Happy Pentecost!
This feast is the conclusion of the Eastertide, as well as the beginning
of our new life as the growing and evolving Church. At the same time, this is
also the “graduation from God’s military academy” to be sent out in battle
fields throughout the world to fight against God’s enemy – Satan. We are now
loaded with weapons and ammunitions as we have received the Holy Spirit – the power
and fire that drive us. As it is
renewable, we can fill ourselves again and again, as necessary, until this
battle is done with our victory, to pave the way of Christ to return as the
King of the Universe, our Commander in Chief.
As this feast also marks the threshold into the
longest Ordinary Time for the rest of the liturgical year, it is also a good
time to reflect Pentecost in the context of the liturgical calendar.
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The flow in the liturgical calendar upon the
Resurrection until the feast of the Coronation of Our Lady as the Queen of
Heaven, reflects the Glorious Mysteries of the Holy Rosary: the Resurrection of
the Lord, the Ascension of the Lord, the Pentecost (the coming of the Holy
Spirit), the Assumption of Virgin Mary, and the Coronation of Our Lady. Ever
since the beginning of this liturgical year with the Advent Season until the
Resurrection Sunday, we have gone through all other mysteries of the Holy
Rosary. As the remaining mysteries are about Mary, thus fear in the liturgical
year, we have come to better understand who our Lord, Jesus Christ, is.
Following the four weeks of Advent, we celebrated 40
days of the Christmastide, which concluded with the feast of the Presentation
of the Lord, the Fourth Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary. During these 40 days in reflecting on the
incarnation of God in the flesh of Jesus through the immaculate body of Mary,
we also celebrated the feast of Epiphany (the first appearance of the
incarnated God to the Gentiles) on the 12th day of Christmas and the
feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which is the First Luminous Mystery of the
Holy Rosary, marking the end of the Christmas season of the liturgical
calendar.
With the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, as the
First Sunday in Ordinary Time, the first part of the Ordinary Time began and
continued until the eve of Ash Wednesday. On the Cycle C, we reflected on the
first miracle of the Lord, which is the Second Luminous Mystery of the Holy
Rosary, as well as the fourth epiphany, given the Nativity of the Lord as the
first epiphany, the Presentation of the Lord as the second epiphany, the
visitation by the Magi as the third epiphany and the first epiphany to the
Gentile. In other words, from the
Nativity on, we have reflected on various epiphania
moments, when the invisible God manifested visibly (phainein – to show, to appear visibly) above (epi) the surface the invisibility.
During this first segment of the Ordinary Time, we
saw Jesus being baptized to be commissioned to embark upon his public ministry,
the Holy Spirit resting upon him and endorsed by the voice of the Father, Jesus turning water into wine during a
wedding banquet at Cana, Jesus beginning
to preach at the synagogue in his hometown, Nazareth, Jesus being rejected by the people of
Nazareth as a result of his preaching, and Jesus coming to Capernaum, making
miraculous catch of fish and recruiting his disciples. Then, we began the Lenten season with Ash
Wednesday to be reminded of our need for humility and penance, to be inspired
to fight against Satan’s temptations into sins by the example of Jesus, and
various episodes of Jesus’ involvement in the contrast of sanctifying grace and
sins. Then, during the Holy Week, upon celebrating Jesus’ triumphant entry into
Jerusalem by waving palms, shouting, “Hosanna
in the highest!”, we reflected how quickly our excitement for the coming of
the Lord into Jerusalem turned into our hatred-filled anger at him, demanding
the Roman authority, “Crucify him!
Crucify him!”. However, in
commemorating the Holy Thursday as the Maundy Thursday, we were reminded that
the Lord instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Fifth Luminous Mystery
of the Holy Rosary, as the darker hours were about to begin, and that we have
received the Lord’s mandatum novum,
to love one another as he has loved us. Nevertheless, we have betrayed him by
abandoning him to the hands of Satan’s servants, thus reflecting the entire
Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary for the Paschal Triduum.
Thus, our stubborn sinfulness killed the Lord on Good Friday. Yet, God turned
this darkest event as a pivotal momentum for salvation.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was raised from
the dead (i.e. Romans 8:11) on the third day for God’s salvific scheme to
continue beyond Jesus’ death. Thus, Eastertide began, with the Resurrection of
the Lord, the First Glorious Mystery of the Holy Rosary. Yet, the disciples
first reacted to the Resurrection with fear and skepticism. Jesus had to offer peace and pour his breath
upon them to lift their fear. He also had to let Thomas, who was extremely
skeptical, to touch his own wound marks to help him believe. As these episodes
of the disciples tell, coming to terms with the Resurrection was not easy.
Nevertheless, the disciples gradually were able not only to understand the
Resurrection but also appreciate Jesus Christ as the Lord in his relation to
the Father and the Holy Spirit, ready to
be transformed into the Church and be sent out on mission to all nations, by
the time of his Ascension.
In celebrating the Pentecost, upon the Ascension of
the Lord, we conclude the Eastertide, on this 50th day from the
Resurrection Sunday. This is the day
when the promise of the Father (Luke 24:49) came upon the disciples.
