Homilies

PENTECOST SUNDAY: A SPIRIT OF INSPIRATION, POWER, AND WITNESS

THE NARRATIVE ABOUT the descent of the Holy Spirit has quite a particular form in it. It contains some quite odd and interesting descriptions which certainly aims at making a clear and powerful impression with regards to that ‘surprise’ coming of God’s Spirit:  a sudden gust of wind, moving tongues of fire, opening of doors and of men seemingly ‘drunk’.  More so, the effect of the Spirit is also quite amazing:  the Twelve were all gathered in one place, people from all walks of life also gathered together, they heard the apostles addressing them in their own language.  All these transpired because of the one and the same Spirit.  

Now there could surely be a lot to say about the theological meanings of this story.  And in any case three things struck us here:  they are inspiration, power and witness.  

First, the Spirit of God became the inspiration of the first Christians.  Their existence was no longer led by human motivations.  The apostles were filled with God’s Spirit.  The circumstances of their lives would definitely remain the same, with good and bad days, with sickness and anxieties, but they knew how to bring everything in their lives in connection to our Lord.  This inspiration need not be a miraculous event by which they would totally be changed, but what is evident is that they would no longer allow themselves to be discouraged.  A new horizon has come into their lives. 

Second, the Pentecost also tells about power.  The apostles were not heroes.  They had their own faults and failures.  Just like you and me, they had their fears and uncertainties.  But when it comes to choosing for the good, choosing for God, then they knew no boundaries.  An inner power drove them towards the good.  ‘We cannot do otherwise” they would say.  They courageously did what our Lord had done before them. They openly proclaimed the words of Jesus.  

Finally Pentecost also speaks of witness.  A person who lives from the spirit of Jesus brings his past and future in relation with Jesus.  He does not hide his convictions to himself.  For him, Jesus is the first and the last.  He lives out the Lord, so much so that he radiates Him,that he then becomes a living witness of Him.  That witness happens in his silence or when he speaks, when he is at work or in suffering, but through it all, something comes out of him that points to our Lord.   

Certainly, the apostles had already known Jesus for quite some time.  During those times Jesus shared much about Himself to them.  Nonetheless they needed this pouring out of the Spirit in order to come towards this experience of inspiration, be driven by a power (for the good) and become witnesses.  This may also be the case with us.  Our country has been Christianized for more than four centuries ago; individually, we have been Christians for many years, we know the words and deeds of our Lord.  And yet the Church continues to call for a new evangelization and more than ever we have that great need of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  Why?  Because it is the Holy Spirit who will be the one to inspire us by allowing us to recall what our Lord has said and done and be able to ask ourselves:  What would Jesus do if He were in my place.  It is the Spirit who shall pour out on us the power in order that everything that which inspires us from within, we may be able to bring out so that we ourselves would dare to witness to the truth of the Gospel against the currents of the time and the mentality of the world.  

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