Pentecost, Sleeha 1st S,May 23,10.

Sleeha 1^st S,May 23,10

(Jn:16:5-15)

(Pentecost)

Today we celebrate the feast of the Pentecost. On this day we celebrate the founding of the Church, the first public gathering of the faithful who accepted Jesus as their Savior.

Pentecost is a Jewish Feast known as Shavout and it marked the end of the grain harvest. It was celebrated 50 days after the Passover, in commemoration of the Ten Commandments received by Moses on Mt. Sinai. It was on the day of the Pentecost that the disciples gathered in the Upper Room in prayer. As described in the Acts of the Apostles (2:1-4), as they gathered for prayers, tongues of fire descended on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Immediately after, they became very strong and confident about their faith in Jesus and ventured out in public to speak about Jesus. Until that time, they felt cowardly to face the public, in spite of the assurances by given Jesus during His various appearances to them that He would be with them. On this day, Peter walked to the courtyard of the Temple and addressed the vast crowd thronging there speaking about Jesus and asking them to accept Him as their Savior.

On that day itself, some three thousand men accepted baptism and became the first members of the Church.

The feast of the Pentecost is an important day in the story and development of the Church. It is on that day that the Spirit promised by Jesus came to abide in the hearts and minds of the disciples and gave them the courage and confidence to speak on His behalf.

“The feast of Pentecost calls upon each one of us to practice the spiritual gifts we received at the time of our Confirmation. You and I can’t change the whole world. But we can change a part of it.”(Mark Link)

In today’s Gospel, in his farewell address to the disciples, Jesus speaks about the parting gift that He is going to give them: His own Spirit. In unambiguous words, he tells them that it is good that he goes away because He can send them the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains further what the Holy Spirit is going to do in their lives. He will enlighten their moral and religious awareness. The Holy Spirit will make them aware of the sin of the world in rejecting Jesus who is their Savior, will make them know how truthful Jesus is because of His identity with the Father revealed through His resurrection and Ascension and finally the condemnation of the world through its rejection of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will also open their minds and hearts to the plenitude of truth and they will be able to bear witness to Him and His message.

Jesus has given us a very powerful gift . The Spirit of God will be a constant presence in our lives. In times of darkness and defeat, we will never be alone. The Spirit of God will lighten our paths. In times of great mental anguish and pain, He will console our hearts. In times of crisis, He will show us the path to choose. Jesus, thus, asks us to be confident and hopeful in our lives. Whatever may be the problems and challenges we encounter in our lives, we are given the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit. On this day when we celebrate the feast of the Pentecost, we shall reaffirm our faith in our Lord and regain our hope and confidence. We shall say with St. Paul, ”If God is for us, who can be against us?”(Rom:8,31).