The Feast of the Pentecost (the descent of the Holy Spirit over the Disciples )

 

The church put in front of us the following readings:

 

*The first reading from Acts 2: 1--21

          In his Acts (2:1-21), St. Luke narrates the news of the advent of the Holy Spirit on the 50th day of the Resurrection. The event begins with a gusty wind that reminds us of the thunders and lightning that preceded the meeting of the Chosen People of God with Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19: 16-17). Then tongues of fire appeared that preserved them as the fire of a furnace did with Daniel's companions (Dan 3:25). They were scattered among one of the 120 disciples (Acts 1:15). The spirit that Jesus promised fell upon humanity, especially the believer. It was flying over the universe upon creation (Genesis 1: 2) and also over the new society, represented by the early believers in Jesus Christ, to renew and develop it.

          The first fruit of the new creation is that the believer in Christ communicates with all people and speaks their languages. In return, everyone can understand the language of the disciples of Christ because it is the language of heaven. Luke affirms that those who flocked to the attic “came from every nation under the sky.” They were “all bewildered and astonished” at what was happening, as they never saw or heard that something similar had happened. Instead, the opposite occurred in Babylon, when the people of the same nation no longer understood each other, so they were divided among themselves and were scattered throughout the world (Genesis 11: 5-9). The Spirit of God, love, brotherhood, understanding, and cooperation departed from them. They could not live together and be dispersed. As for here ( in Pentecost's time), they came from afar, and when the Spirit of God united them, they relaxed with each other and came to a mutual understanding. Where God is present, people relax and be his children, as they begin to understand each other. Christ provided his apostles with a permanent divine presence. Their divine mission includes all nations and gathers all people in Christ.

 

*The second reading from 1 Corinthians 12: 1-27

          This spirit, with a distinct type on those who believe in Christ, has descended upon the whole of humanity. Its mission is to feed human life with the Spirit of God and inspire people, each one in a specific and different way, in order to follow a particular path in building a social life. These different ways are called “spiritual gifts,” which are the work of the soul in man for the “common good.” Christ and his believers form one body, Jesus is the head, and the believers are members, Jesus moves everyone, but each one plays a special role different from others. The spirit inspires him and sustains him in it until all the requirements of the kingdom of God are complete. The work of each member completes the work of the other members without conflict but in harmony and completeness because he who inspires and moves all the members is the same one, the Divine Spirit.

          As the members complement each other, they are affected by each other. For example, if a member fails to function, then he will suffer, and the whole body will be hurt. Because a part of the body malfunctions and causes a deficiency of the entire body. Thus in the body of Christ, his Church, services abound and differ from each other, but they are equal to performing the service required of them to build the kingdom

 

*The third reading from John 14: 15-16, 25-26; 15: 26; 16: 1 - 15

          The way to obtain the gifts of the Spirit is to love Jesus and adhere to what He commanded. The solutions of the soul and the determination of his mission are not related to people's will. It is a gift from the Lord. A person can hinder the work of the soul and not be bound by it. But he cannot take it out of his life. Because just as Jesus stays with his church throughout the ages, so also the Spirit remains with the believers “forever.” His role is to teach people everything their service needs, especially to understand the depth of Jesus' thought. And to remind them to teach it so that the views of the world do not overpower them. And to prove their faith in Jesus as a witness that it is the truth, so that they do not weaken and deny their persecutors; He supports them in their struggle and distress, so they will stand firm in their testimony to him.

          Jesus knew that the people of the world would never stop persecuting his followers. Instead, their hatred against them multiply and distort the faith to the point that their killers “think that they are performing a service for God” (16: 2). But their claim will not change the truth of Christ. Jesus remains the truth because he is God. The truth does not impose itself with weapons and blood. The truth is sure of itself and reassured that it will always be supreme and nothing will prevail over it. It does not fight evil, corruption, and delusion with the sword. It is like the light of the sun, imposes upon itself its goodness and bliss. No matter how much the clouds oppose his path, they will not be able to prevent him from spreading life to humanity. It continues to radiate and warm. So Jesus does nothing to remove evil from his disciples. Rather, it provides them with a power superior to that of the enemy so that they, in turn, may triumph over evil as he did, even if with the testimony of blood like him. You are my witnesses, and as they persecute me, they will persecute you. But “take courage, I have conquered the world” because “the master of this world has been condemned and judged.”

          Neither the apostles nor today's believers could comprehend, right away, all of Jesus' teaching and instruction. He promised them that He would send them His Divine Spirit to “guide them to all truth” (16:13) in his due season, according to the needs of every person, place, or time. Because the Holy Spirit is the third person of God. The revelation and inspiration of God will not be resolved all at once but rather in separate, successive, and complementary stages, according to the growth of a person's thought, circumstances and needs. Just as “He who sees Jesus has seen the Father” because “He and the Father are one,” so the work of the Spirit is nothing but a continuation of the work of the Son because he does not “speak from himself ” but continues “the words of the Son.” And since the words of the Son are nothing but the words of the Father, therefore the word and work of the Spirit is the word and work of the One God. Since there is only one God in the universe and the creatures, who is the Creator, and one Savior is Christ, so all human beings have only one guide, who is the Holy Spirit who reveals the will of God and guarantees the help of the Redeemer and revives the truth to lead the universe to his salvation.