Homily For Pentecost Sunday. June 5, 2022.
Sunday Readings
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear…” (cf Rom 8:14ff)
My Dearest Friends in Christ,
Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, the feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on our Blessed Mother Mary and the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire. It is a feast of the birth of the Church’s missionary activity manifested in the transformation of the frightened Apostles into fearless preachers and evangelizers. It is also a feast of unification manifested in the gift of tongues that united everyone in hearing the Apostolic preaching of Peter in their native language, and thus a reversal of the curse of Babel in Genesis 11:7. It is a feast of renewal indeed, renewal of God’s creation. It is celebrated 50 days after Easter by Christians or 50 days after Passover by the Jews. This feast occupies a singular place in Christianity because of the enormous influence of the third person of the Blessed Trinity , the Holy Spirit, in our Christian life.
Catholic theology teaches that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son m, from a single Principle. The Holy Spirit, together with the Father and the Son, is adored and glorified. It is He who spoke through the Prophets and continues to speak through the Prophets of our time. Hence He is the Teacher, the Advocate, the Consoler, the Helper, and the Counselor. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Love because Love unites. He is the Love of the Father and the Son, the Love that binds the Trinity as one. Although described in various symbolic ways as Fire, Breath, Wind, etc, in the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit is the same Third Person of the Trinity, even though His modes of manifestation and activities vary.
The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles recounts the great event and the miraculous transformation that took place during the first Pentecost, thus fulfilling God’s promise to His Apostles of sending the Paraclete. They were empowered to preach and evangelize and they preached fearlessly. Through Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit and we receive His fullness in Confirmation. Thus we are empowered like the Apostles to be missionaries, to preach the Truth of God’s Word in words and actions any time, any day, anywhere. We must fearlessly confront the evils in our society today rather than shrink away in fear and let evil thrive. The early martyrs were able to face brutal persecution through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. He is still with us today and has not abandoned us or His Church. Therefore we must condemn and uproot any unjust structures in society, and condemn unjust practices or laws. Evil can never triumph over good. We are soldiers of Christ let us not be afraid.
In the second reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians 12ff, Paul explains that there are different spiritual gifts, fruits, and charisms, but all come from the same Holy Spirit given to each one of us for the same purpose of building up the Body of Christ, the Church. Our gifts should unite us in this common mission and goal and should not be a source of conflict or division among us. Whoever uses his or her gifts for personal gains, not only causes division in the Church but works against the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel passage relates how the Risen Jesus gave His Apostles a foretaste of Pentecost on the evening of Easter Sunday by appearing to them and sending them to carry on the mission given Him by His Heavenly Father. He then empowered them to do so by breathing upon them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled His promise to send the Advocate or Paraclete. The Gospel also tells us how Jesus gave to the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins. The Presence of the Holy Spirit is bound inseparably from the gift of forgiveness and is referred to directly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, but these two gifts have a much wider meaning. We are reminded today that our Christian vocation implies showing love to others and offering them forgiveness , just as we have been loved and forgiven by Christ . We must do the same, especially in our world today, which is often fiercely judgmental and vengeful.
We need the Holy Spirit in our lives and in our world which is growing too cold to the things of God. We have become a world bedeviled by secularism and materialism, a world where men and women trust technology rather than the Word of God. We need the Holy Spirit to rekindle the fire and passion for the things of God.
~ In a world where temptations are daily luring us away from obedience to God’s Word we need the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in the war against sin and in bearing witness to Christ by our sincere and honest Christian lives and witness.
~We need the Holy Spirit because He sanctifies and makes us Holy through the Sacraments. This is why we must receive them devoutly in a state of grace. Christians who seek to be holy must commit themselves to the sanctifying power of the Spirit through the reception of the Sacraments at every stage of their life.
~The world constantly floods us with erroneous teachings. Many Christian groups and social media are not helping matters. Worse still, many governments of the world have legalized evils, making even the young and old confused in deciphering what is right or wrong, what is true or false and what is moral and immoral. We need the Holy Spirit to help us to discern what is right and to follow it, to enlighten our confused and darkened minds and to teach us the Truth. When we listen to the Word of God daily and meditate on It , when we dispose ourselves to the infallible teaching of the magisterium and when we obey and believe in our doctrines and dogmas, we will hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit re-echoing in our hearts. He inspires us to do good by speaking to us in the depth of our hearts and directing us to a worthy cause of action. Those who listen to this inner voice and wait for His directions, never regret their actions or fail in their missions. When human sentiments, emotions, and affections becloud our minds, the Holy Spirit makes the distinctions and clarifies our vision.
Therefore, commit everything to God in prayer because the Holy Spirit listens to our prayers and helps us to pray more acceptably. When we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit we receive His gifts to function more effectively in our various callings and ministries in life. We need the courage of the Spirit to proclaim the Gospel fearlessly, even if our lives are endangered by this. We need the Holy Spirit even much more now. We must allow Him to influence and take control of our lives
The feast of Pentecost offers us the opportunity to look at the role that forgiveness should play in our dealings with others. Thus, we are challenged to examine our sense of compassion, patience, tolerance and magnanimity. Learning to forgive is a lifelong task, but the Holy Spirit is with us to make us agents of forgiveness. If we are prepared on this day of Pentecost to receive the Holy Spirit into our lives, we can have confidence that our lives will be marked by the Spirit of forgiveness.
The Holy Spirit dwells in you. You are His temple. Do not expel Him through obstinacy in sin. Let us make our life a Holy dwelling place for Him by reconciling with God in every situation of sinfulness. Let us listen to the Voice of the Holly Spirit and allow Him to direct and influence our lives. May you be filled with His gifts and remain blessed.
Prayer: “Come Holy spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful and kindle in us the fire of your LOVE.”
I keep you and your family always in my prayers. ©Clem C. Aladi (2024)
