WHEN WAS THE SPIRIT
GIVEN?
June 9th,2019: Pentecost, Year C. Acts
2:1-11; John 20:19-23.
AIM: To explain the gift of
the Spirit and encourage prayer for this gift.
When was
the Holy Spirit given? Today=s readings seem to give
two different answers to this question. The first reading says that the Spirit
came dramatically at Pentecost. The gospel, on the other hand, places
Jesus= gift of the Spirit on
the evening of his resurrection. Instead of a Astrong driving
wind,@ and Atongues as of
fire,@ Jesus breathes on his
eleven frightened disciples and says: AReceive the Holy
Spirit.@
Why does
the Church place these two readings side by side on this feast of Pentecost,
despite their seeming contradiction? It does not hesitate to do so, because the
Church knows that the primary intention of the biblical writers is not to give
historical details. The gospels differ about a number of historical details.
John, for instance, places Jesus= cleansing of the
Jerusalem
Temple Temple
The
gospel writers don=t have our modern
interest in Ajust the
facts.@ They are more
interested in the spiritual
significance of the facts. The gospels are religious narratives,
written to produce and nourish in others the faith which inspired their authors.
John=s gospel states this
explicitly when it says that it has recorded the Asigns@ Jesus performed
Ato help you believe that
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, so that through this faith you may have
life in his name.@
(20:31)
In their
different ways both accounts of the Spirit=s coming in
today=s readings tell us that
the Spirit is the Church=s principle of unity. The first reading
symbolizes this unity by the gift of tongues. From the dawn of history people
have been puzzled by encountering other human beings with whom they could not
communicate, because they spoke another language. The ancient Greeks called such
people barbaroi because their
speech sounded like Aba-ba-ba@ B gibberish. The term
lives on in our English word Abarbarian.@
The Old
Testament book Genesis explains the existence of different languages by the
Tower of
Babel
The gift
of tongues at Pentecost did not reverse this confusion. Those upon whom the
Spirit came spoke not in a single language, but in the different tongues of the
many nationalities present that day at Jerusalem
The
gospel reading symbolizes this unity through the gift of forgiveness. Breathing
on the eleven, Jesus says: AReceive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive, are forgiven them ...@ Forgiveness means
wiping the slate clean, starting over. Without this there can be no unity but
only an ever lengthening tale of injury, resentment, reprisal, and escalating
hatred B as we see in the
Middle East today.
In both
accounts the Spirit is given for
all. The Adevout Jews from every
nation under heaven@ mentioned in the first
reading symbolize all races and people on earth. Their response to the
Spirit=s coming is a
description of the Church=s work down through
history. AEach of us hears them
speaking in his native language ... of the mighty acts of
God.@
The
gospel expresses this universality less dramatically but no less definitely in
Jesus= words:
AAs the Father has sent
me, so I send you.@ Jesus was sent by his
Father to all. No one was ever
excluded from his concern or love: not the Awoman known in the town
to be a sinner,@ who washed
Jesus= feet and dried them
with her hair (Lk 7:37f); not the Samaritan woman at the well with her five
husbands (Jn 4:18); not the repentant thief crucified next to Jesus (Lk 23:43).
Following his resurrection, therefore, Jesus entrusts this universal mission to
the Eleven, who represent all of Christ=s followers in all ages,
ourselves included.
So when
is the Spirit given? Continually! Christ=s gift of the Spirit was
not just long ago and far away. The risen Lord bestows his Spirit on his Church
and each of its members in all ages. Far from being an embarrassment to be
explained away, therefore, the two different accounts of the
Spirit=s coming in
today=s readings illustrate an
essential aspect of Christ=s continuing concern for
his Church.
There is
never a time when the risen Lord is not bestowing the gift of his Spirit. The
Spirit comes whenever two or three are gathered together in
Christ=s name (cf. Mt 18:20);
whenever we celebrate one of the Church=s sacraments; whenever
we read or hear God=s word; whenever, in
Christ=s name, the hungry are
fed, the naked clothed, the sick or imprisoned visited, or strangers sheltered
(cf. Mt. 25:35-40).
Can we predict or control the Spirit=s coming? We cannot. God gives himself in sovereign freedom. Always, however, the Lord gives his Spirit in some manner, and at some time, to those who pray. With joyful hearts, therefore, we join on this feast of Pentecost in the Church=s unceasing prayer for the Spirit=s gift.
Can we predict or control the Spirit=s coming? We cannot. God gives himself in sovereign freedom. Always, however, the Lord gives his Spirit in some manner, and at some time, to those who pray. With joyful hearts, therefore, we join on this feast of Pentecost in the Church=s unceasing prayer for the Spirit=s gift.
Come down, O love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
And visit it with thine own
ardor glowing;
O Comforter draw near,
within my heart appear,
And kindle it, thy holy
flame bestowing.
O let it freely burn, till
earthly passions turn
To dust and ashes in its
heat consuming;
And let thy glorious light,
shine ever on my sight,
And clothe me round, the
while my path illuming.
Let holy charity my outward
vesture be,
And lowliness become my
inner clothing.
True lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
And o=er its own shortcomings weeps with
loathing.
And so the yearning strong
with which the soul will long,
Shall far outpass the power
of human telling;
For none can guess its
grace, till he become the place
Wherein the Holy Spirit
makes his dwelling.
Jay Hughes
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