The first manifestation of the apostles’ reception of the Holy Spirit came immediately, as the formerly timid, frightened men burst out the door and began to proclaim the Good News of Jesus! Then, everyone there (regardless of their many different native languages), was able to understand the Apostles’ proclamation of the Good News about the salvation of mankind, “in his own tongue.”  The Jews in the crowds came from sixteen different geographical regions.  The miracle of tongues on Pentecost thus reverses the confusion of tongues wrought by God at the Tower of Babel, as described in Genesis 11.  Later, the Acts of the Apostles describes how the Holy Spirit empowered the early Christians to bear witness to Christ by their sharing love and strong Faith.  This “anointing by the Holy Spirit” also strengthened the early Christian martyrs during the period of brutal persecution that immediately followed, as it has done through the centuries and as it does today for the thousands of Christians presently under attack for their Faith who hold fast to it, drawing on the Power of the Holy Spirit as they live and as they die.

In the Refrain for the Responsorial Psalm (Ps 104), we pray, “Lord, send out Your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth,” asking God for a “fresh anointing” of the Spirit for all of us.

SOURCE: Fr. Tony's Homilies / Used with permission

In the second reading (I Cor 12:3-7, 12-13), St. Paul explains how the sharing of the various spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit enriches the Church.  He refers to the varieties of gifts given to the Church as coming from the same Spirit Who activates all of them in Christians for the common good.  They are described as the gifts, fruits, and charisms of the Spirit.  They may take different forms like prophecy, teaching, administration, acts of charity, healing, and speaking in tongues; they may be granted to and reside in different persons like apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, and so on.  Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit in his Letter to the Galatians: “What the Spirit brings is … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (5:22-23a).  He continues, “Since the Spirit is our Life, let us be directed by the Spirit” (5:25).  Paul insists that these spiritual gifts are to be used in the present time for the benefit of others, for the common good, and for the building up of the Body of Christ.

In today’s Sequence, the Church repeats her payer of invitation to the Holy Spirit (Veni Sante Spiritus), asking Him to come to us all now and detailing the effects His presence and His gifts will have on all of us, if we choose to receive them.

SOURCE: Fr. Tony's Homilies / Used with permission

On the day of Pentecost, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send to them the Advocate or Paraclete. This gift of the Spirit would enable the Apostles to fulfill Jesus’ commission to preach the Gospel to all nations.  Today’s Gospel passage also tells us how Jesus gave to the Apostles the power and authority to forgive sins.  “Receive the Holy Spirit.  For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained” (Jn 20:23).  These wonderful words, which bind together inseparably the presence of the Holy Spirit with the gift of forgiveness, are referred to directly in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  But they have a much wider meaning.  Those words remind us of the Christian vocation we all have — to love and forgive as we have been loved and forgiven in the world of today, which is often fiercely judgmental and vengeful.

The Role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer and of the Church: How beautiful is the thought that the Holy Spirit lives within us!  Saint Paul reminds the Corinthian community of this fact when he asks, “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (I Cor 3:16).  It is the Holy Spirit who develops our intimacy with God.  “God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba!‘ (‘Father!’)” (Gal 4:6).  “God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us” (Rom 5:5). “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (I Cor 12:3).  Moreover, we know that it is the Holy Spirit Who teaches us to pray (Rom 8:26).  By the power of the Spirit, we also know the Lord Jesus through His Church.  Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church, for it was the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and Mary that brought the Church into full active life on earth, and it is the Holy Spirit Who still enlivens, enlightens, guides, and sanctifies the Church; the Holy Spirit will continue to do these things and more until the end of the world, the Judgment  of all humanity, and the presentation by the Father of the Purified Church, the “Bride of the Lamb” to Jesus, His Son and our Lord.  The Psalm refrain for this Sunday’s Responsorial Psalm (Ps 104) says it well: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”  We know Jesus through the Sacramental Mysteries of the Church, and Holy Spirit is at the heart of the Sacramental life of the Church.  Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders are the Sacramental Mysteries through which people receive the seal of the Holy Spirit.  It would be impossible for us to receive Jesus in the Eucharist without the descent of the Holy Spirit at the Epiclesis of the Divine Liturgy.  Even the forgiveness of sins comes through the Holy Spirit (Jn 20:21-23).  The Holy Spirit both confirmed the apostles in Holy Orders as priests and empowered them to forgive sins by His Power, a work which He continues today in each of our priests.

