You’ve just heard the three readings usually proclaimed each year on the Feast of Pentecost. So the question for today, Pentecost Sunday, should be a very easy one for you. It’s this: what does Pentecost mean to you? But there’s a twist to what I would like to have you do. I’d like you to turn to someone near you and exchange answers. I’d prefer if you speak to someone who did not come with you to church today, but to someone else. And I’d like everyone to do it; kids too. Again, the question is: what does Pentecost mean to you? (Go down into the congregation and participate.)
So what about your answers? A lot of you might have said something about Pentecost being the time when the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples as tongues of fire and how, filled with the Holy Spirit, the disciples went out to preach about Jesus to the Jews. And some might have mentioned how his disciples spoke in different languages so that everyone could understand what they were saying. You might also have said Pentecost is called the “Birthday of the Church”. A few might have recalled Pentecost is fifty days after Easter and marks the end of the Easter season.
They’re all good answers. And the reason I wanted you to share them, out-loud, with one another, was to give us a sense of the noise and excitement of that morning some 2000 years ago. However, the only problem is – all of these answers focus on what happened back then, some 2000 years ago. But the real question should be: what does Pentecost mean to us today? How should we experience Pentecost, today?
Of course it’s OK to look at the historical Pentecost: the one we heard about in our first reading from Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. After-all, Pentecost is an historical event. The Jews called it “Pentecost” too, but they meant something different. “Pentecost” means fifty.
For the Jews gathered in Jerusalem that morning, it was fifty days after Passover. They had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate two events.
● First of all, they celebrated the giving of Torah, the giving of the Law of the Lord God to Moses and to the Hebrew people; and thus, they celebrated the “Birthday of Israel.”
● And secondly, they celebrated the Spring Harvest.
This is why so many Jews, Jews from all over the known Mediterranean world, were gathered in Jerusalem that morning. It was a combination of the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving Day. That Pentecost morning, the followers of Jesus had gathered together to celebrate these two sacred events. They, also, might have gathered together for mutual protection against the crowds. Jesus was no longer with them. They had seen him ascend to his Father and the chances are they were feeling deserted and isolated.
But then, something happened that changed the course of the entire world. “And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each of them.” Wind and fire signify holy things. They also signify great change. After a driving windstorm or tornado, nothing is the same as it was before. After a sweeping fire, everything touched by the flames has been changed.
This is what Luke, the writer of the book of the Acts of Apostles, is trying to tell us. Something strange and wonderful happened to those men and women gathered together. Something which changed them from simple people to those who were suddenly impelled to go out into the crowded, hostile streets of Jerusalem and, with great joy, to proclaim the Good News to everyone.
Have you ever wondered what would have happened if that Pentecost for the first followers of Christ had been a one-shot event? What if, after being filled by the Spirit, Peter and his brother Andrew had gone back to being fishermen, along with James and John? What if Mary and Martha returned to take care of their brother, and the other Mary had returned to her home town of Magdala? Where would we be today?
For one thing, it’s unlikely any of us would be Christians. Instead of being here in a community called Christ the Good Shepherd, many of us would probably be worshiping Zeus or Apollo! But instead, Peter and Andrew, and Mary Magdalene and all of the other men and women who had followed and loved Jesus, all of them cooperated with the Holy Spirit and began to change the world. They did not return to the quiet, village life they once had. Although they could have taken the peace of Christ with them and returned home, they, instead, cooperated with the Holy Spirit to proclaim with their voices and their lives the Good News.
Why do I say that these people, filled by the Spirit, “cooperated” with the Holy Spirit in order to begin to change the world? Wasn’t it enough only to have the Spirit inside of them? What’s this deal about “cooperating” with the Holy Spirit? Well, I think this “cooperation” might explain what happened to those first followers on that Pentecost morning; and what has, or has not, happened to us, his followers, on this Feast of Pentecost in 2009.
Is it not true each one of us who, having been baptized into the Christian faith, has received the Holy Spirit? Isn’t it, also, true for all of us who have received the sacrament of Confirmation? Or is there more than one Holy Spirit? Is there a special “Holy Spirit” who came on Pentecost morning two-thousand years ago and a different one who comes to us at Baptism and Confirmation?
As far as I know, there is only one Holy Spirit. The one who strengthened those men and women two-thousand years ago is the same Holy Spirit found inside of you and me. St Paul said it in our Second Reading for today: “There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.”
So what happened? Why don’t we seem to have the joy and excitement which prompted those first followers of Christ to go out and witness the good news? Because you see, this too, is what the feast of Pentecost is all about. If Pentecost is the annual celebration of the birthday of those who gather in the name of Christ, those who are the body of Christ, where is the joy and excitement of this celebration today?
Why is it OK to be excited at an Astros or Rockets game, but not when we come to church? Why can we be enthusiastic about jogging for personal fitness but not about praying for spiritual fitness? Who says we must be quiet and reserved when we worship God or when we pray to God?
Do I fear that others might think I’m a little weird if I sing or respond in a loud voice during Mass? Will someone think I’m not being religious enough if I smile? Do I need to be reminded that, when the followers of Christ went out to preach on that Pentecost morning, some of the Jews visiting Jerusalem thought the disciples were drunk from too much new wine? Peter, himself, had to say they weren’t drunk; after-all, it was only 9 o’clock in the morning!
Perhaps, we need to be reminded Christians are an “Alleluia” people. And the translation for that Hebrew word is: “Praise God with shouts of joy”. I don’t know how many of you are aware of American Sign Language for “Alleluia” but it’s this … (do it!) … and what do you think it comes from?
Waving sparklers! What is more exciting and joy-filled than waving sparklers on the Fourth of July?! I think it’s a magnificent sign for the excitement of being filled by the Holy Spirit and showing we mean it. And, yes – being filled by the Holy Spirit is more than just how we celebrate at Mass. It really means how we celebrate all of Life.
Some of us seem to go through life as sleepwalkers; our arms stuck out in front of us so we don’t come in contact with anything unexpected. Some who are called Christians, go around with a constant frown or a sad look. They speak with groans, gripes and grouchiness. Yet there are others who follow what was proclaimed in today’s Gospel: “Jesus came and stood before them. ‘Peace be with you’, he said. … at the sight of the Lord, the disciples rejoiced.” These Christians realize the peace of Christ means rejoicing, being filled with joy, not filled with a numbing anesthetic.
These Catholics know what it means when the Gospel, the Good News, continues with the message: “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
Jesus the Christ has given us both his peace and the Holy Spirit. He has sent us out to announce the Good News. And to live the good news: the Kingdom of God is now. This is a message that deserves fire works and celebration.
As the season of Easter draws to an end, we are once more reminded we are called to be a Resurrection People, an Alleluia People. And so, the final question for each of us to consider is not, “What does Pentecost mean historically?” – but rather – how can each of us cooperate with the power and joy of the Holy Spirit within us so we can truly be among those whose lives “praise God with shouts of joy” “Alleluia”
Pentecost; May 31, 2009 (Also: 5/5/91, Cycle B); 5/30/04, Cycle C)
Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23