Gospel: Jn 14:15-16, 23b-26 [or Jn 20:19-23]
JESUS said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.
“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. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.
“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”
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The Apostles are in a pit of darkness – behind locked doors, in isolation and fear, reeling from a deep sense of loss and pain because of their Master’s death and the collapse of their dreams and ambitions.
But the risen Christ appears to them, bringing them peace and reconciliation. He shows them the wounds of his passion, as identifying marks and as signs of life’s triumph over death. Jesus then commissions the Apostles to the whole world and breathes on them the Holy Spirit who will transform them from frightened disciples into courageous Apostles.
We celebrate this descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles at Pentecost. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke sets Pentecost 50 days after Easter. He patterns this celebration after the Jewish Pentecost that is held 50 days after the feast of Passover. At Pentecost, the Jews recall the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. This prodigious event was marked by theophanies, like bolts of lightning, peals of thunder, strong wind, and fire.
In drawing a parallel to the Jewish Pentecost, Luke clearly shows how the Holy Spirit supersedes the law of the Old Covenant; henceforth, all laws will draw light and interpretation from the Holy Spirit. When Luke employs the images of strong wind and tongues of fire to depict Pentecost, he is asserting the powerful action of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Apostles and the positive change that can usher in renewal and rebirth.
The change in the Apostles is far from superficial. It is a tempest that brings about an upheaval. The Apostles take the courageous journey from selfish ambition to genuine self-giving. Their old life is “burned” by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and new life comes not only upon them but also upon the Church.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
