Homily for the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, May 19, 2024. Readings: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11, 1 Corinthians 12:3-13, Gospel of St. John 20:19-23. Living a Double-Life…But in a Good Way!
The Solemnity of Pentecost has always been a very special Sunday for me. I like the joy and hope that this feast brings into our lives as we celebrate the Great Arrival of the Holy Spirit which is also the birthday of the Church! Because Pentecost commemorates the sending of the Spirit whom in the Creed we call “the Lord and Giver of Life”, it reminds me that we are most fully alive and more surely reaching our potential when we are living his gift of life to the fullest in both of its forms. This means that in addition to the tender loving care that we show for our physical lives, we have to also give full and proper attention to our supernatural lives.
We all know that it’s by birth from a mother that we enter into our natural life and that we need to develop it and nurture this gift of our physical existence. But what about our supernatural life, our spiritual self, what we call our immortal soul? It also has needs that must be met if it is going to grow and prosper. As with natural birth, spiritual life also begins with a birth, the kind of birth that Jesus called “being born again of water and the Holy Spirit '' in Baptism. Just like our bodily health, the vitality of our souls also needs attention and development which we can provide for it through prayer, reading the Word of God and receiving the Sacraments, especially Holy Eucharist. And just like our natural lives, the supernatural life also needs the care and loving support of a family, and this is precisely why Christ gave us the Christian community, the spiritual family of the Church.
And this is where Pentecost comes into the picture. How so? Well, before Pentecost the Church was being formed by Jesus but it was very much inward-looking and kind of unseen, much like a child in the womb. But on that first Christian Pentecost, fueled by the fire-power and mighty wind of the Holy Spirit, the Church, like an unborn baby, burst out of its spiritual womb and spilled onto the streets of Jerusalem! Like a newly delivered child it had finally received the one last thing that it needed for an exuberant life: air…oxygen…breathing! You see, in the original languages of the Bible, the one same word that means “Spirit” also means “breath” or “air”. The Holy Spirit is the very “Breath of God” who gives us supernatural life. The Holy Spirit is the “Air We Breathe” to keep the divine life pulsating and circulating within us. This is why we call Pentecost the “birthday of the Catholic Church”.
St. Paul reminds us of this in today’ second reading that in addition to being a Life-giver, the Holy Spirit is also a Gift-giver. He intentionally places within each one of us gifts or abilities for the support of the family of the Church, for the building up of our spiritual lives. Such gifts might be singing or reading at Mass to enhance worship; it might be compassion to help relieve the sufferings of the needy poor; maybe it’s the ability to visit the sick or the capacity to support those who are struggling emotionally; perhaps it's teaching the Faith to others or exercising a gift of prayerful intercession. The list of gifts is really endless. Whatever it might be, each one of us has received a gift to contribute to the life of our parish and to the support of the whole spiritual family.
In our first reading from the Book of Acts we heard of how the Holy Spirit manifested himself in a rush of mighty wind. This got the attention of the disciples who were then pushed by his invisible hands out of the room and into the streets of Jerusalem where they needed to be seen and heard! The Spirit set them on fire with eagerness to bring the message of Jesus to others and maybe that’s what we need to ask for on this Pentecost. That the Holy Spirit gets our attention and sets our hearts on fire for Christ. That he pushes us out of ourselves and into the lives of others, so that they, too, can experience the Spirit’s gift of life, both natural and supernatural, and become most fully the people God created them to be!
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