Pentecost Sunday

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. For Christians, this feast is immediately associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, which is our First Reading.

The name Pentecost is taken over from a Jewish festival which celebrated the conclusion of seven weeks which began with the presentation of the first fruits of the barley harvest during the Passover celebration (Leviticus 23:15–16; Deuteronomy 16:9). In the book of Numbers (28:26) the Jewish festival of Pentecost is called the day of first fruits which concludes feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22). On this day, a second first fruits offering was made. The “first fruits of the wheat harvest” (Ex 34:22) were presented along with burnt offerings (Numbers 28:26, Ex 34:22) followed immediately by “the bread of the first fruits” (Leviticus 23:20) which was made from the initial wheat harvest.

Offering himself as a sacrifice at the Passover, Jesus is both the Lamb of God (John 1:29) fulfilling once for all the Passover sacrifice, and the first fruits lifted up and offered to the Father (John 12:32). Is Christ also the “the bread of the first fruits”?

For the ancient Israelites, "first fruits" meant more than merely the first-to-be-born of the herds and flocks or the first ripe harvest. They believed that the whole was contained in the first part (Rom 11:16). By offering the first fruits, the whole of the crops or the herds we sanctified. Using this way of thinking the whole is contained and even concentrated in the first fruits. By joining himself to our humanity, Jesus is able to offer all of humanity in his divine sacrifice as the head of the body.

Our Gospel reading is a bit puzzling as Jesus clearly gives the Spirit to his apostles in John 20, yet the event described occurs immediately after Jesus’ Resurrection and not later at Pentecost. Do we have two Pentecost events? 

We do have two distinct offerings of the Spirit. This is clearly not the same event as Luke narrates in Acts 2, and we seem to be missing the idea of waiting and universal empowering. Using John’s Gospel as a reference St. Augustine offers a solution.

In his Sermon 265, St. Augustine, observes that in John 7, Jesus proclaims that the one who believes in him shall have, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him’ (John 7:38). This passage of John is actually the reading for the Vigil of Pentecost.

This is not an exact quote from the Old Testament, but alludes to Jesus as a type of Moses who gave water from the rock in Exodus and Numbers (Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11) and as the new heavenly Temple pictured in Ezekiel 47:1. In the book of Revelation, John tells us the Jesus becomes the Temple in heaven. (Cf John 4:10, 14; 19:34, Revelation 21:22 and Isaiah 12:3).

St. John explains Jesus’ comment by noting,

“He [Jesus] said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:38)

Reflecting on the idea that the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not been glorified, St. Augustine notes that there are two glorifications. The first glorification was according to Christ’s human nature, because Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. The second glorification takes place when Christ ascended into heaven before the eyes of His disciples. He actually mentions a third glorification as Jesus returns to judge heaven and earth.

St. Augustine notes, Christ was “glorified twice, by His Resurrection and by His Ascension; twice, too, did He give the Holy Spirit” (Sermon 265.7). In our Gospel today, Jesus “breathed on” his apostles, and they received the Holy Spirit and then after his Ascension he sent the promised Holy Spirit on the entire Church. The Catechism notes this double fulfilment, “On several occasions Christ promised this outpouring of the Spirit, a promise which he fulfilled first on Easter Sunday and then more strikingly at Pentecost. [Cf. Jn 20:22; Acts 2:1–4] (CCC 1287).

St. Augustine askes, “Why did the Lord give the Holy Spirit twice?” He answers honestly, “I do not know why He did this,” yet St. Augustine does offer his own theory. He is quick to say this is only his opinion. “Holy Spirit was given twice for the purpose of commending to us the two precepts of charity” (Sermon 265.8).

These precepts of charity are first to love God, and then to love your neighbor. This idea makes is interesting. The first outpouring of the Spirit would be for the conversion of the heart leading to the love of God, while the second is an empowering for witness and service (Acts 1:8).

This is probably not a clear-cut distinction, but one of emphasis. There is an element of service even in John 20, as we see the power to forgive sins imparted to the Apostles. Jesus imparts to them the authority and grace to confer the sacrament of Confession.

The preface for this Mass echoes this same two-fold sentiment.

For, bringing your Paschal Mystery to completion,

You bestowed the Holy Spirit today

on those you made your adopted children

by uniting them to your Only Begotten Son.

This same Spirit, as the Church came to birth,

opened all peoples to the knowledge of God . . .

The Holy Spirit imparts to believers both an interior intimacy with God as his adopted children, and an empowerment for service and mission.

