06.03.25 - Gospel Tuesday + Pentecost

Opening Prayer (Pentecost)                 

Dear Heavenly Father, on this day, 2000 years ago,

you inaugurated the Church by having the Holy Spirit indwell in your believers.

We rejoice that you have allowed us, men and women of every nation, to enter into new life.

Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, our advisor, our advocate, our convictor, and our comforter.

May we continue to celebrate this day until you return again.

And as you taught us to pray together…

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. 

Upcoming major holy days:   Pentecost (Sunday, June 8).

Today’s Agenda

1.     Reflection: Pentecost & Love

2.     Gospel Reading for Pentecost: Easter Day visit to the Upper Room, John 20:19-23

3.     Pentecost 2nd Reading: The Holy Spirit Comes, Acts 2:1-11

Quote of the Week:  

“You cannot go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” - C.S.Lewis

Survey questions update

What is the Jewish holiday of Pentecost? It is also called the Festival of Weeks, or “Shavuot,” meaning weeks. Why ‘weeks’?

Why is Shavuot (Pentecost) called the Feast of Weeks?

The Exodus begins after the first Jewish Passover. “Passover” refers to the last and 10th plague, when death “passed over” the Hebrew homes who put the blood of their lamb on their doorposts.

By early morning, the Israelites headed for the Red Sea, finally to escape 400 years of slavery. The Egyptian soldiers came after and caught up with them at the Red Sea. God parted the Red Sea so the Jews could cross, but the Sea closed in on the Egyptians when they attempted to follow.

Moses and the Israelites headed into the desert. They arrived at Mt. Sinai seven weeks (49 days) after their Passover meal. Then, Moses climbed Mt. Sinai on the 50th day (Pentecost) and received the 10 Commandments from God, what we could now call the first deposit on the “Word” of God. This is what the Jews are celebrating for Shavuot/Pentecost/Feast of Weeks.  

Why should we care?

Recall that Jesus was a Jew. Understanding biblical (Jewish) history is the key to understanding Jesus and God’s plan of salvation. Jewish history is the trunk of the Christian tree.

Here’s a recent Jewish notification about Shavuot (Pent):

Catholic Apologetic: Pentecost & Love

If we draw upon God for self-giving love, it is infinite – we will never run out. In fact, the more we give it away, the more we will have. However, if we draw upon our own, inner-selves for love, we will find love is limited; we will simply have to ration it out. Relying our ourselves makes us a prisoner of the self.

In Heaven, we will experience this infinite love first-hand. We will supernaturally give away all the love we receive, and then find that it is immediately replaced by more than we gave away.

As so it is that here on earth we are practicing how to love properly for the next life. We are not alone as we have the Holy Spirit within us who will ensure we remain connected to God’s love … as long as we don’t leave Him sleeping in the back of the boat.

What do I mean by leaving the HS sleeping in the back of the boat?

Most of us recall the story of the Apostles out in the Sea of Galilee during a deadly storm, and Jesus is sleeping in the back of the boat. The Apostles were the “experts” at boating – they knew better – until they didn’t! When they were about to go under, the finally woke Jesus up. Jesus said, “Ye of little faith,” and quieted the storm with his spoken word.

The “little faith” Jesus was talking about was their waiting to call upon him until they were facing a catastrophe. Jesus was there the whole time, but of course they knew better, right? Aren’t we all that way, until there’s a crisis?

The Holy Spirit was given to us but He will also be sleep in the back of our boat until we use our free-will to call him into our lives – hopefully not just in a crisis (or perhaps even too late!) but every day, all day!    

Gospel Reading for Sunday, John 20:19-23

Context:  The Gospel reading for Pentecost Sunday is from John. This familiar story – about Jesus entering through the door of the Upper Room on Easter and breathing on the Apostles – was already read at Easter time, just after the Resurrection.

It is now 50 days later – the Pentecost! Why would the Church make this Easter reading our Pentecost Gospel reading?   

The first reason is that the Pentecost is not recorded in the Gospels (it’s in Acts). All four Gospels are about Jesus’ life and teachings, which concluded sometime after the Resurrection, usually with the Ascension. 

Secondly, and more importantly, John’s reading records Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit onto the Apostles.

But wait, don’t the Apostles receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? What’s going on?

