DOCTRINE AND FAITH (Acts 2,1-11; Romans 8,8-17; John 14, 15-16.23-26: Solemnity of Pentecost: Year C 2016
Today we celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost, the great feast that falls on the 50th day of Easter, when we celebrate the gift of Holy Spirit to the Apostles and to the Church. The Holy Spirit is a gift by the Risen Christ to his people. Indeed as the gospel of today shows, it is Jesus who: promises the Holy Spirit, requests God the Father to send the Holy Spirit, and in whose name the Father will send the Holy Spirit: I shall ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate … the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name.
The first duty of the Holy Spirit is to be and act as an Advocate, a defender. He is to defend and sustain the Apostles and the Christians in difficulties. He is to make them capable to bear witness to their faith. Jesus speaks of another Advocate or defender because He was the first one, as long as He was with them. The second duty of the Holy Spirit is expressed in these words of Jesus: (He) will teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you. In other words, the Holy Spirit will be a master, teacher and adviser in matters pertaining to the interior life, a great spiritual director, so to say, who will propose new ways of understanding the truth already taught by Christ, as well as, deepening and fully interpreting the words of Jesus in the light of His resurrection. The main characteristic of this gift is that, it is not a temporal or passing, but a permanent and continuous one as Jesus indicates: … (an Advocate) to be with you for ever…). Thus, the community of believers, the very nascent Church as well as that of later times are guaranteed that this presence and assistance of the Holy Spirit will never be lacking. (This is vividly expressed by the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, see no. 8).
The first coming of the promised Holy Spirit, the most important, extraordinary and solemn one took place on the day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth day of Easter. The Evangelist, Luke in Acts of the Apostles (first reading) describes the event in terms that were proper to theophanies of the Old Testament: peals of thunder, robust wind and consuming fire. The coming of the Holy Spirit had some prodigious effect on the Apostles. The first effect was that the Apostles had the capacity to express and praise God for the marvels He had wrought. They did it in such a way that all who were there understood them, even though they were of diverse nationalities speaking diverse languages. Being filled with the Holy Spirit, they (the Apostles) began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. …and each one (of the assembly from all the then known nations then in Jerusalem) bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. Thus we have the prefigure of the universality of the Church. In the Church and through her, God will be recognized, praised and thanked by all the people of the world who would be speaking the same language of faith and love. The second effect the Holy Spirit would produce is the reconstruction of the unity of mankind. It is hoped that the lack of unity among people, symbolized in the story of the Tower of Babel, will be reversed when all the people assemble as a unique people of God. All mankind, through the work of the Holy Spirit will speak the same language, be able to understand one another and recognize one another as brothers and sisters in the Church, the unique people of God. The Holy Spirit is the principal realiser of unity of the Church.
In the second reading, Apostle Paul brings out the multiple effects of the action of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the faithful. The Holy Spirit makes us belong to Christ: In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. The presence of the Holy Spirit makes us belong to Christ, be his true disciples and members of his body. Another effect of the Holy Spirit is that He salvages us from the dominion of the flesh, that is to say, from the dominion of selfishness and sin. The egoism which Paul calls flesh and sin, includes every false value that negatively influences our life and leads to death. The Spirit is life. In virtue of this, the Holy Spirit makes us alive, just as he, Christ keeps us truly alive. Another effect, according to Paul, is that the Holy Spirit who lives in us is the guarantee of our final resurrection: just as He made Jesus rise from the dead, in the same way, He will make us rise from the dead. Possessing the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, we have at this moment, the power that makes us alive for ever. Paul goes on to indicate that another effect of the Holy Spirit is that He makes us participate in the divine sonship of Christ. He renders us adopted sons and daughters of the heavenly Father, in such a way that we can cry, as Jesus did, with confidence and abandon, Abba Father. And if we are sons, we are also heirs: heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ who are destined to participate in his glory in heaven.
In the second reading, Apostle Paul brings out the multiple effects of the action of the Holy Spirit in the soul of the faithful. The Holy Spirit makes us belong to Christ: In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to him. The presence of the Holy Spirit makes us belong to Christ, be his true disciples and members of his body. Another effect of the Holy Spirit is that He salvages us from the dominion of the flesh, that is to say, from the dominion of selfishness and sin. The egoism which Paul calls flesh and sin, includes every false value that negatively influences our life and leads to death. The Spirit is life. In virtue of this, the Holy Spirit makes us alive, just as he, Christ keeps us truly alive. Another effect, according to Paul, is that the Holy Spirit who lives in us is the guarantee of our final resurrection: just as He made Jesus rise from the dead, in the same way, He will make us rise from the dead. Possessing the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, we have at this moment, the power that makes us alive for ever. Paul goes on to indicate that another effect of the Holy Spirit is that He makes us participate in the divine sonship of Christ. He renders us adopted sons and daughters of the heavenly Father, in such a way that we can cry, as Jesus did, with confidence and abandon, Abba Father. And if we are sons, we are also heirs: heirs of God, co-heirs with Christ who are destined to participate in his glory in heaven.
The Holy Spirit continues to do, in the Church today, what he did among the disciples on the day of Pentecost and in the nascent Church. He continues to lead the members of Christ’s body, the Church into deeper understanding of their mission. As the giver of gifts, He empowers the faithful to stand up to the challenges of being a true witness. As we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit today, let us pray that we experience his full impact in our lives as the disciples did. Making ours the words of the Pentecost Sequence may we implore the Holy Spirit thus: “Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour thy dew; wash the stains of guilt away; bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill; guide the steps that go astray”. Let us, therefore, conclude with the invocation which comes up often during our liturgical and devotional prayers: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the Faithful and enkindle in us the fire of your Love! Amen! Happy Sunday! Happy Solemnity of Pentecost! +John I. Okoye
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