Pentecost Sunday – Year C
This Sunday’s Readings
First Reading
Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11
The Holy Spirit descends upon the Apostles gathered in Jerusalem.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 104:1,24,29-31,34
God’s Spirit renews the earth
Second Reading
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7,12-13 or Romans 8:8-17
We are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gospel Reading
John 20:19-23
Jesus appears to his disciples and gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Background on the Gospel Reading
The season of Easter concludes with today’s celebration, the feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church. The story of Pentecost is found in the Acts of the Apostles, today’s first reading. The account in today’s Gospel, taken from the Gospel of John, also recounts how Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples. There is no need to try to reconcile these two accounts to each other. It is enough to know that, after his death, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send to his disciples a helper, an advocate, who would enable them to be his witnesses throughout the world.
We previously heard today’s Gospel on the second Sunday of Easter. At that time, we also heard the passage that follows, which describes Jesus’ appearance to Thomas. In that context, we were led to reflect on belief and unbelief.
In the context of the feast of Pentecost, this reading reminds us about the integral connection between the gifts of peace and forgiveness and the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus greets his disciples with the gift of peace. Jesus then commissions his disciples to continue the work that he has begun, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” As he breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, Jesus sends his disciples to continue his work of reconciliation through the forgiveness of sins.
This Gospel reminds us that the Church is called to be a reconciling presence in the world. This reconciling presence of Christ is celebrated in the Church’s sacramental life. In the Sacrament of Baptism, we are washed clean from sin and become a new creation in Christ. In the Sacrament of Penance, the Church celebrates the mercy of God in forgiving sins. This reconciling presence is also to be a way of life for Christians. In situations of conflict, we are to be agents of peace and harmony among people.
Spirit Poured out in Living Water
Kathleen Rushton
Kathleen Rushton traces the images of water and light in the Johannine Pentecost readings – John 7:37-39 and John 15:26-27; 16:12-15 or 20:19-23 – as symbols of the pouring of the Spirit.
Water flows out
Rock, spring, source, water flowing, what is unseen … evoke a favourite passage in John’s gospel — the mysterious verses of Jn 7:37-39. Traditional interpretation, such as the Jerusalem Bible, translates Jn 7:38 as if the believer is the source of living water. Another possible translation, called the christological interpretation, sees the living water as flowing from within Jesus.
If we interpret the water symbol within the twofold pattern of symbols in John’s gospel, the first level of meaning concerns Jesus and the second level concerns disciples. For example: “I am the light of the world” (Jn 8:12), applies to Jesus and then follows something about disciples: “Whoever follows me … will have the light of life.”
Festival of tabernacles
Rich symbolism surrounds the Festival of Tabernacles (in Hebrew, sukkoth; in English, shelters, booths, tabernacles or huts). During the Festival time people slept and ate in small, flimsy huts in memory of the forty years the Israelites lived in tents in the wilderness. There is also a special relationship to the Temple in Jerusalem at this time because the dedication of the first Temple built by Solomon took place at Tabernacles (1 Kings 8:2). The natural world and the agricultural rhythm of life were integral as this Festival was celebrated in the northern autumn (September-October) with celebrations which accompanied the grape and olive harvests.
Prayers were offered for winter rains (water), so necessary for fertile crops the following year, and for the renewal of sunlight (light).
If early rain fell during this time, it was regarded as an assurance that God would send abundant rain. This hope was acted out in a solemn ceremony. On the seven mornings of the Festival, a procession set out for nearby temple hill and the fountain of Gihon, the source of the Pool of Siloam. A priest filled a golden pitcher with water while a choir repeated: “With joy you shall draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Is 12:3) The procession returned to the temple through the Water Gate accompanied by crowds carrying Festival symbols: in their right hand twigs tied with a palm (representing branches used to build the huts) and in their left hand symbols of the harvest. Once in the Temple, the priest poured the water into a special funnel from where it flowed into the ground.
Jesus was in Galilee near the time of the Festival of Tabernacles (Jn 7:2). In the middle of the celebrations he went up to the temple and taught (Jn 7:14); he cried out as he taught there (Jn 7:28) and he cried again proclaiming: “If anyone thirsts …” (Jn 7:37). Jesus said to them: “I am the light of the world.”(Jn 8:12). He was teaching in the treasury of the temple (Jn 8:20) and went out of the temple (Jn 8:59). So the Temple and Tabernacles, with its symbolism of water and light, are the background for Jn 7:1-8:59.
Living water
On the last day of the Festival, Jesus cried out: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me.” The imagery of thirst as longing for God is well known (Psalms 42:1-2 and 63:1). In Jn 7:38 translations use “heart” or “side” or “breast” for koila but it means literally “out of his belly”. For Hebrews, the belly was the seat of deep human emotions.
