Reflection on Today's Readings, Pentecost Sunday, Year B, May 23rd, 2021
Texts: Acts 2:1-11; Ps. 104:1ab.24.ac.29bc-31; Gal. 5:16-25; John 15:26-27;16:12-15
Today we celebrate the fulfilment of the promise made in today's gospel reading. Jesus says, "When the Counsellor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness to me; and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning." With the Holy Spirit we enter the era of witnessing to Jesus, His person as the Son of God, His mighty deeds and words. Hence, He says of the Holy Spirit thus: "he will bear witness to me". He says of us too: "and you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the beginning." We will bear witness to Him because we have been with Him. To be with Him is to have intimate relationship with Him, it is to have personal knowledge of Him. The Holy Spirit brings about intimate relationship with Jesus Christ: in the Holy Spirit Christ dwells in our hearts; He makes personal in us the knowledge of Jesus Christ. In our age there is no encounter with Jesus Christ without the Holy Spirit; personal knowledge of Jesus Christ cannot be attained without Him. Paul says, Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus be cursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit (1Cor. 12:3). Holy Spirit bears witness to Christ with us; we also bear witness to Christ with the Holy Spirit. Neither we nor the Holy Spirit bears witness in isolation. The Holy Spirit speaks through us and also opens the hearts of our hearers to accept the message.
The coming of the Holy Spirit is to make us the vessel of divine treasure. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot bear the truth of God. Hence, Jesus says, "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth". This means we cannot possess the personal knowledge of Jesus Christ without the Holy Spirit, for He is the truth. He is the truth about God and the truth about ourselves; we can understand neither the mystery of God nor of man without Him. With Him we have the revelation of God and of ourselves. The splendour of our human nature shines forth in Him and we come to know the meaning of our life. All this truth cannot be attained without the Holy Spirit.
Today's first reading tells us of the coming of the Holy Spirit. In the description of the coming of the Holy Spirit, two things are used to speak of the manifestation of divine presence: Sound like the rush of a mighty wind and tongues as of fire. The words "spirit and wind" come from the same word, ruah, in Hebrew (Gen. 1:1). So also in Greek and Latin: the same word meaning spirit and wind. Jesus Christ likened spirit with wind. He says, "The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). Hence, the sound which was like the rush of mighty wind was the sound of the Holy Spirit. The heard His sound but could not see nor touch Him. Holy Spirit cannot be seen nor touched. The rush of a mighty wind means it came with power; it expresses the dynamic side of the Holy Spirit; He is mighty. Holy Spirit is dynamic and powerful. The Divinity of the Holy Spirit is expressed by saying it is from heaven. He is not from the earth and He is not created. The tongue refers to ability to speak; it includes ability to speak different language. The fire signifies the purifying power of the Holy Spirit.
Paul, in today's second reading, admonishes us to move in the spirit. When walk by the spirit, we crucify the desire of the flesh, and bearing the fruits of the spirit. He says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law." Law is not meant for those who walk by the spirit. We bear the fruits of the flesh when we live by the flesh. The works of the flesh are also worth mentioning: "Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Law is made because of those who live by the flesh.
Paul reminds us that the desire of the flesh is opposed to the desire of the spirit. This means it is impossible to walk by the spirit when the works of the flesh are abound in us. To walk by the spirit we must give up the works of the flesh. The coming of the Holy Spirit, today, is to come and destroy the works of the flesh in us. He does this by giving us the seven gifts: the Spirit of Wisdom that we may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal; the Spirit of Understanding which enlightens our minds with the light of divine truth; the Spirit of Counsel that we may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven; the Spirit of Fortitude that we may bear our crosses with Him and overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose our salvation; the Spirit of Knowledge that we may know God and know ourselves and grow perfect in the science of the Saints; the Spirit of Piety that we may find the service of God sweet and amiable; and the Spirit of Fear that we may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him (cf. Prayer for the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit).
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness of all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen. (Prayer copied)
Fr. Andrew Olowomuke
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