By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe
Dear brothers and sisters,
Today we celebrate Pentecost. On Pentecost, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, which was promised by Jesus to his disciples. A lot of people can’t imagine much about this. Who or what is the Holy Spirit anyway? This is a good question because the Holy Spirit is the abiding presence of God among people. People throughout the ages have experienced that presence. It has helped them, comforted them, and prompted them to do great things. It was present at the beginning of creation, as the opening verses of the Book of Genesis tell us (Genesis 1:2). And he would be there at the end of time (Revelations 14:13). So, there is no fear of losing the presence of the Holy Spirit so long one is disposed to receive him.
We celebrate, therefore, the human consciousness of God’s engagement with the Universe and all in it: the creation of the universe when the Spirit of God hovered over the waters, the creation of humanity when God breathed his Spirit into Adam (Genesis 2:7) and the many instances of God’s Spirit’s involvement in human history. With Pentecost we celebrate the birth of the Church when the Spirit came upon the fearful apostles gathered in the Upper Room and commissioned them to go out and proclaim the Good News to all peoples. We read about that event in the First reading. But it is not just about beginnings, whether of creation or the Church, or even the beginning of this Filipino Catholic Community (FCC). It is the Holy Spirit that is the driving force without which neither creation nor the Church nor the FCC can move forward and fulfill its purpose.
When the Holy Spirit came, the apostles went out to preach to an audience that was so diverse. The reading noted that the people came from various parts of the world to celebrate Pentecost which was actually a Jewish harvest festival called Shavuot celebrated 50 days after the Passover. They were not expecting anything strange to happen until the apostles came forward saying things that not only made sense to them but were an extraordinary exposition of divine mysteries. More importantly, everyone present could understand them in their own native language without any interpreter. That was definitely not logical, that a person speaks in a language and everyone present understands what is said in his or her own native language, but a reality no one could deny, not even those who initially took them for drunken men. This reminds us of the Tower of Babel where the language of the people was confused and they could no longer understand each other (Genesis 11:1-9).
There is, of course, a clear difference between the goal of the Tower of Babel and that of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The goal of the people in building the Tower of Babel was to make a name for themselves. It was something about them, something natural. There is nothing wrong with seeking to make a name for oneself but when that is the sole purpose, the natural issues of tribalism, language, grouping, we against them, competition, etc. will arise and bring about divisions. Love will turn to jealousy, hatred, fighting, and backbiting. Nothing meaningful is achieved in such a situation. And that is what is described as the confusion of their language that brought an end to their project. Paul denounced these natural consequences which he referred to as the life of the natural man in his letter to Galatians. And he pleaded with them to live in the Spirit which brings love, peace, patience, collaboration, unity and all that is good, which all derive from the Pentecost celebration.
Today’s first reading describes the presence of the Holy Spirit with symbolic signs such as wind and fire. Wind and Fire are ancient Biblical symbols for the presence of God among men. And it is used here to describe the powerful new wind that blew over the old world to bring about a new creation. A creation where the walls that divide and separate humanity is abolished and a new form of brotherhood is introduced. A creation where people who ordinarily have nothing with each other would come together to form a new family of God’s people, living in love and respect for each other. A new creation that has made it possible for you and me, coming from different natural families, cultures and nations to be united in ‘one heart and one spirit’ in Christian fellowship. A new creation where the richness of diversity is harvested without destroying the uniqueness of the individual. The Holy Spirit does not mold people from different countries into sameness in the same manner a machine would mold materials to produce similar products. No. He preserves the uniqueness of everyone while urging everyone to work for the same purpose. We could see this in the case of Paul and Barnabas who disagreed about taking John Mark who left them halfway during their first mission. That disagreement did not stop them from preaching the same gospel along the different path that they took (Acts 15: 36-41).
Pentecost is a celebration of connectedness. Connectedness with each other and with God. And at the heart of this connectedness is love. Love that connects us to God. Jesus taught and lived with great love for people. Prior to His departure, He promised His disciples the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth and remind them of all He taught them. The Holy Spirit helps people who open themselves to God and Jesus to approach and see people and things from a different perspective. When the light of faith threatens to be blown out, the Spirit is needed again to bring fire to faith. One who gives the Spirit every opportunity in his or her life will not testify as a lukewarm believer. A Spirit-filled person will testify full of fire, like one in love who cannot remain silent.
The coming of the Holy Spirit makes us aware of God’s presence within us and enables us to love and live in peace with our fellow human beings. If there is anything our world so desperately needs today, it is love and peace. The heart of every man and woman longs for love, to love, and to be loved. When people feel loved and cherished, they bring out the best in themselves. The true nature and essence of God’s presence in them become clear, and those around them experience peace and joy. The absence of love brings hatred, violence, and all kinds of evil, both to individuals and to society. No one can give what he does not have. Only a heart full of love can radiate love, and only a peaceful heart can give peace to others.
Today a new fervor apparently flares up, enthusiasm and inspiration in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is fire and love. Comforter who absolves and forgives, who warms, who inspires, enthuses, and overcomes fear. The Holy Spirit makes each of us a proclaimer of the Good News of Jesus by using the gift we receive from Him. The Holy Spirit, dear people, is there, among other things, to inspire and strengthen us to bear true witness in our present secularized society. Those who funded this community (Filipino Catholic Community) had their own challenges in the beginning. But they did not stop. They trusted God and allowed the Holy Spirit to lead them. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of this wonderful Catholic Christian community, we are invited to do the same today and move the community forward.
Let us pray, therefore, that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit, and put His gift that we then receive to work for the betterment of the world around us. Amen