Readings: Acts 2:1-11, Ps. 104:1,24,29-31,34, Romans 8:8-17, John 14:15-16,23-26
“And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:3-4)
Today’s Feast is older than Christianity. Pentecost (a word which means fifty) is an annual feast celebrated by the Jews fifty days after Passover. In Leviticus 23:16-17, Moses instructed the Israelites, saying, “Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a cereal offering of new grain to the Lord. You shall bring from your dwellings two loaves of bread to be waved, made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven, for first fruits to the Lord.”
The feast of Pentecost attracted devout Jews from all over the world to Jerusalem, bringing with them cereal offerings and first fruits. Our first reading today states: “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.” (Acts 2:5) Fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, while the Jews were celebrating Pentecost, the disciples of Jesus were gathered in the upper room praying and something happened that would forever change the history of humanity. That day, the Holy Spirit descended mightily upon the Church.
Let us now reflect on some lessons contained in our readings:
1. The Coming of the Holy Spirit Marks the Birthday of the Church.
The first point we note about the Holy Spirit is that upon descending on the Church, He announced His presence loudly. You cannot receive the Holy Spirit without the world knowing it. As St. Paul told Timothy, the Holy Spirit is not a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power. (2 Timothy 1:7). In today’s first reading we read: “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” (Acts 2:1-2)
Like a baby held firmly in its mother’s womb, so was the Church before the day of Pentecost. In today’s Gospel passage, we read that the disciples were in the habit of locking themselves up for fear of the Jews. (Cf. John 20:19). However, like a baby who cries loudly at birth, the sound of the Holy Spirit was heard loudly in Jerusalem on Pentecost.
Hence, it would not be out of place for us to describe today’s celebration as the birthday of the Church. And like every birthday, it calls for Thanksgiving. Today is our birthday as a Church – today we transitioned from being a small group of believers locked up in fear to a great army of believers ready to go out into the whole world to proclaim the goodness of God.
2. The Manifestation of the Holy Spirit is Loud, but Calculated and Intelligible.
On Pentecost Day, the Holy Spirit descended in a loud sound, like a rushing mighty wind. This sound was intended to draw people's attention to the fact that something was happening; it was calculated. It was necessary to attract the crowd because it was the will of God for the disciples to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matt 28:19-20)
Secondly, upon receiving the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to speak in tongues. A similar thing happened at Babel when God confused the language of all the earth (Genesis 11:9). However, unlike Babel, the visitors in Jerusalem understood what the disciples were saying. Unfortunately, many Christians still assume that speaking in tongues is the same thing as speaking gibberish.
On Pentecost day, the disciples were not merely uttering whatever came to their minds; they spoke the tongues of those who had come to Jerusalem. “When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: ‘Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? …We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!’” (Acts 2:6-8,12).
If neither you nor anyone listening to you understands what you are saying, you are not “speaking in tongues”, you are not manifesting the presence of the Holy Spirit, you are simply speaking gibberish. St. Paul would say: “If, therefore, the whole church assembles and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?... If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn; and let one interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silence in church and speak to himself and to God.” (1 Corinthians 14:23-28).
3. To Each is Given The Manifestation of the Spirit For The Common Good.
Addressing the Corinthians, St. Paul says, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). In other words, speaking in tongues is not the only manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
What is the essence of “speaking in tongues” if you are not living a holy life? In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus draws a connection between keeping His commandments and possessing the Holy Spirit. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever…Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” (John 14:15-16,23-24)
What is the essence of shouting and jumping in the church if we still allow sin to dominate our lives? In today’s Second Reading, St. Paul explains what it means to possess the Holy Spirit: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies... So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:11-13). What we need today is not shouting ‘abracadabra’ but sinlessness. We are tired of people speaking gibberish while pretending to know God.
4. If You Receive The Holy Spirit, Go And Announce The Good News.
Even though today’s feast has retained the word “Pentecost”, what we are celebrating today is different from what the Jews continue to celebrate annually, fifty days after Passover. Today, we are not bringing our first fruits (harvest products) before God instead, we are gathered in prayer like the disciples in this upper room (the church) to beseech God to come down upon us once again; to fill us with His gifts and fruits and renew the face of the world.
Today, we are gathered to ask for a revival that, as the Holy Spirit gave utterance to spread God’s words to all the visitors in Jerusalem, we too may become evangelists carrying the Good News to the ends of the world in this digital age. While languages divided the people at Babel, the Holy Spirit’s arrival on Pentecost Day further cemented the unity among the disciples. They spoke different languages but carried the same message. The visitors in Jerusalem testified: “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” (Acts 2:12).
Today, we pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us speak in the new language of the world – artificial intelligence. This is not the time for us to fight ourselves; it is time for us to pool together our various gifts for the common good. St. Paul tells us that “just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptised into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) May the Holy Spirit transform our lukewarm hearts, free us from inclination to sin and empower us to re-evangelise our world that has become so engrossed in darkness.
Let us pray: Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts, and enkindle in us your Sacred Fire. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. May God’s abundant blessings be upon us all. (Pentecost Sunday. Liturgical Colour: Red. Bible Study: Acts 2:1-11, Ps. 104:1,24,29-31,34, Romans 8:8-17, John 14:15-16,23-26).
@Rev. Fr. Evaristus E. Abu