Return to Holy Family Church Home Page
“No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (1Cor 12:2b). Pentecost is all about the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, the advocate who sanctifies. Jesus said; we would no longer see him in the physical person here on earth, but he would send the Holy Spirit that will teach us everything and remind us of all that he told us (Jn 14:26). This is precisely how we are to see God the Father and His only Son, Jesus. It is in and through the Holy Spirit.
And the significance of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit enables us, to witness, to proclaim, to forgive, and to bring peace. By Christ's ascending into heaven and sending the Spirit, he makes his mission our mission. As a result, we are enabled to continue Jesus' mission through the gift of the Spirit, "which is given for some benefit" (1Cor 12:7) to the whole community. The gifts of the Spirit are not directed to individuals, but given for the common good. Jesus gives the Holy Spirit so that we can take up his mission: As the Father has sent Jesus, so too he sends us (Jn 20:21b) to proclaim the Gospel throughout the entire world. It is the Spirit who transforms us, into who we need to be, to fulfill this mission. Christ makes us one with him and one with one another. It is one body of Christ created from diverse ethnic or social backgrounds and blessed with different gifts. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body (1Cor 12:13).
The Spirit first draws us into Christ, and then sends us out to proclaim Christ to the world. Jesus breathes on the disciples, giving birth to a new creation, enabling them to take up His work. Clearly, the gift of the Spirit is for the sake of Jesus' mission: "so I send you ... Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:21b,22b).
This is not a one-time event that takes place. The coming of the Spirit happens each time we do the works of God and manifest him for the benefit of all. It is an incredible mystery that God's Son, Jesus, took on human flesh, ministered here on earth, and then died and rose for our salvation. Another great mystery that is often overlooked is each and every one of us is called to make His plan of salvation, and to share in God's divine life.
The re-creation of the Spirit, however, is more than a share in Jesus' risen life and the bestowal of gifts. When Jesus appeared to the disciples "on that first day of the week ... he showed them his hands and his side" (Jn 20:20). By those wounds the disciples knew it was, indeed, their crucified Lord who was now glorified. In showing the disciples his wounds, however, Jesus also reminds us that if we are to take up his mission through the power of the Spirit, we too, will be wounded. Even Pentecost reminds us that the only way to fully share in Jesus' risen, glorified life, is through death.
And I suppose this may be why the disciples were overcome with fear, and barricaded themselves behind locked doors. Do we sometimes barricade ourselves behind these same locked doors for fear of being wounded? It was in the midst of their fear and trepidation that Jesus mysteriously appeared among them. Calming them with the greeting “Peace be with you.” Jesus offers us this very same greeting today. It is a gift granted to all believers.
Sometimes the presence of the Spirit is expected in the extraordinary manifestations, "driving wind," "tongues as of fire" and we overlook the Spirit manifested in simple daily experiences, "forms of service," "peace," and "forgiveness". The Spirit is also manifested in our courage to embrace dying to self.
Another expectation might be to think of Jesus' mission as the mission of the institutional church. But, Pentecost reminds us that the mission is ours, personally. The Spirit is breathed into each of us and, hence, each of us must take up the mission of Jesus, with the unique gifts that are “given for some benefit” (1Cor 12:7) to the whole community.
The good news is that the "mighty acts of God" will endure because we have been empowered to continue them. Jesus has breathed upon us his very Spirit and sent us to carry out the Spirit's greatest work. This work of the Spirit is a constant renewal of relationship between us and God, between one another, and all of the created world.
Just as the body has many parts, but is one body, so too the Holy Spirit comes with many gifts. Each gift is an encounter with Jesus, unwrap your gifts, and discover for yourself the mystery that is within.