Ascension was, in fact, an indispensable
precondition for Pentecost, reflected in these words of Jesus: Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come
to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (John 16:7). Ascension also indicates that the we, the
disciples today, are spiritually mature enough and know Jesus enough to be able
to stand on our own feet, no longer feeling insecure, even without physical
presence of Jesus. In fact, Ascension
marks the end of epiphanies, which started with the Nativity.
On the physical level, Ascension may be seen as a
separation from the risen Christ. It is a view of those who have no faith and
those whose faith is very immature. I juxtapose Ascension to Jean Piaget’s
concept of object permanence in his cognitive development theory, as Ascension
indicates that our post- Resurrection faith growth has reached the point where
we feel secure and understand the risen Christ’s constant presence with us
beyond his physical presence. This way,
we can appreciate Christ’s presence with us through the Holy Spirit, the
Advocate. The Greek word for Advocate,
the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised for Pentecost, parakletos, means “called to be with” besides “advocate” or
“counselor”, thus, assuring of his
permanent companionship with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20b) and the
meaning of his name as Immanuel (God with us, Matthew 1;23). Whether visible (physical) or invisible
(spiritual), the presence of the risen Christ is constant and permanent, as he
is the Advocate to us. In this regard,
the presence of Christ, from visible to invisible, is compared to the spectrum
of electromagnetic waves, including ultraviolet, visible light, and
infrared. Through series of epiphany,
from the Nativity to the Ascension of the Lord, Christ, who is light (John
8:12) , is compared to the visible light.
Otherwise, God is invisible to human eyes and so is the post-Ascension
Christ. The range of the visible light in the vast spectrum of electromagnetic
waves is very small, sandwiched by ultraviolet and infrared.
What is the promise of the Father for the Pentecost?
The Father’s promise for the Pentecost is the gift that
Jesus spoke of (Acts 1:4). It is, indeed, the Advocate to be with us forever
(John 14:16), reflecting Matthew 28:20b, and the spirit of truth (John 14:17). This Advocate is the Holy Spirit, sent by the
Father in Jesus’ name, who teaches all things and reminds us of everything that
Jesus has taught (John 14:26).
Jesus further explained, “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit”(Acts 1:5), echoing what his cousin, John the Baptist
said, “I baptize you with water. But one
more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to
untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”(Luke 3:16).
Therefore, the Holy Spirit that comes on the Pentecost is what baptized into,
after being baptized with water.
What does it mean to be baptized with the Holy
Spirit – or as John the Baptist said, to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and
fire?
It is to receive power in order to become Christ’s
witness to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8), as Jesus explained to the
disciples, right before he ascended into heaven. Namely,
Pentecost, the sending of a gift of Father’s promise in Jesus’ name,
baptizing us, the disciples today, with the Holy Spirit and fire, is to empower
and commission us to be sent out to all over the world to build the Kingdom of
God. This purpose of the Pentecost – to be empowered to become Christ’s witness
to the end of the earth, reflecting these commanding words of Jesus, “..go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”(Matthew
28:19-20a). In this regard, Pentecost is reflected not only in the Sacrament of
Confirmation but also in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, given , “Ite, Missa est” (Go, Mass is ended –
God, it is dismissed) at the dismissal in the Concluding Rite of Mass. In fact, according to St. Ephraim, the
faithful received the Holy Spirit and fire also by receiving the Sacrament of
the Eucharist. He explains:
'Take,
all of you eat this, which My word has made holy. Do not regard as bread that
which I have given you; but take, eat this Bread, and do not scatter the
crumbs; for what I have called my Body, that it is indeed. One particle from
its crumbs is able to sanctify thousands and thousands, and is sufficient to
afford life to those who eat of it. Take, eat, because this is my Body, and
whoever eats it in belief, entertaining no doubt of faith, because this is My Body, and whoever eats it in belief eats
it in Fire and Spirit. But if any doubters eat of it, for him it will be
only bread. And whoever eats in belief the Bread made holy in My name, if he be
pure, he will be preserved in his purity; and if he be a sinner, he will be
forgiven.' (St. Ephraim, Homilies 707)
After all, it makes sense to see the Sacrament of
the Eucharist in light of the Holy Spirit, as St. Ephraim does, because, by
definition, a Sacrament is an outgoing
visible and tangible sign of the invisible Holy Spirit. In regard to the
Sacrament of the Eucharist, it is bread and wine transubstantiated into Corporis et Sanguinis Christi – the Body
and the Blood of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. For this Eucharistic transubstantiation to
take place during the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass, the presiding priest says,
following Sanctus, “You are indeed Holy,
O Lord, the fount of all holiness. Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray,
by sending down your Spirit upon them like dewfall,
so that they may become for us the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ”
.(Eucharistic Prayer II) During this
prayer, the epiclesis takes place, as the priest calls upon the Holy Spirit to
come down upon the bread and wine to transubstantiated into the real Body and
Blood of Christ. This Eucharistic transubstantiation epiclesis is juxtaposed to
the coming down of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples on Pentecost, empowering
them and changing their lives forever.