In the Old Testament tradition, the desire voiced by Moses in the book of Numbers, that God would pour out his Spirit on all peoples (Numbers 11:29) came to be treated by the ancient Israelites as a prophecy of a future time when there would be a dramatic outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh. With the coming of the Messiah there was a widespread expectation that the ‘Spirit of prophecy’ would be poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28-32; Jeremiah 31:34; Isaiah 32:15; 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29).

This lavish outpouring of the Spirit would be brought about through a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) or Messiah King (Isaiah 11:1-9; 61). Jesus uses Isaiah 61 as a kind of mission statement for his ministry in Luke (4:18-19, 7:19-22). St. Peter uses the promised outpouring of the Spirit in Joel 2:28-32 to interpret the events at Pentecost in Acts 2:16-21.

St. Luke describes the outpouring of the Spirit in Acts 2:1-13 by way of analogy. While the disciples are gather together in prayer in the upper room, the Spirit manifests himself with a sound like a mighty wind, and they see tongues like fire divided and came to rest on each of them. All of them were “filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in different tongues.”

The sounds and commotion of this event caused a crowd of pious Jews to take notice, and the Spirit inspired proclamation by the apostles astounded the crowds because “each one heard them speaking in their own language” (2:6). Luke cites a very geographically diverse list of pilgrims in Jerusalem who are each able to hear the disciples each in his own language and dialect.

The implications of this filling of the Spirit have generated a great deal of debate among Christians. It seems clear that it involved an empowerment for mission, but the further implications of the event are seen in its interpretation by Peter in his Pentecost sermon which follows in Acts 2:14-41.

The appearance of the Holy Spirit generates both interest and scorn from the crowd of Jewish pilgrims and this facilitates Peter’s ability to preach to a large crowd. Peter connects this event to the expectation or ‘promise’ of the prophet Joel (2:28-32) that God would someday pour out his Spirit on all flesh.

St. Peter’s sermon causes a large number of pilgrims to be “cut to the heart.” The crowds asks Peter and the other apostles, “What are we to do?” Peter’s response is a summary of rites of conversion and initiation in Acts. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38).

As the Catechism reminds us, the essential elements of Christian initiation include; “proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and [finally] admission to Eucharistic communion” (CCC 1229). 

 We can see four elements; faith, repentance, Baptism and the Reception of the Holy Spirit. These four essential elements then lead to the fullness of Eucharistic communion and an ongoing life in the Spirit. The sacramental elements of Baptism and Confirmation presuppose the need for faith and repentance, which the Catechism calls conversion, as our means of cooperation with the grace of these sacraments.

In Acts 2:28 Peter specifically links Baptism to the sacramental grace for the ‘forgiveness of sins,’ “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins . . .”

While the Holy Spirit is clearly active in all stages of conversion there is a definitive and complete reception of the person of Holy Spirit in Baptism. This reception is completed through the laying on of hands by the apostles. Allowing these graces to flourish in our soul is a process that requires our ongoing cooperation.

What does the Holy Spirit mean to each one of us today? 

We must struggle to open ourselves fully to God’s grace. Baptism gives us the gifts of the Holy Spirit which make our soul capable of submitting to God and entering into friendship with him (John 15:15). Fostering these inspirations of grace should be the object of our prayer and our intense desire. 

 Although God will grant these inspirations in greater or lesser degrees, they are not an optional extra for the Christian life but the secret to holiness and the decisive means for spiritual progress. Each one of us, based on the grace of our Baptism, is called universally to a life of holiness which leads to mission in the world.

Our life in the Spirit begins by God’s grace entering the depth of our hearts. We are created in “the image and likeness” of God. The human heart was created with a God-shaped hole in it. Like the first man, Adam, we are alone, like a lover seeking our beloved. When we find our beloved, we break forth in spontaneous praise and thanksgiving.

God has created human love to be a reflection of his own divine love. We can each ask ourselves, has my love for my beloved grown cold? Let us fan the flames of this love with praise and thanksgiving in the intimacy of our prayer and in the great thanksgiving, the Eucharist.

The second principle would be to genuinely ask for holiness. Pray to God and ask Him with a sincere desire to become holy. Invoke the intercession of the saints and of your guardian angel, that you might find the path to holiness.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” (Matt 7:7). St. James writes, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2b). Let us ask God for this marvelous gift.

Finally, we must renounce our tendency to manage ourselves. We might call this docility to God’s will or docility to the Holy Spirit. As we pray the words, “Come Holy Spirit,” this Sunday let us be like our Blessed Mother as we learn to trust and open ourselves up to the wonderful plan God has for our life. 

 Along with Mary, we must cry, “Lord, let it be done to me, according to your word.”




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