B Cycle – Feast of Pentecost 24

Jn. 20:19-23

God speaking to us through the prophet Ezekiel said, “…I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will remove your heart of stone and put a heart of flesh within you.  I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk by my statures and decrees” (Ez. 36:26-27).

John the Baptist speaking to the crowds said, “one is coming…who will baptize you in water and fire” (Lk. 3:1)6.

Jesus in the upper room said, “…but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (Jn. 15:26).

Before the ascension, Jesus appeared to the disciples and said to them, “…wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Acts 1:4).

These four passages in the scriptures have been heard by all of us, but it is easy for us to hear them and never reflect on how they impact us.  These four passages make it clear how critical a Pentecost type of encounter with the Spirit is necessary for us to live our lives according to God’s will.  There are more passages but these four should give anyone a clear understanding of why Pentecost changed the disciples from frightened, confused, and uncertain men into bold witnesses. 

Pentecost is not an ordinary event. I do not think we need to experience a mighty wind or see tongues of fire or even speak in tongues to have an encounter with the Holy Spirit.  Paul tells us the “love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” that has been given to us” (Rom.5:5).  To feel the love of God penetrating your heart cannot be anything but an amazing transformative experience.  An encounter with the Holy Spirit is like the experience of the woman caught in adultery when she was set free without condemnation. 

Imagine the woman at the well as her life failures were repeated to her by a stranger who offered her all she was seeking. She was accepted by this stranger without condemnation but with the patience of a merciful father.  

Imagine the prodigal son whose sin was punishable by death and yet his father longed for his return.  We do not deserve Jesus Christ, but God sent Him to us out of love and a desire to restore what we lost by the sin of Adam.

Pentecost is more than the birth of the church as you will hear it proclaimed in many homilies this Sunday.  It is more than Peter converting thousands to believe in Christ.  It is about what happened to Peter when the Spirit came upon him.  It changed him as it will change us. It is our birth; the promise of the Father is ours if we only ask for it.  The means we must desire it, seek it, and pray for it to happen to us.  That means we must admit we need the Sprit to change our hearts.    

Can it happen without us seeking it? Of course it can, Saul of Tarsus was not seeking it, but God was seeking Him.  Perhaps that is something we have failed to comprehend.  God is seeking us, just as He sought Adam and Eve after their sin.  Why are you hiding was His question to them.  It is a good question for us to ponder.  Do we even realize we are hiding behind an external veneer of “righteous behavior.’  We have become Pharisees in our approach to God when God desires us to be more like the woman with the hemorrhage, who ignores all the laws and decorum to just touch his cloak. 

Pentecost shows us desire and seeking are necessary for us to become who we were created to become.  Wait until you are clothed with power from on high. They did not understand what they were waiting for.  We should know what it means for we have thousands of years of teaching and tradition behind us to know how sinners became saints after the Spirit fills them.  It is a mountain top experience that frees us from the condemnation we feel by the law we strive to follow.   Paul understood this and he tells us the Spirit frees us from the law of sin and death. 

The law keeps us in check until the Spirit comes alive within us and then the law written on our hearts guides us to holiness.  Not righteousness but holiness.  There is a difference and that is what we will see and hear as we celebrate Pentecost.  Peter suddenly becomes a great evangelist causing thousands to believe. 

We only need to believe in the promises made to us by God.  The Holy Spirit will change us, but we continue to fail to submit our lives to the transforming power of the Spirit.  We have been deceived by a lie which tells us to show up, follow the rules and all will be well between us and God.  That kind of thinking keeps us from humbly submitting to the Spirit and allowing it to change us into bold witnesses of God’s mercy and love.  We need to pray, Come Holy Spirit and renew us.