Dear Folks,
This is the Solemnity of Pentecost the great feast of the Holy Spirit, the birthday of the Catholic
Church, one of the three biggest celebrations of the Church year. The story of Pentecost is in Acts
chapter 2, but the other readings in the lectionary give us a lot to flesh out the story.
We have a lot of choices for the first reading on the Vigil, but the most well-known one is the story
of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. It starts with people united, but then trying to attain heaven
by their own power (similar to the sin of Adam and Eve). Their pride winds up dividing them.
Their languages got confused and they couldn’t communicate anymore, so they dispersed. Such is
the power of sin. This is undone by the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which allowed
people of all different languages to understand each other. The Holy Spirit unites and heals
division. Such isthe power of the Holy Spirit.
There is more.
The other possible first readings for the vigil include Exodus 19, which shows God revealing
Himself in thunder and lightning, smoke and fire. Ezekiel 37 is the story of Ezekiel preaching to
the dried bones that came together, were covered with flesh and sinews, then came back to life.
This was a sign that the people of Israel, scattered by the exile, were considered dead as a people,
and God was going to bring them back home. Joel 3 talks about God pouring out His spirit “upon
all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young
men shall see visions; even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days, I will pour out my
spirit.” No one is too humble to receive this gift. There is a sense that God is going to do great
things, greater than people would expect or imagine.
The second reading is Romans 8:22:27. St. Paul speaks of creation “groaning in labor pains (an
image used a number of times in the Bible, for example Romans 13:8 and John 16:21).” This
encouragement says to people that are going through overwhelmingly difficult times that the gift of
God will make it worth it.
The Gospel for the vigil is John 7:37-39, in which Jesus calls those who thirst to come to Him and
drink, and He will make rivers of living water flow from us (remember the conversation with the
woman at the well in John 4), and we are reminded that this refers to the Holy Spirit, which will
only be given after Jesus has been glorified. To a desert culture (in contrast to a dessert culture),
water was very powerfully seen as the power of life where there is otherwise death. Notice that this
speaks of us not only receiving this living water, but being a source of it for the world.
On Pentecost Sunday, the first reading is, of course, the story of Pentecost. The second reading is
the image of the Church being the Body of Christ, and we members of the Church are parts of this
body. We are connected, and share common traits (like needing a compatible blood type), but
must also be very different. It is very good that feet and livers are different. I’m not a biologist, but
I know they are not interchangeable. We, members of the Church, have all been given gifts from
God, and these gifts, though different, are all needed and valuable. Such is the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Finally, the Gospel is John 20:19-23, in which the Risen Jesus give the disciples the Holy Spirit to
enable them to forgive sins. I can’t imagine unity in the body without forgiveness. The Spirit that
unites us and makes us one is the one at work to heal sin and division. One of the signs that the
Holy Spirit is at work in our community is our ability to come together, work together, and get
along with each other. One of the signs that the community is not open to the work of the Holy Spirit is factions and divisions between people.
This should give us much food for thought on Pentecost, and I highly recommend taking some
time with some of these Scriptures. I also recommend Dove Bars.
Blessings,
Fr. Jim
And two extra notes:
With all that is happening now, I need to say that if people use others’ bad behavior to excuse their own bad behavior, things will not get better. We need them to get better. This is a time to build up and not tear down. Remember, two wrongs don’t make a right, but two Wrights make an airplane. Let us do what is Wright.
I am willing to learn from anyone who says something I find worth learning. I never expected to learn something prophetic from Wesley (no, not John Wesley, but Wesley from the Princess Bride): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HnvQM465zM