Pentecost Homily – Year B
Readings: Acts 2:1-1 1; 1, Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13, (cor Gal 5:16-25), Jn 20:19-23 or (Jn 15:26-7; 16:12-5)
1st Reading – ACTS 2:1-11
1 When the day of Pentecost came, all the believers were gathered together in one place.
2 Suddenly there was a noise from the sky which sounded like a strong wind blowing, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 Then they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there.
4 They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to talk in other languages, as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, religious people who had come from every country in the world.
6 When they heard this noise, a large crowd gathered. They were all excited, because each one of them heard the believers speaking in his or her own language.
7 In amazement and wonder they exclaimed, “These people who are talking like this are Galileans!
8 How is it, then, that all of us hear them speaking in our own native languages?
9 We are from Parthia, Media, and Elam; from Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia; from Pontus and Asia,
10 from Phrygia and Pamphylia, from Egypt and the regions of Libya near Cyrene. Some of us are from Rome,
11 both Jews and Gentiles converted to Judaism, and some of us are from Crete and Arabia — yet all of us hear them speaking in our own languages about the great things that God has done!”
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
R. (cf. 30) Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
1 Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
24 How manifold are your works, O LORD!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
34 Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
29 If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
30 When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
or:
R. Alleluia.
2nd Reading – 1 Corinthians 12:3B-7, 12-13
Brothers and sisters:
3B No one can confess “Jesus is Lord”, without being guided by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.
5 There are different ways of serving, but the same Lord is served.
6 There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.
7 The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.
12 Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts.
13 In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
Or: Romans 8:8-17
Brothers and sisters:
8 Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.
9 But you do not live as your human nature tells you to; instead, you live as the Spirit tells you to — if, in fact, God’s Spirit lives in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10 But if Christ lives in you, the Spirit is life for you because you have been put right with God, even though your bodies are going to die because of sin.
11 If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his Spirit in you.
12 So then, my brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it is not to live as our human nature wants us to.
13 For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live.
14 Those who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children.
15 For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God’s children, and by the Spirit’s power we cry out to God, “Father! my Father!”
16 God’s Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God’s children.
17 Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ’s suffering, we will also share his glory.
OR Galatians 5:16-25
16 Brothers and sisters, live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
17 For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.
18 But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, lust,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions,
21 occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;
In our labour, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.
O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!
Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.
On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your sevenfold gift descend;
Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end. Amen.
Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Pentecost Sunday Gospel – John 20:19-23
19 It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.
20 After saying this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord.
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.”
22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Or: John 14:15-16, 23B-26
Jesus said to his disciples:
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.
23B “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
24 Those who do not love me do not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
25 “I have told you this while I am with you.
26 The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
Or: John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
26 “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.
27 And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
12 “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.
13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.
14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”
Homily
When the Dove Came Down
He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (In)
I was concelebrant at a Eucharist to mark the ‘Year of the Spirit’ in the run up to Yesu Khist Jayanti 2000. At the Offertory, a boy walked up with a white dove, and the commentator explained, “The priest will now release the white dove as a sign of the Spirit.” Holding the dove aloft, the main celebrant solemnly threw it up in the air. To everyone’s amazement – and amusement – the dove landed with a thud among the pious women of the front pews who shrieked in fright. Then, the sacristan picked up the half-dead, dazed dove, and carried it back to the sacristy. Inquiries revealed that that particular dove was hyperactive, and thus its legs and wings were tied up. Unfortunately, the sacristan forgot to cut the strings before the Offertory!
Come Pentecost and that scene of that diving dove comes alive. To me, that fettered dove symbolized a church that has shackled the Spirit. Indeed, unlike the Pentecostal groups, there is hesitancy in the Catholic Church to pray to, and proclaim, the Holy Spirit. But how different it was at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles! That event transformed their lives forever, igniting them for mission.
The first and third readings mention the outpouring of the Spirit at different times. .In ‘Acts’, the Spirit is given to the disciples at Pentecost, but in the account according to evangelist John, Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on his disciples on Easter Sunday evening. Thus, rather than affirm that the Spirit was given to the disciples at one particular time, the evangelists stress that the Spirit is the outcome of the work of the crucified-risen Christ. Furthermore, while ‘Acts’ stresses the preaching ministry (kerygma) as outcome of the Spirit, John speaks of reconciliation (forgiving and retaining of sins).
Although the symbols used for the Spirit in Scripture – e.g. dove, wind, breath, water, fire and oil of gladness – are powerful, they often give rise to a misconception that the Spirit is merely some impersonal power. Thus, one might ask: HOW does one enter into a personal relationship with a dove? Here, one must remember that the Spirit – like the Father and Son – is a person. The optional gospel reading thus speaks of the Spirit as Advocate or Counselor (Jn l5:26). We can also think of the Spirit as Comforter, Consoler, Defender, Teacher and Guide who journeys with us.
Note that the Spirit is not given to the disciples primarily as individuals, but as a community, a church. Moreover, the Spirit can never be dissociated from the Word (Jesus), for, the Word without Spirit is dead, and the Spirit without Word is in danger of running wild as has often happened in Church history.
The second readings (i.e., including the alternative one) from Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and Galatians speak of the Spirit’s ‘gifts’ (charisms) and ‘fruits’, respectively. Are the two different? Yes; while gifts/charisms are initial endowments at baptism or ordination, fruits are qualities that believers cultivate through cooperating with God’s Spirit.
The Indian Theological Association’ seminar in April 2006 dwelt on the theme ‘Laity in the Church: identity and Mission in India Today’.- There was unanimous opinion that the clergy has appropriated too much power for itself and the laity is not given its rightful place and power in the Church. Hence, let me ask myself: Which are the charisms gifted to me by the Spirit? How must l cooperate with the Holy Spirit to further fructify the fruits of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, trustfulness, self-control and so on?
“Send forth your Spirit, 0 Lord!” is the refrain to today’s psalm. Let’s ask that same Spirit to channelize our charisms that we may produce abundant fruits. Instead of shackling the Spirit (symbolized by that dazed dove), let’s set the Spirit free that we might witness a Nee-Pentecost so that God will, as the refrain continues, “renew the face of the earth!”