The action of the Holy Spirit in the daily lives of Christians: The Spirit is that Paraclete (a Greek word that is translated Counselor, Comforter, Helper, Encourager, or Enabler), Who quietly works in us and through us every day behind the scenes in the basic activities of our lives and the lives of the people around us. He is there in all His fullness wherever people worship and pray in the Name of Jesus. When we believe and trust in Jesus, we have that Faith through the Holy Spirit’s work in us, filling us with Himself and His Gifts. The Holy Spirit leads us to turn away from our self-worship and sinfulness, reassuring us that we are still loved in spite of our sin, and reminding us that Jesus died on a cross just to remedy the effects of those moments when we rebel against God’s Way. It is the Holy Spirit Who confronts us and urges us to take a good look at ourselves and where we are heading, to make a U-turn, to leave the old behind and to try something new. The Holy Spirit is not afraid to challenge us and stretch us to go and do things for Christ – things we have never done before or ever imagined ourselves doing! He’s the One Who says to us, “Stop being so self-focused. Stop looking into yourself all the time and being depressed by what you see or fooling yourself into thinking that what you see in yourself is enough to get you through! Look up, look away, look to Jesus and let Him turn your around; let Him take control!” “The feast of Pentecost celebrates the unseen, Immeasurable Presence of God in our lives and in our Church – the Ruah Who animates us to do the work of the Gospel of the Risen One, the Ruah Who makes God’s will our will, the Ruah Who IS God living in us and transforming us so that we may bring His life and love to our broken world.  God “breathes” His Spirit into our souls that we may live in His life and love; God ignites the “fire” of His Spirit within our hearts and minds that we may seek God in all things in order to realize the coming of His reign.” (Connections). Through Baptism and Confirmation, and in the presence of the believing community gathered in prayer, we are “indelibly sealed” and “empowered” by the Holy Spirit, who now dwells within us (CCC #698).

The Holy Spirit, the Helper is quietly at work everywhere in our lives.  We meet Him: in the sincere concern of a friend for our health; in the generosity of those who give us so much help; in the inner strength we discover in times of crisis; in those moments when we admit that we have been wrong; in the making of a tough choice; in the resilience of people who face one bad thing after another; in times when we have dared to love even though it was hard to do so. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, is quietly at work.  We find Him: in taking on responsibilities that we once thought beyond us; in refusing to let the greed of society take over our soul; in giving thanks always, even though times have been hard; in  rising above past failures and putting past hurts behind us; in finding the Central Core of Peace in the midst of turmoil; in an adult patiently teaching a child self-esteem and self-control; in the person sitting quietly beside a hospital bed; in a parent praying for a troubled son or daughter. The Spirit calls us to repent, that is, to “think again” and turn our lives around. We hear Him as He calls us to Faith and invites us, again, to take up our cross daily and follow Jesus. Whenever we look to the Holy Spirit, He is within us as our Helper, always assisting us to be what God made us to be.  The Holy Spirit helps us to be truly great by becoming servants to one another. Likewise, the Spirit deepens our awareness of Jesus loving us as He lives in our lives. It is the Holy Spirit Who gathers us around the cross of Jesus; Who changes our lives, helping us to be more patient and forgiving; Who enables us to seek new beginnings in our relationships with one another; Who urges us to let the power of God’s love have the final say over the conflicts and difficulties we get into. The Indwelling Holy Spirit is available to us every moment of every day as we face and make our constant choices between remaining self-centred and becoming the God-cantered people, the Spirit is calling us to become in Christ.

SOURCE: Fr. Tony's Homilies / Used with permission