Tagbilaran Diocese Website

May 31, 2009
Pentecost Sunday (B)
Acts 2: 1-11 / Psalm 104: 1, 24, 29-31, 34 /
1 Cor 12: 3-7, 12-13 / John 20: 19-23

THE GIFT OF THE SPIRIT

Word: This text is also used each year on the Second Sunday of Easter, when the reading continues with the story of Thomas. Today our attention focuses on the gift of the Spirit and the forgiveness of sins.
John’s account of the appearance of Jesus occurs on the evening of Easter Sunday, which is a reminder that Pentecost is the other end of the Easter feast. Unlike Luke’s account in Acts, John describes the giving of the Spirit on the day of the resurrection rather than 50 days later.
The account starts with this: On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:19). Fear! Our world is always built on fear!
We must look squarely for the fears in our own lives. Let’s ask: In which situations am I “shut”? Which circumstances, sins, anxieties imprison us?
St. Paul compares it to death: “So death is at work in us, but… we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:12;16-17).
Not without purpose does John link together the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit. In the Nicene Creed, we profess by saying: “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life…” This gift of life is first received by Jesus.
His sudden presence in the midst of his shut-in disciples signifies that no obstacle can keep Jesus back from standing among his own. Jesus breaks all barriers.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord (Jn 20:20). Confronted by fears in various forms, are we wondering where the Paschal rising takes place? Do we find it difficult to discern the presence of the Spirit? The answer is within our reach: when we try to find out where the scars, and the wounds are in our hearts, in our lives. By seeing the wounds of Jesus, his fearful disciples also saw their own fears. In Jesus, we can have journey “from fear to joy”. By recognizing their own fears and acknowledging that fear could be strongly overcome, as Jesus did, the disciples rejoiced! Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21). They were “shut-in”; now they are “sent out”.
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven…” (Jn 20-22-23). The breath of life! What we find is a stroke of genius to describe the active presence of God in the world, in terms of what is most essential and ordinary: breathing! From microbes to wild beasts, all living beings breath in the same oxygen: a striking image of the One God who makes us all live!
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Order: The feast of the Pentecost is challenging us. First, we must receive this Spirit. Mankind must receive the community of Spirit which exists between the Father and the Son: several, yet One!
We discover that, in the mission of the Church, there is not only the Father, and the Son whom he sent, but there is also the mystery of the Three Divine Persons.
Second, we must forgive. The role and mission of the Church is to proclaim forgiveness of sin and salvation.
We find a striking progress of thought in this page of St. John: 1) a community of persons experiences the risen Presence of Jesus;; 2) as a fruit of this experience, the community is sent on a mission; 3) this mission is made possible by the gift of the Spirit; and 4) this mission is to pass on Forgiveness, Salvation, Holiness.
The task of the Church, therefore, is LIBERATION. It is to offer to all the infinite love of God.
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Realities: Our own recent history reminds Filipino Catholics of the Spirit’s role in our local Church today. The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines says: “The 1986 experience of solidarity in prayer and mass action preventing violence at a time of national crisis, popularly known as the ‘EDSA experience’, is to be honored as an historical event with a religious dimension that continues to call us to be a people who work for conversion, reconciliation and peace in the way of peace” (PCP II no. 4). This typifies the Church’s constant effort to actively respond to the Spirit’s guidance and inspiration… (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, no. 1306).
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Direction: Divine Spirit, your gifts are diverse. You call some to give clear witness to the desire for a heavenly home and to keep that desire green among the human family. You summon others to dedicate themselves to the earthly service of human beings and to make ready the material of the celestial realm by this ministry of theirs. Grant all of us your freedom so that by putting aside love of self and bringing all earthly resources into the service of human life, we can devote ourselves to that future when humanity itself will become an offering accepted by God. (Prayer for the Freedom of the Spirit Based on Vatican II)

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2009 at 7:59 pm and is filed under Gospel Reflections.