The 50 days of Paschaltide are framed with two feast days of firstfruits: the Day of the Firstfruits from the Dead and the day of the Firstfruits of the Holy Spirit. Namely, the firstfruit from the dead is the resurrection of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:20), and the fristfruits of the Holy Spirit is Pentecost.
The Paschaltide is reflected on and punctuated with
the first three glorious mysteries of the Holy Rosary: the Resurrection, the Ascension,
and the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. The first 40 days from the
Resurrection to the Ascension, risen Jesus remained on earth, giving a review course
on his teaching, to make sure that they would be ready for the commissioning on
the day of his Ascension so that they can be sent out in the world on their
apostolic mission to make disciples of all nation on Pentecost, empowered by
the Holy Spirit. Jesus had to appear to the disciples after his Resurrection
and give the review course, because they were not quite ready to be sent on
their apostolic mission as they could not even recognize risen Jesus on their
own – even though he had foretold not only of his death but also of his
resurrection, specifying it would be on the third day from his death,
repeatedly (Matthew 16:21;17:22-23;20:18-19) as prophesized (Isaiah 53:7-12;
Psalm 16:10-11).
The disciples needed these post-resurrection 40 days
to make sure Jesus’ teaching and how Jesus had fulfilled all the pertinent prophecies
to understand the paschal mystery in him. Then, they needed the next 10 days to
pray so that all the teaching of Jesus would settle in their hearts to be ready
to receive the Holy Spirit in order to be sent out on their apostolic mission.
In fact, according to John, Jesus spoke on this after washing his disciples’
feet, when he gave his new commandment to love one another (John 13:31-35), and
expounded through his farewell discourse (John 14:1-16:33) and reflected in his
high priestly prayer (John 17:1-26), on the night before his death.
Jesus’ death was the beginning of his threefold
glorification, followed by his Resurrection and completed with his Ascension
And this threefold glorification of Jesus is not to simply “save us” but to
make his disciples (us) the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, giving
birth to his one holy catholic apostolic Church – so that the birthday of the Church
is juxtaposed to the Jewish Pentecost, Shavout,
which is also known as Hag ha-Bikkurim
(the feast of the firstfruits), falling on the 50th day from the
second day of Hag Ha-Matzot (the feast
of unleavened bread), which begins with Pesach
(Passover) (Leviticus 23:4-22). As the
days from Pesach to Shavout are about hopeful anticipation, so are the days
from the Resurrection to Pentecost. And our anticipation is the birth of the
Church as the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit on the 50th day from
the feast of the firstfruits of the dead, the Resurrection of Jesus.
The Gospel Reading for Pentecost Sunday (John 20:19-23) is a description of how risen Jesus appeared to the disciples in fear on the evening of the day of his Resurrection. And the First Reading (Acts 2:1-11) is a description of what happened on the 50th day from the day of the Gospel Reading (John 20:19-23). And there is a contrast between how the disciples were on the evening of the Resurrection, as described in the Gospel Reading (John 20:19-23) and on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-11). There is also another contrast between the Holy Spirit on the evening of the Resurrection, as described in the Gospel Reading (John 20:22) and the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 1:2-4).
Having been puzzled about the empty tomb (John
20:1-10), the disciples were rather in confusion but were more concerned about
being caught and killed by those who had put Jesus to death (John 20:19). Even
though Mary Magdalene encountered risen Jesus and announced, “I have seen the Lord!”
to other disciples (John 20:18), they did not believe it (Mark 16:11). Their
hearts were too grief-stricken and fear-plagued to believe it on the day of the
Resurrection. Their spiritual temperature was as low as near-frozen. If not intervened,
they would be spiritually dead.
So, risen Jesus appeared to them, as described in
the Gospel Reading (John 20:19-23). And he offered peace (John 20:19), as to
assure that he was not an intruder, and showed his body to give further
assurance of his bodily resurrection (John 20:20a). So, the disciples’ initial
fear gave its way to joy (John 20:20b). Then, risen Jesus offered peace again
and, in the same breath, began foretelling his plan for the disciples on
Pentecost, saying, “As the Father has
sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21). So, he offered the Holy Spirit,
pouring his gentile breath on them, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22).
Peace of Jesus offered. A command of Jesus to send
the disciples foretold. And the Holy Spirit offered in his gentile breath.
These three: peace of Jesus, the command to be sent
out on mission, and the Holy Spirit, are important elements on the disciples’
apostolic mission, which began on Pentecost, upon receiving the Holy Spirit.
But, these three elements for sending out the disciples on their apostolic
mission on Pentecost through the Holy Spirit were already implicated on the eve
of his death in his farewell discourse (John 14:1-16:33).
