The 8th Sunday from the Resurrection
Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, the day to commemorate the descending of the Holy
Spirit upon the disciples in Jerusalem, as described in Acts 2:1-13 and
reflected upon the 3rd glorious mystery of the Holy Rosary. Pentecost
Sunday concludes the Paschaltide or Paschal Season.
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit, as another Parakletos, to be sent upon his
disciples during the Lasts Supper (John 14:16, 26, 16:7) so that they will not
be left like orphans, even after his Ascension (John 14:18). So, Jesus ascended
to heaven, after appearing to his disciples, speaking of the Kingdom of God for
40 days upon his Resurrection (Acts 1:3), to return to the Father (John 14:28,
16:28). On the evening of the very day of his Resurrection, Jesus appeared to
the fear-stricken disciples in the rocked Upper Room and poured his breath,
saying, “Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:19-23). Given
that this Johannine Gospel narrative of the risen Jesus’ appearance to the
disciples on the very first day of the Resurrection (John 20:19-23) is read for
Pentecost Sunday, we can understand the breath of the risen Jesus (John 20:22)
is the Holy Spirit, as a prototype for the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
On the very first day of the Paschaltide, the risen
Jesus poured his breath as the Holy Spirit on his disciples, and it was to
prepare them to be sent out on mission (John 20:21). Then, on the concluding
day of the Paschaltide, after his Ascension, in Jesus’ name, the Father poured
out the mighty Holy Spirit upon them to be sent out on their apostolic
missions. The rest of the Acts from Acts 2:14 describe how the Holy Spirit had
transformed the disciples into the Apostles, which means those who are sent.
Given that 1 Corinthians 1 COR 12:3B-7, 12-13 are read for Pentecost Sunday,
Pentecost is also the birthday of the Ekklesia
(Church), transforming the disciples not only into the Apostles but also
the Ekklesia as the one Body of
Christ with many parts. When the
powerful Holy Spirit was sent upon and filled the disciples, they were turned
into the αποστολική εκκλησία (apostoliki
ekklesia) – the Apostolic Church.
The ἐκκλησία
(ekklesia) as the σῶμα Χριστοῦ (soma
Christou) (1 Corinthians 12:27) was born out of the assembly of the
disciples in Jerusalem to be αποστολική (apostoliki),
to be sent out, to be mission-oriented. To put in Pope Francis’
ecclesiological vision, as well as St. John XXIII’s ecclesiological view, the Church
is meant to be deployed to function as the “field hospital” to “dispense the
medicine of mercy” by virtue of Pentecost. As we are constant battle with
Satanic forces until Christ the King returns to claim his victory (Revelation
19), we need the “field hospital” to ensure our apostolic missions, which has
been passed on from the Apostles, will successfully completed. And this “dispenser
of the medicine of mercy” is not only apostoliki
ekklesia but also soma Christou.
Though the physical body of Christ has been
invisible ever since his Ascension, there has been one Body of Christ ever
since Pentecost, thanks to the Holy Spirit, as another Parakletos, sent by the Father in Jesus’ name. Because Jesus is Parakletos (1 John 2:1), the Holy Spirit
sent upon us on Pentecost, is truly him in hypostasis. Thus, there is a
parallel hypostatic union as Parakletos,
between Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This way, Jesus is always with us (Matthew 28:20) as Immanuel, which
means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23, Isaiah 7:14), in a way of being in us, as he
is in the Father, and we are in him (John 14:20). Therefore, receiving the Holy Spirit, first
as the breath of risen Christ on the Resurrection Sunday, then as another Parakletos with power to set us on fire
of the Holy Spirit on the Pentecost Sunday prepares us to celebrate the Trinity
Sunday, which follows the Pentecost Sunday.
Upon Pentecost, receiving the Holy Spirit, we have
become one Body of Christ. As St. Teresa of Avila said in her prayer, Christ
has no body but ours. As we have become the Church, one Body of Christ, we are
now the Body of Christ, functioning as the “field hospital “ to dispense the “medicine
of mercy”, as we are sent on our respective apostolic mission not only to
proclaim the Gospel of Christ but also to heal our wounded world with the “medicine
of mercy”, which is the Divine Mercy.
The Body of Christ conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew
1:18, Luke 1:35), and he is Parakletos (1 John 2:1), which means “called”(kaleo) to be “besides”(para) us. So, Logos, who is Theos (John
1:1), was made the human flesh of Jesus Christ to dwell among us (John 1:14). He died as Korban
Pesach, as well as Agnus Dei, on
the Preparation Day for Passover and Resurrected on the following day of the
Passover Sabbath. From that day on, for 40 days, the risen Body of Christ was
with us, until his Ascension. However, as he promised his constant presence
with us, as Parakletos, as well as
Immanuel, the Holy Spirit, as another Parakletos,
was sent to us on the 50th day of the Paschaltide so that we are
transformed into the one Body of Christ, the Apostoliki Ekklesia, to serve as the “field hospital” and the dispenser
of the “medicine of mercy”. Being “Ekklesia”, we are called (kaleo) out of (ek) the world by Christ the Parakletos
and continued to be called (kaleo) by
another Parakletos, the Holy Spirit.
We, the Apostoliki
Ekklesia is now one Body of Living Christ, because the Holy Spirit as the
breath of risen Christ (John 20:22) is, in essence, the God’s breath of life, nephesh. On the day of Pentecost, we
have received nephesh as ruah, as the life-giving breath of God
descended upon us like the rush of mighty wind (Acts 2:1). The rumbling sound
of this ruah-nephesh – Pneuma Hagion –
Parakletos on Pentecost was, indeed, crying voice of the birth of the Apostoliki Ekklesia as the soma Christou in this post-Ascension
age.
Indeed, just as the Holy Spirit sent by the Father
brought the Body of Christ through Mary, the Holy Spirit has given birth to the
post-Ascension Body of Christ through us.
No comments:
Post a Comment