Pentecost, May 31, 2020

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Scripture:

  • John 20: 19-23 (Gospel)

  •  Acts 2:1-11: (First Reading)

  •  1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 (Second Reading)

Theme: The Spirit of God is upon us

Scripture

John 20:19–23 (Gospel)

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.”

Acts 2:1–11 (First Reading)

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.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God."

1 Corinthians 12:3b–7, 12–13 (Second Reading)

Brothers and sisters: No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit. 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.

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

Music Meditations

Companions for the Journey

“The Challenge of Pentecost” by Daniel J. Harrington, America Magazine, May 2008

The word “Pentecost” derives from the Greek word for “fifty.” It marks 50 days after Passover on the Jewish calendar and 50 days after Easter on the Christian calendar. Among Jews it is known as Shebuot or “Weeks” and celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. For Christians it commemorates the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ disciples (including the mother of Jesus) gathered in Jerusalem after his ascension.

In John 20, however, the gift of the Holy Spirit takes place earlier, on the evening of Easter Sunday. The risen Jesus invites his disciples to carry on the mission given him by his heavenly Father and empowers them to do so by breathing upon them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 reminds us that every day is Pentecost in the sense that “to each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” All baptized Christians are privileged and empowered to be members of the body of Christ, and so they can and should use their spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ.

Luke’s version of the first Pentecost is the biblical account that has most captured the Christian imagination. Fifty days after Easter, the disciples of Jesus gather for prayer in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit comes upon them in dramatic fashion, with a strong wind and “tongues of fire.” They begin to speak in different languages, and miraculously their proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is heard and understood by Jewish pilgrims from different countries with different native languages. Pentecost is often called the birthday of the church. In Luke’s narrative in Acts, the good news of Jesus moves from Jerusalem through Samaria, Syria, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) and Greece to Rome. The first phase in this amazing story takes place on the first Pentecost, when the Gospel is preached at Jerusalem to Jews and converts to Judaism from various places outside the land of Israel. The miracle of the first Pentecost is that Diaspora Jews from Parthia, Media, Elam and all those other exotic places hear and understand the preaching of the apostles in their own languages. There is some tension in the text as to whether the apostles spoke Aramaic (or Hebrew) and were understood by the foreigners, or whether they spoke in all those different languages. In either case, the point is that the miracle of the first Pentecost reverses the episode of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. In that story, in response to human arrogance, God “confused” the languages of humankind and scattered them over the face of the earth. Now the good news of Jesus Christ is the language that unites all these different peoples. The rest of Acts traces the spread of the Gospel all over the Mediterranean world. It moves first among Jews and then fans out to non-Jews. Paul appears as the great missionary to the Gentiles. By the narrow standards of Mediterranean society in the first century, the Gospel reached the ends of the earth with Paul’s arrival in Rome.

The miracle of the first Pentecost, according to Luke, was that “each one heard them [the apostles] speaking in his own language.” Now, almost 2,000 years later, the church’s missionary activity continues, and the Gospel has been proclaimed far beyond the Mediterranean world. The memory of Jesus has been kept alive, and the movement he began has been carried on. Nevertheless, Luke’s Pentecost narrative challenges the church today to find even more effective ways of communicating the Gospel to peoples in every land on earth. Karl Rahner, S.J., thought that the greatest challenge facing our church today is to become a truly catholic, or world church. Just as the early Christians moved beyond the land of Israel and the Jewish people, so we must help all the peoples in our world hear and express the Gospel in their own languages and according to their own cultural patterns.