Depicting Jesus as the giver of living water (Jn 4:13-14) and as the rock (Jn 19:34) recalls a whole series of Old Testament images. From the rock God gives water to the people in the desert (Ex 17:6; Psalm 105:41). Water comes out of the Temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12) and heals the holy land. Living water comes out of Jerusalem, the holy city, and heals the whole earth (Zechariah 14:6-11). Against this background, Jesus “cried out” claiming to be the life-nurturing living water for which the pilgrims prayed. He stood and cried out (Jn 7:37) as Wisdom in Proverbs stands and sings out her invitation (Proverbs 1:20 and Proverbs 8:2-3).
Spirit pouring as living water
The gift of the Holy Spirit poured out is identified with “rivers of living water” to be received by believers in Jesus. At this stage in the gospel, however, they were not yet ready because Jesus had not been glorified (Jn 7:39). The Baptist reported that Jesus had received the Spirit already (Jn 1:32-33). Jesus had assured the woman of Samaria that the hour for “worship in spirit and truth” was already at hand (Jn 4:23-24). In the farewell discourses, Jesus promises the Spirit (Jn 15:26-27, 16:12-15) which is given when “he bowed his head and handed over the Spirit” (Jn 19:30) to the women and the beloved disciple near the cross. When water flowed from the pierced side of Jesus on the cross it evoked the “rivers of living water” flowing from the rock. Jesus was giving birth to the new people of God, the Church. Re-creation continues when later Jesus “breathed on them” saying: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (For Jn 20:22 see Tui Motu April 2015).
How does the gift of the Spirit, imaged as the pouring out of “rivers of living water”, inspire Christians to live in ways which value the vital gift of water? And how might Christians understand water as a symbol of their longing for God and as free gift — endangered and yet necessary to sustain all life?
https://hail.to/tui-motu-interislands-magazine
The Spirit: Hope of a New World
Fernando Armellini
We are at the Last Supper and the disciples realized that Jesus is about to leave them. Their hearts are troubled; they are sad and wonder what sense their lives will have without him. Jesus reassures them by inviting them to remain faithful to his first proposal of life (v. 15). Love will be the sign that they are in tune with him.
Then he promises not to leave them alone, without protection and without guidance. He will pray to the Father, and he “will send another Paraclete” that will remain with them forever (v. 16). It is the promise of the gift of that Spirit that Jesus possessed in fullness (Lk 4:1,14,18) and that will be poured out on the disciples.
The Spirit is called the Comforter, but this word is not a good translation of the Greek Παρακλήτος. Paraclete is a term taken from the forensic language and indicates someone who is called next to the accused, the defender, the rescuer of those in difficulty. In this sense, Jesus is the Paraclete, as noted by John in his first letter: “My little children, I write to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One” (1 Jn 2:1).
Jesus is the paraclete as our advocate with the Father, not because he defends us from the wrath of God—the Father is never against us, is always on our side—but because he protects us from our accuser, our adversary, sin. The enemy is sin, and Jesus knows how to reduce it to impotence.
Now he promises another Paraclete, who has not the task of replacing him, but to accomplish his very own mission. The Spirit is the Paraclete because comes to the rescue of the disciples in their struggle against the world, that is, against the forces of evil (Jn 16:7-11).
At this point a question arises: if the Paraclete is such a powerful defender, why does evil continue to prevail over good and why does sin so often dominates us? The Christians of the communities of Asia Minor at the end of the first century also wondered why the new world was not immediately established and in a prodigious way. Jesus answers these doubts and uncertainties: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make a room in his home” (v. 23).
Jesus wants to manifest himself, together with the Father, not through miracles, but by coming to dwell in the disciples. The Israelites believed that the place of God’s presence was the temple in Jerusalem. However, as early as King Solomon, a doubt that a house made of man’s hand cannot hold the Lord of the universe arose (1 K 8:27). Through the prophets’ mouth, God had promised that he would come to live among his people: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for I am about to come. I shall dwell among you” (Zec 2:14).
He was not referring to a material sanctuary. It is in the man Jesus that God fulfilled the promise and has made himself present (Jn 1:14). Now—ensures Jesus—God dwells and is made visible in the disciple who loves as He loved. For this is not difficult to recognize if and when the devil is present in a man and when Jesus and the Father are instead present and act in him.
In the last verse, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit, “the Paraclete who will teach and remind” all that he said (v. 26). Jesus said it all; he did not leave out anything, yet it is necessary that the Spirit continues to teach because he could not explain all the implications and practical applications of his message. In the history of the world—he knew—the disciples would always be faced with new situations and questions, which they had to answer in the light of the gospel. Jesus assures: if they will stay in tune with the promptings of the Spirit present in them, they will always find the answer in conformity with his teaching.
