A reflection for Pentecost Sunday – 19 May 2024

Fifty days after Easter, we commemorate the events described in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles:

 

This feast refers to Christ’s promise in John’s Gospel:

 

• • Who is this Paraclete, the Comforter, the long-awaited Protector of whom the Scriptures say “when he has finally arrived”, the one who enables us to speak in other tongues?
  • Why does he announce his presence through charisms, gifts of the spirit?
  • Do those who pray to the Father receive him?

 

Talking about the Holy Spirit takes us back to the origins of the Church, which we discover in the Gospel of the Spirit, as the Acts of the Apostles is called. We already recognise the action of the Spirit of God in the events that preceded them, and in the promises and gifts that are recalled and made present among the Jews every year during the feasts of Passover and Shavuot. These two feasts are deeply linked, showing a connectivity in the understanding of God as the liberating God, the one who gives freedom. He brings his people out of the physical slavery of Egypt (Passover) and, desiring total liberation for everyone, offers the gift of the Torah (Shavuot), the study and practice of which lead to spiritual freedom. During the festival of Shavuot, the Torah is studied throughout the night in synagogues decorated with fresh flowers and branches. The purpose of this festival is to remind us that the covenant between God and Israel is eternal and that the gift of the Torah, as the source of the Law, is the path to freedom that brings peace to all humanity.

In the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, we read that Jews, pious men from every nation under heaven, had gathered in Jerusalem. They had come for the feast of Shavuot. The disciples of Jesus are also present. But after the recent events of fifty days ago, they already know that nothing will be the same again. Their ears are still ringing with the words spoken by their two brothers on the road to Emmaus: “We hoped…” (cf. Lk 24:21). They remember the fear and bitterness of those last days, linked to the events of the passion and death of Jesus, which they had witnessed. They went their separate ways. But today there is a renewed strength and hope in them that, after these surprising encounters with the Risen Lord, will enable them to be together again. They have returned to Jerusalem, where everyone, including the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, is united in prayer. They were filled with joy and amazement, for they recognised the “Passage” from death to life of their Master and Lord: “…they returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were constantly in the Temple praising God” (Lk 24:52-53). It is with these words that the evangelist Luke concludes his Gospel. But from the very first words of the Gospel of the Spirit, he recalls Jesus’ recommendation to his disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father (cf Acts 1:4).

When the day of Pentecost (Shavuot) finally arrived (cf Acts 2:1-3), they all received the gift that “filled” them and “rested” on each of them. Immediately, they could speak as the Spirit enabled them. From now on, every nation under the sun and every person can hear the wonders of God in their own language (cf Acts 2:11).

This outpouring of the Spirit shows us the courage to be together and allows us to be open to what we might call “foreign languages”. In every generation, the Holy Spirit teaches us unity in diversity. It is this Spirit that is our beacon on the common path to the knowledge of God. It is also the Spirit who enables us to discover spiritual realities, the realities of God Himself.

Today, on this special day of Pentecost, when Christians around the world renew their faith, let us ask God’s Spirit to fill us all and rest upon us, so that we may have the courage to proclaim God’s great works.