Come. O! Holy Spirit Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3b-7,12-13; Jn 20:19-23 (8 Easter/ C)

 

Come. O! Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3b-7,12-13; Jn 20:19-23 (8 Easter/ C)

The apostles spoke in different tongues and proclaimed the wonderful deeds of God. Alleluia.

The season of Easter concludes with today’s celebration, the feast of Pentecost. The word Pentecost originates from the Greek word “pentēkostē”, meaning “fiftieth”. Likewise, “penta” means “five”. The word “Pentecost” reflects the harvest festival “Shavuot” in Judaism. Following the Jewish culture of worship, Christianity marks the celebration of the “fiftieth” day of Easter. The Mother Church celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem. She celebrates the harvest of Christ’s values produced by his Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Many things in our universe are real, even though invisible to our naked eye. What we see with our eyes is only a fraction of our physical world. The Holy Spirit belongs to the spiritual world, and it cannot be seen with our physical eyes.

The fruit of the Holy Spirit created a new human condition in the disciples and fostered unity. When arrogance led people to challenge God by building the Tower of Babel, God confused their languages so that they could not understand each other (Gen 11:1-9). But at Pentecost, he made all people of diverse origins and languages understand the language of the Apostles.  When the Apostles were gathered with the Virgin Mary in the upper room, “…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” (Acts 2:2-3). This explains the word “Ruah” in the Hebrew language.

All the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to preach boldly. Those men, once fearful, were transformed into courageous preachers who never feared imprisonment, torture, or martyrdom. The Holy Spirit helped build the community of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustworthiness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22). Spirit helps us in our weakness (Rom 8:26) and enables us to grow in spiritual freedom from doubt, fear, and slavery to our unruly desires (2 Cor 3:17; Rom 8:21). The Spirit instructs us in living according to God’s will and consecrates us in the truth (Jn 17:17), transforming us internally.

Basil the Great (329-379 AD), an early church father, explains the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives: “The Spirit restores paradise to us and the way to heaven and adoption as children of God. He instills confidence that we may call God truly Father and grants us the grace of Christ to be children of the light and to enjoy eternal glory. In a word, he bestows the fullness of blessings in this world and the next”. The Holy Spirit is the soul of our soul, the life of our life, the being of our being. He is our sanctifier, the guest of our innermost self. To mature in the life of faith, our relationship with him must become increasingly conscious and personal. On this Pentecost celebration, let us throw open the doors of our inner being.

“Send forth your spirit and new life will begin; you will renew the face of the earth”. Alleluia.