The Four Pentecosts
Year A – Pentecost Sunday
John 20:19-23: “Receive the Holy Spirit”
Today the Church celebrates the great solemnity of Pentecost, the feast of the descent of the Holy Spirit, fifty days after Easter, according to the account in the Acts of the Apostles, proposed in the first reading.
The word Pentecost means “fiftieth day” and comes from Greek. Originally it was a Jewish feast, one of the three great pilgrimage feasts to the Temple in Jerusalem: Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles, the autumn harvest festival. It was an agricultural feast, the feast of the harvest and of the first fruits, celebrated on the fiftieth day after the Jewish Passover. It was also called the “Feast of Weeks”, because it occurred seven weeks after Passover. Later, this agricultural feast became associated with the remembrance of the gift of the Law, the Torah, received by Moses on Mount Sinai.
The Christian Pentecost is the fulfilment and conclusion of the Easter season. It is our Passover: the passage to a new condition, no longer under the regime of the Law, but under that of the Spirit. It is the feast of the birth of the Church and the beginning of the mission.
The readings of the feast, in fact, present us with four comings of the Holy Spirit, or four different yet complementary ways of his presence. We could say that they are four “Pentecosts”. Today there is a theological sensitivity that speaks of “deep incarnation”. The incarnation of Christ would not be directed solely towards humanity, but towards the whole of creation. The same can be said of his resurrection. And, by analogy, we can say the same of Pentecost.
1. Pentecost upon the Church
The first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, presents us with a coming of the Spirit that is overwhelming, impetuous, irresistible and fiery:
“Suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. There appeared to them tongues as of fire, which divided and came to rest on each one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.”
It is a coming that arouses astonishment and wonder, enthusiasm and euphoria, consolation and courage. It is absolutely gratuitous, unpredictable and never something that can be programmed. These are exceptional events. We find some of them in the book of Acts, but there have also been such moments in the history of the Church: not always so striking and forceful, but always of great fruitfulness.
Indeed, such a Pentecost is always followed by an ecclesial springtime. God knows how much we need it, in the ecclesial winter we are going through in the West! Only unceasing prayer in the upper room of the Church, the humble patience of the sower and docility to the Spirit can obtain such a grace.
2. Pentecost upon the world
The outpouring of the Spirit extends to the whole of creation. It is he “who gives life and sanctifies the universe” — as Eucharistic Prayer III proclaims. It is he who “carries the pollen of spring into the heart of history and of all things”, to use an expression of Ermes Ronchi.
For this reason, with the psalmist, we have invoked Pentecost upon the whole earth:
“Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth” — Psalm 103
This should be a typical prayer of the Christian: to invoke Pentecost upon the world, upon the dynamics that govern our social life, upon the events of history. Everyone complains about “how badly the world is going”, about the “evil spirits” that animate it; but how many of us truly make the “epiclesis”, that is, the invocation of the Spirit, so that he may descend upon the people, situations and events of our daily lives?
3. The Pentecost of charisms or service
The apostle Paul, in the second reading, taken from the First Letter to the Corinthians, draws our attention to another epiphany of the Spirit: the charisms.
“There are different kinds of charisms, but the same Spirit… To each one is given a particular manifestation of the Spirit for the common good… For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body…”
Today we speak a great deal about charisms and the sharing of ecclesial services, but we are also witnessing a growing and troubling disengagement among the younger generations. The sacrament of Confirmation, the “personal Pentecost”, which should mark the passage to full participation in the life of the Church, unfortunately becomes, for many, the moment of desertion. It is a clear sign that we have failed in the aim of Christian initiation.
What is to be done? The Church will have to become one great ear and strengthen its antennae, in order to perceive the voice of the Spirit at this particular moment in history. I would dare to say that the gravest problem is the spiritual mediocrity of our communities. Concerned with safeguarding orthodoxy and the good order of the liturgy, we have lost sight of what is essential: the experience of faith.
4. The Sunday Pentecost
The liturgy presents to us once again the Gospel of the appearance of the risen Jesus on Easter evening. It is a passage filled throughout with Easter resonances:
“On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, when the doors of the place where the disciples were staying were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said: ‘Peace be with you!’ Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then 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.’ Having said this, he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. Those whose sins you forgive are forgiven; those whose sins you retain are retained.’”
This passage is called “the little Pentecost” of John’s Gospel, because here Easter and Pentecost coincide. The Risen One gives the Spirit on the very evening of Easter. The whole context suggests the Sunday gathering and the Eucharist. It is there that the Spirit hovers over the waters of fear and death, bringing the peace and joy of life.
We must rediscover the pre-eminent role of the Spirit. This is his time. Without him we cannot proclaim that “Jesus is Lord” — 1 Corinthians 12:3 — nor can we cry out: “Abba! Father!” — Galatians 4:6. There is no Eucharist without the intervention of the Spirit. Therefore, let us enter the Eucharist with the plea in our hearts: Come, come, Holy Spirit!
In conclusion: how do you navigate the sea of life, with oars or with sails?
We breathe the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our oxygen. Without him, Christian life becomes law and duty: a constant rowing, with effort and fatigue. With him, however, it is the joy of living and loving; it is the lightness of sailing with full sails.
Now that, after the Easter season, we return to Ordinary Time, with the routine of daily life, how are you preparing to navigate: by the strength of the oars, or by allowing yourself to be carried by the Wind of the Spirit that blows upon the unfurled sail of your heart?
Fr Manuel João Pereira Correia, MCCJ
Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
