The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to contemplate our response to the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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| Sharing gifts of the Spirit |
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles.
* [2:3] Tongues as of fire: see Ex 19:18 where fire symbolizes the presence of God to initiate the covenant on Sinai. Here the holy Spirit acts upon the apostles, preparing them to proclaim the new covenant with its unique gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:38).1
Psalm 104 proclaims God as the Creator and Provider.
* [104:29–30] On one level, the spirit (or wind) of God is the fall and winter rains that provide food for all creatures. On another, it is the breath (or spirit) of God that makes beings live.2
In the reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul describes one Body of Christ with many members.
* [12:12–26] The image of a body is introduced to explain Christ’s relationship with believers (1 Cor 12:12). 1 Cor 12:13 applies this model to the church: by baptism all, despite diversity of ethnic or social origins, are integrated into one organism. 1 Cor 12:14–26 then develop the need for diversity of function among the parts of a body without threat to its unity.3
In the Gospel of John, Jesus appears to the disciples with the breath of the Holy Spirit.
* [20:19] The disciples: by implication from Jn 20:24 this means ten of the Twelve, presumably in Jerusalem. Peace be with you: although this could be an ordinary greeting, John intends here to echo Jn 14:27. The theme of rejoicing in Jn 20:20 echoes Jn 16:22.4
Tom Shanahan, S.J. comments that sometimes it is a struggle to discover the ways of the Holy Spirit, but the “gifts” of the Spirit are guides for their discovery. Whenever we experience love, joy, greatness of heart and realization of God’s presence, that is the Holy Spirit’s work in us.
In our contemporary surroundings we are inheritors of the Spirit’s life and love and are blessed to discover the Spirit made manifest to our senses each. It is as if the Holy Spirit lusts to show us physically who he is and how he loves and cares for us, in our own language, our senses. Can I open myself to see, hear and touch the Spirit’s blessings? Can I be open to the call to notice and respond?
Lord, especially these days as we endure the violence of Covid19, send us your Spirit. Grace us with wisdom and discernment, courage to be strong of faith, and keenly aware of your care and comfort. Teach us to recognize you in these gifts of your Spirit and to accept gratefully your desire for our constant growth as your people.5
Don Schwager comments that the Lord Jesus offers each one of us the gift and power of his Holy Spirit. He wants to make our faith strong, give us hope that endures, and a love that never grows cold. He never refuses to give his Spirit to those who ask with expectant faith. Jesus instructed his disciples to ask confidently for the gift of the Spirit: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:13). He quotes “The Holy Spirit at Pentecost,” by Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D.
"To the Hebrew people, now freed from Egypt, the law was given on Mount Sinai fifty days after the immolation of the paschal lamb. Similarly, after the passion of Christ in which the true Lamb of God was killed, just fifty days after his resurrection, the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles and the whole group of believers. Thus the earnest Christian may easily perceive that the beginnings of the Old Covenant were at the service of the beginnings of the gospel and that the same Spirit who instituted the first established the Second Covenant." (excerpt from Sermon 75.1)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Acts 2:1-11 comments that Jesus knew how much we would need the Holy Spirit, and so even long before his Ascension, he encouraged his disciples to pray for this gift: “If you . . . know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit?” (Luke 11:13). And John’s Gospel assures us that God “does not ration his gift of the Spirit” (3:34). There is always more that God has for us!
Today, follow the apostles’ example. Believe in God’s promise of the Spirit and then pray for it. Keep praying, not just on this special feast, but every day. You might even ask a few faith-filled friends to pray with you for a new outpouring of the Spirit in your life. You may not see wind or fire, but the Spirit will come to you in new, unexpected, and even extraordinary ways—not only for your benefit, but for the good of his body, the Church!
“Holy Spirit, make your home in my heart, today and every day.”7
Friar Jude Winkler connects the gathering of people in Jerusalem to the agricultural and pilgrimage feast of Pentecost. The Hebrew word “ruach” captures the nature of the Spirit as wind. Friar Jude reminds us that Evangelist John was a mystic and Luke was a historian.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that it is sad to say, but for centuries the Christian vision was narrowed to what we have today—a preoccupation with private salvation. Our “personal relationship with Jesus” seems to be based on a very small notion of Christ. We’ve modeled church after a service station where members attend weekly services to “fill up” on their faith. We’ve commodified the very notion of salvation.
Too often, the formal church has been unable to create any authentic practical community, especially over the last half-century. In response, we see the emergence of new faith communities seeking to return to this foundational definition of church. These may not look like our versions of traditional “church,” but they often exemplify the kinds of actual community that Jesus, Paul, and early Christians envisioned. People are gathering digitally and in person today through neighborhood associations, study groups, community gardens, social services, and volunteer groups. They’re seeking creative ways of coming together, nurturing connection, of healing and whole-making. The “invisible” church might be doing this just as much, if not more, than the visible one. The Holy Spirit is humble and seems to work best anonymously. I suspect that is why the Holy Spirit is often pictured as a simple bird or blowing wind that is here one minute and seemingly gone and then nowhere (John 3:8).8
The role of the Spirit in our journey is to renew our life as members of the Body of Christ, where we can use the gifts of the Spirit for the good of others.
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