The miracle of the “tongues” at the first Pentecost was the initial step in the process that is sometimes called the enculturation of the Gospel. The challenge that faced the first Christians gathered in Jerusalem at the birth of the church still faces the church today. That challenge involves remaining faithful to the substance of the Gospel, while translating and applying it in all the languages and cultures of the world. For that we too need the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. And so on this Pentecost we must say, “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today's session…

Receive the Holy Spirit

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today's reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • Which reading for today’s Pentecost liturgy do you prefer? Why?
  • This gospel is John’s version of the Pentecost. In this passage He invited the disciples to “receive the Holy Spirit.” Do you believe the Holy Spirit dwells in you?
  • Fr. William Bausch said that Jesus Imposed the “Spirit of Second Chances” on them, sending them out to impart to others the spirit of God’s love and forgiveness. Do you look on the Spirit that way? To whom are you called to go out and extend love and forgiveness?
  • What if this passage is less about the clerical notion of the priest’s ability to forgive sins, but instead is about our own ability to work with the Holy Spirit in forgiving others? Whose sins do I need to forgive?
    What sort of sins would you consider “unforgivable” and thus, retained?
    Do you think Jesus would refuse to free anyone of his or her sins?
    How does your church extend peace to sinners or to those who disagree with its teachings?
  • What is the difference between hearing and understanding? Where can you do better in each?
  • What might it mean to “renew the face of the earth” today?
  • Do you ever pray to the Holy Spirit?
    Where does the spirit figure in your spiritual life?
  • Have there been experiences in your life through which the Spirit was speaking to you? Did you listen?
  • How do you expect to hear the Lord’s voice?
  • What do you regard as your spiritual gifts? How do you use them?
  • What gifts of the Spirit do you see in this community?
  • How might the church be more effective in the process of enculturation? What dangers might enculturation pose?
  • Has some person in your life been a source of inspiration and/or courage for you?
  • What do you see as your mission to the world at large right this moment? In the future?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Read today’s responsorial psalm which is Psalm 104. Using Lectio Divina, pray this scripture hymn. Which words or phrases speak out to you? Sit with them and savor the meaning for you. Is God speaking to you these beautiful words? What works can you do to reflect the role of the Spirit in your life? How can you help the glory of the Lord endure forever? Then speak to God, using your own words and from your heart, about how you want to respond to the gift of the Spirit in your life.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality, by Father Ronald Rolheiser, O.M.I We need to be on fire again,
for our hope is no longer an easy hope.
We live in a culture of despair
within which Pentecost can no longer be taken for granted.
Hence we must take upon ourselves the burden of the times and refuse to make the Holy Spirit a piece of private property
but a spirit that matters.
—Mary Jo Leddy Rolheiser asks us to examine the following questions and relate them to the presence of the Spirit in our lives:
What should I be doing?
To whom should I be listening?
Must I get involved in this or can I choose to ignore it?
Is this church or this teaching right or wrong?
What is important?
What are the pillars upon which I build my spiritual life?

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Memory:

Someone who had been through hardship and endured, sought forgiveness and it was granted said: “There are moments in life when God lifts you up and gives you moments of ecstatic clarity… there are moments that give all of our crosses meaning and revealed their goodness. The Spirit has ruled again.” (Fr. William Bausch in From No to YES)

Think back on instances in your life when you have been given a second chance; think of a time when you have given someone else the gift of forgiveness. Try to look at your present circumstances be thankful for the chances to start anew, try to forgive yourself for mistakes you have made, and extend a non-judgmental hand to another.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Read Acts 2: 1-6. Imagine that you are one of the twelve apostles whom Jesus left behind. What have you been doing since Jesus’ death? What are you feeling about keeping the group of believers together? Has a natural leader emerged? What are your immediate plans for spreading the Good News? Suddenly you hear a sudden wind growing stronger and stronger in volume until it seems there is only noise in the house you are in, and then you see the fire (fire!) hovering over the room, appearing to split into individual tongues of flame and seeming to come to rest over the heads of your companions. Has anything like this ever happened to you before? Were you expecting this? Are you afraid? How does it feel to speak in tongues? Do you feel any different now that you have been filled with the Spirit of God? Return to the present and reflect on any times in your life in which you have felt extraordinary strength from the Spirit to do God’s will. Talk to God about your response to this outpouring of love from the Spirit.

Poetic Reflections:
  • Read “The Avowal” by Denise Levertov. Does it capture for you how we are protected by the Spirit, the Sustainer of Life?
  • “Passage” by Denise Levertov (from Oblique Prayers)
  • “In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being” by Denise Levertov (from Sands of the Well)