Homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022. Reading: Book of the Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11. Theme: The Message
Today, Pentecost Sunday is called the birthday of the Catholic Church. Up to that day the Church existed of course, but in a kind of unseen way, much like a child in the womb. But with the sending of the Holy Spirit, this Church-in-the-womb burst forth out into the world, making a lot of noise like a healthy newborn child, preaching to everyone the message that Jesus is Savior and Lord of all people. It was and remains a pivotal point in human history and it literally changed the whole world, beginning in Jerusalem.
We can easily imagine the scene of that first Pentecost as described for us in today’s first reading from the Book of Acts. The apostles and other disciples were gathered together in a large room in Jerusalem. Jesus had told them to go back into the city and await the fulfillment of the Promise of the Father. He foretold that when it came they would be filled with power and become his witnesses. And so, united with Mary the Mother of Jesus, about 120 of them were praying for the Promised Gift, the all-powerful and truth-bearing Holy Spirit! And suddenly, without warning, that very Spirit rushed down upon them, transforming them from the inside out, filling them with joy and empowering them to become bold witnesses to the Person and Message of Jesus!
You know, there’s a lot of talk in the Book of Acts about the Message of Jesus and so that might make us ask: What exactly was it that those newly energized apostles powerfully proclaimed with signs and wonders? What did they say to the people on on Pentecost that was so powerful that the Bible tells us that over 3,000 were converted to Christianity that very day?
Well, it’s a Message that we have come to call the Good News or Gospel of Jesus Christ, and here it is in a short 4-step way to accurately summarize it, easily memorize it, and boldly share it with others…
1. God is love, unconditional love. He desires to live in an intimate personal relationship with every human being that he created.
2. At the beginning of our history, we humans rejected this offer of intimacy with God. As a result, we are all born into this world with a spiritual hole in our hearts, so to speak, a void or empty space where God should be.
3. But God would not take no for an answer. Instead, he took the initiative and became one of us in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so that he could personally fix our relationship with God. His teachings show us how to live this relationship. By his Cross and Resurrection he healed the rupture and reconciled us with God.
4. Anyone who wishes to live in this healed relationship with God can do so by trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This begins with baptism by which we become a member of the Body of Christ on earth, living and spreading his Message. For those who choose this pathway, death no longer has the last word over them and sin can no longer hold them captive for eternity.
As I said, this is the whole Message of Jesus, of the whole Bible really, in 4 easy points. It’s the Message of Pentecost…the Message of Christianity. It’s the Message each one of us is called to proclaim by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us.
So, let’s ask this Holy Spirit to make today - and every day really - our own new personal Pentecosts! Let’s renew the promises of our Baptism by which we became temples of the Holy Spirit. Let’s re-embrace the grace of our Confirmation by which the Spirit empowered us to become witnesses to Christ.
Let’s form the habit of praying to him daily saying, “Come, Holy Spirit! Fill me with the fire of your love! Transform me! Lead me! Guide me!”
May he be pleased to come down upon us like he did upon the disciples in Jerusalem, as wind and fire, so that we can give witness by our tongues - and even more so by actions - that Jesus is Lord and the only Way to the Father. It’s a Message everyone desperately needs to hear, to believe and to live today!
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