Pentecost

Readings of the Day

Joseph Ignaz Mildorfer (1719-1775), "Pentecost" (1750s), oil on canvas, 55x33 cm, Hungarian National Gallery, Budapest.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.
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 one of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples After the Resurrection, Imre Morocz, Private Collection.

 

 

 On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
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.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."

 

 Homily

 

 

!. Centering Prayer

II. 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.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20)

"The traditional interpretation of this text takes its meaning to refer to the institution of the sacrament of reconciliation and to the giving of papal powers to Peter and his successors. They mean at least that much, but much more is implied. What Jesus is doing here is giving the whole Christian community the power to forgive sins and the power of binding and loosing. What does this mean?

It means that if we are truly members of Christ’s body then when we forgive sins, the person is forgiven." (Rolheiser, Forgotten Among the Lilies)

III. One of the hardest things to say to someone is, “I forgive you.”  When we are wronged we have a lot on the line: our honor, our pride, our dignity, maybe even our physical well being. Throughout his ministry Jesus taught lessons that upended our conventional sense of honor and dignity, and that forgiveness and mercy are the marks of the true follower of Christ. In fact when we forgive someone we are announcing the Gospel.

IV. All of us have been baptized into one and the same Spirit; that same Spirit, the Advocate, who “renews the face of the earth,” was given as a gift to the disciples to strengthen them to go forth in the name of the Lord and to obtain forgiveness of sins.

All creation is an outpouring of the love of God by the Holy Spirit. “In one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12) The Holy Spirit animates the Church. The fruit of the Spirit is joy-joy in the knowledge that God loves us, and wants us to be with him forever. It is the joy that comes from knowing that God forgives all our sins no matter how great we think they are. This joy shines through us when we forgive others as God forgives us.

V. This joy is renewed every time we share in the Eucharist, when we can physically touch the healing, forgiving Body of Christ.

Father,

let your Spirit come upon us in power

to fill us with his gift.

May he make our hearts pleasing to you,

            and ready to do your will.