Jesus Sends the Holy Spirit to Us at Pentecost
John 16:1-15; Acts 1:1-4, 14; 2:1-47
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4: The Jewish Pentecost
In Jewish liturgy Pentecost was the feast that celebrated the giving of the covenant at Sinai. It recalled both God’s covenant with Israel as well as the giving of the Ten Commandments. A mighty wind and fire swept the slopes of Sinai evoking the awesomeness of the occasion. The wind represented the breath of God as the source of all life. The fire symbolized God’s glory that manifested his presence to his people. The Jewish Pentecost took place fifty days after Passover.
The Christian Pentecost
Fifty days after the Christian Passover (Christ’s death and resurrection) the Christian Pentecost occurred in the Upper Room. Led by Mary, the apostles and disciples, numbering 120 people, had completed nine days of prayer for the coming of the Spirit. The Upper Room became like a new Sinai. Once again the mighty breath of God and the fire of his presence swept through the communion of believers. The Holy Spirit confirmed them as the Christian community and manifested the Church. The Spirit filled them with enthusiasm, a term that means “the God within.”
They began speaking in tongues (glossalalia) a language phenomenon that sometimes accompanies profound spiritual experiences. Armed with the fire of the Spirit, and with ecstatic speech on their lips, they flowed out of the Upper Room into the square below where pilgrims from over fifteen nations had assembled for the religious observance.
The extraordinary joy of those who had just been filled with the Holy Spirit affected the pilgrims. In wonder, the crowd vibrated happily with the contagious enthusiasm and excitement of the Spirit-filled community. They identified with the language miracle. There was a fleeting moment when these representatives of the nations of the earth paused from their strife and profound community took place.
The artists of the Middle Ages loved to contrast the babbling and divided mob of Babel ’s Tower to the loving, linguistically united community in the square at Pentecost. The arrogance of Babel is replaced by the humility of Pentecost where God is all in all.
After the first glow of unity subsided, the skeptical soul reappeared. “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others mocking said, ‘They are filled with new wine’”(Acts 2:12 -13)….
Reflection
The Pentecost narrative is a revelation of the Holy Spirit. It is also the action of the Spirit revealing and manifesting the Church. While this is the formal introduction of the presence, person, and power of the Spirit in Scripture, it is necessary to point out that the Spirit has been living and active from the start of God’s plan for salvation.
The Holy Spirit is involved in the plan of salvation from the beginning just as much as the Father and the Son. The Spirit is really God. The Spirit is consubstantial with the Father and the Son and is inseparable from them (cf. Catechism, 689). The Spirit has the same “substance” or divine nature as they do. The Spirit has the same mission as the Son in the cause of salvation. When the Father sends the Son He also sends the Spirit to save us from sin and give us divine life.
The word Spirit comes from the Hebrew ruah, which means breath, air, wind. The Spirit is God’s breath, filling us with divine life, purifying our souls, sustaining our immortality until we love what God loves, do what God wants of us until this earthly part of us glows with divine fire.
Scripture calls the Spirit the paraclete, meaning our advocate and consoler. Jesus asked the Father to send us the Spirit to remind us of what Jesus taught and guide us into truth. On Easter night Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles, breathing into them the third Person of the Trinity. From that moment on the mission of Jesus and the Spirit becomes the mission of the Church. The revelation of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is also the Spirit’s public manifestation of the Church.
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Tradition uses many images to illustrate the Spirit’s actions.
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Water, signifying the Spirit’s saving action at baptism.
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Oil and Seal, by which the Spirit anoints us at confirmation.
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Fire, by which the Spirit transforms us into Christ.
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Cloud, the shining glory that led Israel in the desert, dwelt on the Ark of the Covenant, overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation, and was present at Christ’s baptism and transfiguration. The cloud image emphasizes how the Spirit helps us experience the effective Divine presence.
Pentecost Sunday
"And when the days of Pentecost were drawing to a close, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a violent wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as of fire, which settled upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, even as the Holy Spirit prompted them to speak" (Acts 2, 1-4).
