower of Babel (cf. Gen 11, 5-9). The word “Babel” means confusion. Men wanted to build a tower as high as heaven, that is, in a way, they wanted to become like God. Because of their pride, their language became different from group to group and they have to scatter in various directions. Actually, what the Bible means is that their pride and their sins were a cause of division among them, and the human family was broken into many groups, in disagreement with one another.
Now at Pentecost the opposite thing happens. One might say that the many incomprehensible languages have lost their specific character or at least have ceased to be a symbol of division, giving way to the new work of the Holy Spirit, who through the Apostles and the Church brings to spiritual unity peoples of different origins, languages, cultures in view of the perfect communion in God announced and implored by Jesus (cf. Jn 17, 11.21-22).
In the Church, language is not a barrier. The people gathered around the Upper Room asked: “Are not all these who speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in our own native tongue? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the part of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and the visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs in our own languages we hear them speaking out God’s deeds of power (Acts 2, 7-11).
The Holy Spirit is person. The Holy Spirit is breath, wind and fire. The Holy Spirit is gift, grace and glory. The Holy Spirit is openness, power and activity. The Holy Spirit is love, life and holiness.
Like the apostles of Jesus, we have all received the Holy Spirit at our baptism and confirmation. The spirit has also given us different gifts. Some have the gift of healing, some the gift of speaking in tongue, some the gift of interpretation, some the gift of eloquence, some the gift of wisdom, some the gift of knowledge and the likes. All these gifts are to be used for the good of the church and the glory of God. St. Paul tells us in 1Cor.12:3-4 that “there is variety of gifts but always the same Spirit, there are all sort of service to be done but always the same Lord; working in all sort of different people, it is same God who is working in  all of them.” We should not allow our gifts to make us think that we are better than other people. On the other hand we should not be envious of other people’s gift. All of us cannot have the same gifts but each of us has his or her gift. The question each of us must ask himself or herself is: how well have I used my gifts? (Story - envious woman).
As Christians who have received the Holy Spirit we must live our lives in the Spirit. We must do away with the work of the flesh. St. Paul in Galatians 5:16-23 made distinction between life in the flesh and life in the spirit. He said the work of the flesh is: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy anger, quarrel, dissention factions’ envy, drunkenness, carousing and things like these” (Galatians 5:19-21). By contrast, the fruit of the Sprit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).  It is only when we live by the Spirit that we will become true disciples of Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, let us, confidently speak about Jesus to the world for the Spirit we received is not the Spirit of timidity but the Spirit of Sonship which makes us cry “Abba father”. Like the apostles, having received the Holy Spirit we too are called to go and preach the gospel. We should witness Christ to the world.
We pray today that the Lord will fill us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we will live as true Christians may the Lord grant us the Spirit of wisdom to despise the perishable things of this world, the Spirit of understanding to enlighten our minds with divine truths, the Spirit of counsel to choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of fortitude to be able to bear our crosses, the Spirit of knowledge that we many grow perfect in the science of the saints and God, the Spirit of piety  that we may find the service of God sweet and amiable and the Spirit of  fear that we may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and  may dread in any way to  displease him. May we become God’s instrument of both now and forever through Christ our Lord.