Indeed, we learn something interesting about the Holy Spirit. John’s reading is the first official pouring out of the Spirit to humans since the Fall of Man. You might compare this to our Baptism when the Holy Spirit gives us Sanctifying Grace, which man lost at the Fall. Sanctifying grace makes us adopted children of God and it is needed to enter Heaven.

Now on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is given to them again, but in a more profound way so that they can partner with the Holy Spirit and take the Gospel message to all the nations. This would be comparable to the Sacrament of Confirmation.  

This “growing in the grace of the Holy Spirit” is called “Progressive Sanctification.” It applies to all of us to the extent we seek to grow in the sacraments and in our relationship with Christ. Remember the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit?

7 Gifts of the HS: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.

9 Fruits of the HS: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These come to us gradually and grow over our lifetime, as long as we don’t leave the HS asleep in the back of our boat!

John 20:19-23

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."

Exegesis (Study and Interpretation)

Jesus breathing on the Apostles purposely repeats a similar act in Genesis. What is it?

In Genesis 2:7, God breathes His Spirit into man. Later, man is tempted by Satan and falls. Jesus now breathes new life, a new start, into his disciples.   

Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus wasted no time fulfilling what he promised to them just 3 days earlier at the Last Supper. And although the sacrament of forgiveness is the first instruction he gives them, the primary reason for putting this reading on Pentecost is the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the delivering to them the mission of the Church, which comes next:   

Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” This is their mission. It is the mission of the Church. It is our mission. As St. Teresa of Avila said so well, “Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours.”

Some people tend to think of Easter and Pentecost as the end of Jesus’s mission; however, it’s not the end, it’s the beginning!  Yes, Jesus had to open the gates of Heaven, but now we need to gather as many as possible to enter! They can’t if they don’t know about it.    

Pentecost: The Holy Spirit Comes, Acts 2:1-11

Context: The Age of the Holy Spirit

Why was it fitting that the disciples were praying with the Virgin Mary as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit?

Since the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Incarnation of Jesus – making her also the mother of the Church – it was fitting that Mary be present at the end of Jesus’ mission as the Holy Spirit “births” the Church.  By the way, in 2018, the Vatican designated Monday after Pentecost as the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church.  

According to the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church), Pentecost is the fulfillment of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. That’s a huge fulfillment! Fulfillment means a completion of Jesus’ earthly mission, which is also the completion of an age; and the completion of one age must mean the beginning of a new age, right?

What is this new age we are in, and what age came before this?

The “ages” tend to follow along with God’s revelation of Himself, the Trinity:

o   The age from the Fall of Man to the incarnation may be called the Age of the Father.  

o   The age from the Incarnation of Jesus to the Ascension of Jesus is the Age of Christ/2nd Person of the Trinity.

o   The current age – from Pentecost to Second Coming of Christ at the end of time – is the Age of the Holy Spirit.

o   After that, the term “age” isn’t so relevant since it is the timeless, eternal Kingdom of Heaven.

Acts 2:1-11 – The Holy Spirit Comes

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 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."

Exegesis (Study and Interpretation)

Jerusalem on the Pentecost – over 100,000 at the time of Christ

What was going on in Jerusalem when the tongues of fire arrived?

It was the Jewish feast day of Pentecost, one of the three required holy pilgrimage days, meaning Jerusalem was FULL. It was 9 in the morning, the time when the gates of the Temple open for the morning prayer service and sacrifices. Large groups of people would have been on their way to the Temple. God ensured maximum exposure for this event.

Is there any significance to the Holy Spirit coming like a loud, driving wind and then in tongues of fire?                

1)     In Gen 1:2 – the beginning of Creation, it says the “Spirit of God” was hovering over the waters. Other translations say the mighty wind of God, which means the same thing since Spirit, breath, and wind have the same Hebrew root. Thus, the loud wind coming into the house once again points to another (new) creation under way.

2)     In Exodus 19:16-18, the Lord descended on Mt. Sinai amidst fire and thunder to meet with Moses and deliver the first set of written laws – the Ten Commandments. Now God comes personally in the Holy Spirit – thanks to Jesus expanding our relationship with God. Now Jeremiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled:

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.” – Jeremiah 31:33.

Who predicted the Holy Spirt would come with fire?