Pentecost Sunday marks the end of the first novena. See The Novena to the Holy Spirit to prepare for this great feast.
Pentecost (Whitsunday), with Christmas and Easter, ranks among the great feasts of Christianity. It commemorates not only the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and Disciples, but also the fruits and effects of that event: the completion of the work of redemption, the fullness of grace for the Church and its children, and the gift of faith for all nations.
Pentecost
After Jesus had ascended to heaven from Mt. Olivet, the apostles and disciples returned to the Holy City. They remained together in the Upper Room or Cenacle, the place where Jesus had appeared to them and which may well be called the first Christian church. About a hundred and twenty persons were assembled there. They chose Matthias as an apostle in place of the unhappy Judas; they prayed and waited for the Paraclete.
Ten days had passed, it was Sunday, the seventh Sunday after the resurrection. At about nine o'clock in the morning, as they were together praying fervently, the Holy Spirit descended upon them. Note how all the great theophanies in Christ's life occurred during the course of prayer. After His baptism, for instance, when Jesus was praying the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove; likewise, it was during prayer at night that the transfiguration took place on Tabor. Surely too it was while Mary was praying that Gabriel delivered his message, and the Holy Spirit overshadowed her. Pentecost followed precedent. The small community of Christians had prepared themselves through prayer for the coming of the Paraclete. The same is true at Mass today, every day; through prayer we ready our souls for the advent of the Spirit.
The descent upon the apostles was internal and invisible in nature although accompanied by certain visible phenomena. There came a mighty roar, like the onrush of a violent wind. It came suddenly, from heaven; but unlike storms that strike a structure from without, this one penetrated and filled the room where the disciples were gathered. Therefore it was not a natural wind, it was a miracle peculiar to the occasion. A second visible sign consisted in tongues of fire that descended upon each one present. These fiery tongues gave visible evidence that the Holy Spirit had descended upon them.
Today at Mass, particularly at holy Communion, the power of the Holy Spirit will come down upon us; fiery tongues will not be seen, but invisible tongues of fire will not be absent. There was still another external manifestation of the Holy Spirit; the apostles and disciples were enabled to speak various languages.
After the roar of the wind many of Jerusalem's pilgrims hurried to the Cenacle. Pentecost was one of the three festivals which obliged all Jews to be present in Jerusalem. Jews from distant lands, and Jewish converts from paganism too, attended these feasts. As a result, a colorful crowd speaking a variety of languages surrounded the house. Now the apostles, who so shortly before had hid in fear behind locked doors, came forth and courageously walked among the multitude speaking to each in his native tongue. It was indeed amazing! Galileans, and multilingual?
But the malicious too were present; they had the answer. Nothing marvelous at all! Those Galileans were simply drunk, and their drunken babble sounded like a foreign language! Peter showed no hesitation in answering the charge. None of their number, he said, were intoxicated; it was but nine o'clock in the morning, and at that hour men usually are sober. What the multitude saw was, in fact, the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy: In those days (of the Messiah), God will pour forth His Spirit upon men and they will prophesy. . . . Then the apostle pointed his words more directly against the accusers: they had killed Jesus, had nailed Him to the Cross; but God had awakened Him and after His departure to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit.
The pilgrims who had heard Peter give this first pentecostal sermon "were pierced to the heart and said: Brethren, what shall we do? But Peter said to them: Repent and be baptized; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Three thousand responded.
One final question: why the miracle of tongues? In answer, recall the story regarding the tower of Babel. Puffed up by pride, men attempted to build a tower that would touch the heavens. To punish their sin, God confused their speech. Sin causes confusion and division. Now Christ came to gather all men into His Church and thereby to unite them to Himself. This should result in creating but one family of nations again. To this blessed state the miracle of tongues points.
Yes, even we as individuals have a gift of tongues which all men can understand. It is the gift of love infused into us by the Holy Spirit. Love unites, love is a common language, by means of love we can speak to all nations. — The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch
Collect:
Almighty and ever-living God, you fulfilled the Easter promise by sending us your Holy Spirit. May that Spirit unite the races and nations on earth to proclaim your glory. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.