In this discourse at Last Supper, Jesus first
foretold the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as sending of another Parakletos (Advocate), after his
departure from the earth through the Ascension, leaving his peace, as his way
of coming to them (John 14:12-18, 26-28), for Jesus himself is the Parakletos (Advocate)(1 John 2:1). This
indicates that Jesus will not send his disciples (us) in fear and anxiety. He
wants to send in peace and confidence, as the disciples lack nothing to be sent
out to do their mission work. That is why the Holy Spirit on Pentecost is not
just Pneuma Haggion (Holy Spirit) but personified as allon Parakleton (another Advocate), who stays with the disciples
to continue to provide them of whatever they need.
There is an optional Gospel Reading for Pentecost
Sunday (John 15: 26-27; 16:12-15) drawn from Jesus’ farewell discourse. This is
helpful to see what Jesus meant by telling, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (John 20:21) and “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22) on
the evening of the day of the Resurrection.
So, Jesus sends out the disciples to let them
testify of him, as they know him from their personal association with him, when
the personified Holy Spirit, allon
Parakleton (another Advocate), is sent from the Father by him (John
15:26-27). Jesus also said, when this personified Holy Spirit comes, as the Spirit
of truth, he will be speaking as what he hears from the Father and declaring
what is forthcoming, as he hears from the Father – so that the Holy Spirit will
glorify him (John 16:13-14). Furthermore, Jesus wanted the disciples to know
that everything Jesus was given by the Father is also revealed by the Holy Spirit
(John 16:15).
So, the Holy Spirit that Jesus offered in his gentle
breath on the evening of the day of the Resurrection (John 20:22) is more than
his breath of life, which evokes Neshamah chay that God breathed in Adam
to give him life so that he was no longer
aphar (dust) from adamah (earth) (Genesis 2:7).
To be sent out to do the work, giving testimonies,
and to convict the world, the Holy Spirit has to be more than giving life
through breath (pneuma/nishmah). It
has to be the power to mobilize and enable. That is why the Holy Spirit on
Pentecost is not only allon Parakleton
(Another Advocate)(John 14:16, 26;15:26; 16:7) but also the power (Acts 1:8).
And the First Reading (Acts 2:1-11) gives a description of this power as coming
with a noise like a strong driving wind (Acts 2:2), recalling the ruah, the mighty wind blowing before the
Creation (Genesis 1:2), “tongues as of
fire”(Acts 2:3; cf. Matthew 3:11), enabling the recipients to speak in
tongues of the mighty acts of God (Acts 2:4-11; cf. Acts 1:8).
The Second Reading (1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13) gives more description of the Holy Spirit sent to us on Pentecost for our apostolic missions. According to this, the Holy Spirit is the vector of many graces (gifts), which includes mighty tongue of fire (1 Corinthians 12:10). Though the Holy Spirit is loaded with many gifts, he is one spirit to baptize us into one body of Christ with many fully functioning parts.
An optional Second Reading (Galatians 5:16-25)
reminds us that the Holy Spirit is what enables us to life a fruitful life,
overcoming vices that a life of mere flesh tends to fall into, corresponding to
Jesus’ teaching of the Holy Spirit as life, equivalent to his words (John
6:63), the essence of his body as the Living
Bread of Life (John 6:51) and Jesus’ desire on us to be fruitful by
remaining in him and in his love, keeping his words in us for our complete joy
and God’s glory (John 15:1-17).
Jesus has gone through his threefold glorification:
his death, Resurrection, and Ascension, in order to send down the Holy Spirit
on Pentecost, so that we are sent out to all nations to make disciples (Matthew
28:19) – to all the ends of the earth to show the victorious salvific power of
God (Psalm 98:1-3), also renewing the face of the earth, as sung in today’s
Responsorial Psalm refrain (Psalm 104:30). At the same time, on this day of
receiving the Holy Spirit, we are given a new life to bear the fruit of the Holy
Spirit abundantly, so that we can overcome vices (Galatians 5:16-25), convicting the world with God's justice (John 16:8) as we are
all baptized into one body of Christ by receiving many gifts to become many
fully working parts, thus, the Church to be born as the firstfruits of the Holy
Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13), in light of the true Christian unity of our high priest's prayer (John 17:20-23).
These 50 days of Paschaltide from the day of the
firstfruits from the dead (Paschal Sunday) to the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit
(Pentecost Sunday) are, indeed, the critical period of our preparation to be born anew as
one body of Christ, which is one holy catholic apostolic Church and to be sent
out on our apostolic missions to make disciples of all nations, as “fishers of
people” to let this one body of Christ, the Church, grow into the Kingdom of God
to come.
Just as a newborn baby starts breathing oxygen with his or her lungs, coming out of mother's womb, today, on Pentecost, we begin breathing the Holy Spirit in, as the newborn Church, starting our apostolic works, by utilizing many gifts, to bear the multifaceted fruit of the Holy Spirit in abundance.
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