As bread and wine are transubstantiated into the Body and Blood of
Christ, the Sacrament of the Eucharist, through epiclesis during the Liturgy of
the Eucharist at Mass, the communion of the disciples in the Upper Room in
Jerusalem was turned into the nascent Ekklesia,
the Church.
Pentecost is the day that the Father is sending down
the Holy Spirit, not like dewfall but rather more like the mighty wind from
heaven (Acts 2:2), perceived by the disciples like tongues of fire parting form
the driving wind (Acts 2:3). Upon this down-pouring of the powerful Holy Spirit
from the Father in heaven, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and
began speaking in different tongues, enabling them to proclaim (Acts 2:4). What
was so astonishing about this Pentecost phenomenon was that these disciples,
who are Galileans, were actually speaking languages of various nations, where
expatriate God-revering Jews were, under heaven (Acts 2:5-7). These devout
Jews, who came from these nations, to witness the disciples speaking their
nations’ tongues were in complete bewilderment and wondering what this means
(Acts 2:8-12), while some of them ridiculed the disciples, thinking that they
were drunk (Acts 2:13).
While the disciples first reacted to the
Resurrection of the Lord with fear and skepticism (i.e. Luke 24:4-5, 36-43; John
21:24-29), the devout Jews from various nations reacted to the disciples
speaking in their nations’ languages, on Pentecost, with sheer wonder and
amazement, while some of them reacting with ridicule out of ignorance. This
contrast reminds that those who have not yet received the promise, as well as
the gift, of the Holy Spirit cannot understand what Pentecost is about – what
the Holy Spirit empowers us into and enables us to do. Namely, those who have
not received the Holy Spirit cannot understand the birth of the Church, as it
is what Pentecost resulted in, through the empowered disciples speaking in
various tongues. The gift aspect of the
Holy Spirit and how it is related to the Church is so well-explained by Paul in
1 Corinthians 12. In this entire chapter, Paul first describes how one Spirit,
namely the Holy Spirit, brings many gifts, including the gift of wisdom, the
gift of knowledge, and the gift of discernment. Then, he explains that the
Church is like a pluralistic unity of many gifts that stem from the same one
Holy Spirit, with an analogy of one body of many intricately interrelated
parts. Furthermore, Paul tells that the
Church, composed of the disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, is a
pluralistic unity of many gifts, as well as the Body of Christ.
During these 50 days of the Eastertide, we have come
to know Jesus better. On Cycle C, we were reminded that how the disciples
reacted to the Resurrection of the Lord for the first three Sundays. These Gospel stories (John 20:1-9, John
20:19-31, John 21:1-19) point us to the disciple’s gradual understanding of the
Resurrection – from fear and skepticism to joy and reconciliation, further into
commissioning, as the Third Sunday Gospel ends with the risen Jesus appointing
Peter to play the role of the shepherd
for Christ’s sheep, who belong to the Father,
reflecting John 10:1-18, the Good Shepherd narrative.
For the rest of the Sundays, with the Fourth Sunday
of Easter being the Good Shepherd Sunday, as its Gospel reading is taken from
the Good Shepherd narrative of John 10, we reflect who Jesus, whose
Resurrection we have been celebrating during this festive Easter season, is, in
his relation to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, by the end of the
Eastertide, if you have faithfully followed the Sunday Gospels, you have a good
grasp on who Jesus is in his relation to the Father and the Holy Spirit, while
you are empowered by the promise and gift of the Holy Spirit, who is a new
Advocate, whose essence is the same as the Son, who is one with the
Father. We also understand that an
effect of Pentecost is that we become the new one Body of Christ, the Church,
with many gifts of the Holy Spirit integrated in one communion, continued to be
nourished by the Eucharist, enlightened by the Word, and empowered by the Holy
Spirit. Therefore, we are also ready to
celebrate the Trinity Sunday, followed by the Corpus Christi Sunday, as we
celebrate the Pentecost Sunday, to conclude the Eastertide.
Upon receiving the powerful Holy Spirit, we are now
filled with many gifts and power of the Holy Spirit. This divine power now in
us is the fire of love that burns in our heart. As this love that burns our
heart is the love of God in its essence, it shall endure forever, as reflected
in Psalm 136 and 1 Corinthians 13:8. As we are no longer just us, but now
essential constituents of the Church, as One Body of Christ, what characterizes
us is the love that never fails but endures forever.
Besides being the Church of love and mercy, characterized
love, we are also the militant Church, because now Satan begins to increase his
attacks on us. Satan is now aware that we are more aligned with God, upon
receiving the power of the Holy Spirit.
To Satan, this is quite bothersome and fight to separate us from God,
namely, to destroy the Church. We must defend the Church, for the sake of the greater glory of God.
In this battle for God, our weapon is love,
empowered by the Holy Spirit. Because our love endures, reflecting the divine
love that endures forever, our weapon and power in fighting against Satan will
never run out. We are truly resilient, thanks to Pentecost – infusion of the
power of the Holy Spirit, making us the earthly being of love, just as Jesus
was. On Pentecost, we are commissioned to be sent out various battle fields to
remove obstacles to the growth of the Church, destroying the works of Satan,
until he is turned into powerless (Revelation 20:2).
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