John the Baptist said, “I am baptizing you with water for repentance; but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” – Matt 3:11. Jesus now sends the Holy Spirit who comes in fire.

Another noteworthy item: it says the fire came and then parted onto the twelve. The Holy Spirit is the unity of the Trinity and the fire that parted onto the twelve was ONE fire, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s primary goal is the unity of humanity into the Trinity of God. Man’s fall is all about division. God is all about unity, which begins with the Body of Christ.

Suddenly the Holy Spirit prompts the Apostles to speak loudly and boldly, and visitors from all different countries and different languages all understood them in their own tongue. 

Notice that this unity is also represented by unity of the spoken Word, meaning that worldly differences of culture and language will no longer be barriers to the unity of God’s family.  

Does this message of a unified language bring to mind another Old Testament event?

            The Tower of Babel, Genesis 11:1-9.

After the Fall of Man, evil spread across the world, which brough about Noah’s flood to cleanse the world (Gen 7-10). However, evil creeps back into humanity and begins to spreads fast again and, bam! we have the Tower of Babel.

Tower of Babel

At this time (Gen 11), humans became so impressed with their own knowledge that they decided to build a tower to heavens just to show their enemies – and God – that they were unstoppable. The simply didn’t need God anymore.   

While they were building their tower, God changed their languages so they couldn’t communicate with each other (hence the word, “babel” or babble, as we say today). Consequently, they did not complete the tower and the people dispersed to other lands based on their languages.   

What does this have to do with the Pentecost?

            Whereas human pride and evil led to the division of human tongues (languages), the sending of the Holy Spirit sought to reverse this message and unite humanity – to the extent we will let it – and lead us to Heaven.

“When You send forth your Spirit, they are (re)created; and You renew the face of the earth” – Psalm 104:30.

As the saying goes, history repeats itself if we refuse to learn from it, and pride is usually at the center. In recent history, we had another “Tower of Babel” experience. What was it? 

The “Age of Enlightenment” of the 17th-18th centuries. Due to our scientific advancements (just like the technological advancements at Babel), we decided we now had the ability to get all our own answers, and God was no longer needed.  

God is dead! – Friedrich Nietzsche, 1882

Pentecost – The Birth of the Church

The Pentecost is often thought of as the birthday of the Church. In some respects, this is true. In others, it is not. Since we are doing apologetics, you should understand this nuance. 

“Birthday” suggest a new religion, but Christianity is not the beginning of a new religion. It is the fulfillment of a very old one, dating back all the way to the Fall of Man. Even before the Fall, we know we were not created to Fall but to be in relationship with God. So, in that sense, the Church – the people of God – has always been and always will be.

That said, Jesus indeed ushered in a New Age of Salvation. Since man kept falling away from God and His Temple throughout salvation history, God decided to bring Himself directly to us and into us. In this sense, the Catholic Church was indeed born at Pentecost for this very mission.

Conclusion

Once again, the Holy Spirit is about Love and Unity. Unity is in the very word Trinity – Tri + unity.

Our fallen nature (pride/self) thrives on power/control, divide and conquer, distrust, possessions, and division. God is all about love, faithfulness, service, generosity, building up, and unity. We all want much of what is in the first group, but we know that God is in the second group. It is the path of our relationship with God and the path to Heaven.  

The Parable of the Prodigal Son describes how our relationship with God was lost and then found again.  This is true collectively and for each of us individually. Thank God for love, forgiveness, and unity – we all get another chance at life.  

You might call God’s strategy His Master Plan/Unification Project, and it’s even present in the one Prayer that Jesus gave us:

Our Father in Heaven directs each one of these:

Thy Kingdom Come             Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven                      Give us this day our Daily Bread

  Trinity, All United    God’s Will (unity) will win out, but how can fallen man join?   Jesus gives Self at the Last Supper/Cross

Forgive us our trespasses              As we forgive others         Temptation (inner)         Deliver Us From Evil (outer)

Jesus Christ dies for our sins       How? Holy Spirit will help.     How? Holy Spirit.            How? The Holy Spirit, again.      

God puts His whole Self – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – at our disposal. We only need to invite Him into our lives and along for the ride.

Closing Prayer:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.

And kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created.

And you will renew the face of the earth.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed are thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. 

Amen.