By Rev. Fr. Sylvanus Ifeanyi Amaobi
(1st Reading, Acts 2:1-11, 2nd Reading, Rom. 8:8-17, Gospel, John 14:15-16,23-26)
Dear brothers and sisters, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
THE PENTECOST EXPERIENCE
Today, the Church celebrates the solemnity of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, also known as the Pentecost event. The Book of Acts of the Apostles provides an account of what happened on the Day of Pentecost. The apostles were in one place together, and suddenly, a noise like a strong driving wind came from the sky and filled the house. Then, there appeared tongues of fire resting on each of them. And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them. This is called the Pentecost experience or event.
The resultant effect was that the apostles went out preaching audaciously about Jesus Christ as the Messiah, teaching about His life, His death, and His resurrection. Therefore, the apostles were empowered and emboldened at the time of the Pentecost event or experience. The Holy Spirit brought courage and removed the attitude of fear from them. Thus, today's celebration is also the celebration of the empowerment of the apostles, our empowerment, and the birthday of the Church.
THE FULFILMENT OF CHRIST'S PROMISE
The Pentecost event is the fulfillment of Jesus Christ's promise to send the Holy Spirit to His apostles. In the Gospel reading of today, Jesus said, "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you always…The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you." Thus, He has the responsibility of teaching the truth about Jesus Christ because He is the Spirit of truth (Jn. 14:17). This He does by keeping the memory of Jesus' teachings alive within the Christian community and disclosing new insights into the meaning of Jesus' life and actions.
As we celebrate Pentecost today, let us pray for the Pentecost experience, that the Holy Spirit descends upon us and bestows His gifts on us. There is no doubt that many of us, in our spiritual journeys, have encountered or received the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands and confirmation. The celebration of today challenges us to fan into flame or reawaken the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, just as St. Paul advised and encouraged Timothy in 2 Tim 2:6.
THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit gives us gifts to help us in our Christian lives and journeys. The traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit are WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, COUNSEL, FORTITUDE, KNOWLEDGE, PIETY, and AWE OF GOD. We should allow the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be operative and be used and made recourse to in our daily lives.
The Holy Spirit has a transformative effect on those who receive Him. When we receive the Holy Spirit, and He dwells in us, He influences our thoughts, actions, and beliefs, and we are able to please God. We are no longer in the flesh when the Holy Spirit possesses us. St. Paul tells us, "Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Rm 8:8), which was read in today's second reading.
But we are in the Spirit, as the Spirit of God dwells in us. And if we live by the Spirit, Paul says, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh such as immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, anger, selfishness, envy, orgies, and the like (Gal. 5:16ff). Instead, we will bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Gal. 5:22).
Always remember that Jesus loves you!