The Spirit will often ask for unforeseen radical changes, but will not lead to ways other than those indicated by Jesus. In the Scripture, the verb “to teach” has a deeper meaning. The Spirit does not teach in the same way a professor does in school when he explains the lesson. He teaches in a dynamic way, becomes an inner impulse, irresistibly pushes us in the right direction, stimulates the good in us, and leads us to make choices consistent with the Gospel.
“He will guide you into the whole truth”—explains Jesus at the Last Supper (Jn 16:13)—and, in his first letter, John explains: “You have received from him an anointing, and it remains in you, so you do not need someone to teach you. His anointing teaches you all things, it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in him and keep what he has taught you” (1 Jn 2:27-28).
The second task of the Spirit is to remind. There are many words of Jesus, which, despite being in the Gospels, run the risk of being forgotten or unmentioned. It happens, especially with those proposals that are not easy to assimilate because they are contrary to the “common sense” of the world. These are those that need to be constantly recalled.
Fernando Armellini
Italian missionary and biblical scholar
https://sundaycommentaries.wordpress.com
The Spirit is constantly launching Mission
Romeo Ballan, MCCJ
The Jewish feast of Pentecost – seven weeks, or 50 days after the Pasch (Easter) – was originally a harvest festival following the reaping of the wheat crop (cf Ex 23:16; 34:22). Later on, a “memorial” was added: the promulgation of the Law on Mt. Sinai. From an agricultural feast, Pentecost became increasingly an historical celebration: a recalling of the great alliances of God with His people (see Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:24-27…). Besides a calendar change, it is important to note a new viewpoint regarding the Law and how the new alliance was understood and lived. The Law was a gift of which Israel was proud, but it was only a transitional stage, and incomplete.
A process of assimilation-interiorisation of the Law was needed: a process that culminates in the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is given to us in place of the Law, as the true and definitive beginning of new life. The Christian Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Spirit, “who is Lord and giver of life” (Creed). Israel grew and developed as a people, based on the Law. In God’s new family, cohesion does not come from an external commandment, no matter how excellent it may be, but from within, from the heart, in the strength of the love given by the Spirit, “because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rm 5:5). Thanks to Him (2nd Reading) “we are children of God” and we cry out “Abba, Father!” We are the people of the new alliance, called to live a new life, by the power of the Spirit who makes us the family of God, with the dignity of children and heirs (v. 14-17). This requires a way of life in keeping with our dignity. Paul describes two life-styles, different and, indeed, opposed to each other, according to the choice of each individual: life according to the flesh or life according to the Spirit (v. 8-13).
The Spirit leads individuals and groups of people, renewing and transforming them from within. The Spirit opens hearts, purifies them, heals them, reconciles them, helps them to overcome barriers, and brings them to communion. He is a Spirit of unity-faith-love in the plurality of charisma and of cultures, as is seen in the event of Pentecost (1° Reading), in which unity and plurality come together harmoniously, each being the gift of the same Spirit. Various nationalities understand one language that is common to all: the map of nations must become an agape table, a community house to “announce God’s great works in all languages” (v 11). St. Paul clearly attributes to the Spirit the ability to make the Church one and multiple in the plurality of charisma, ministries and works (cf 1Cor 12:4-6). The Church has before it a permanent challenge to be both Catholic and missionary: to make the human family pass from Babel to Pentecost, from ghetto to open field, through the power of the Spirit.
The Spirit manifested as wind, fire, gift of tongues is the Spirit of the universal Mission. Indeed, he is the protagonist of Mission (cf RMi ch. III; EN 75s.), which Jesus entrusts to his Apostles and their successors. For this Mission to be carried out, the Spirit is always close to us and active, as Jesus promises five times in his long discourse at the Last Supper (Jn 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-11; 16:13-15). He is the Consoler (Gospel) who remains with us always, who lives in those he loves (v. 16:23); he is the Teacher who teaches everything and reminds us of all that Jesus has said to us (v. 26). At Pentecost the Apostles finally understood the words of Jesus who has sent them: Go into the whole world, and make of all nations a single family.
A modern prophet of this mission and of Christian unity was Athenagoras, Patriarch of Istanbul, a man full of the Spirit, as can be seen in this statement: “Without the Holy Spirit, God is remote, Christ remains in the past, the Gospel is a dead letter, the Church just an organisation, authority a power, mission a propaganda, worship something out of date, moral conduct the behaviour of slaves. But in the Holy Spirit the cosmos is mobilised for the setting up of the Kingdom, the risen Christ is present, the Gospel becomes power and life, the Church achieves the Trinitarian communion, authority is transformed into service, liturgy is a memorial and anticipation, and human behaviour is made divine.”
