HOMILY for Pentecost Sunday (A)
Acts 2:1-11; Ps 103; 1 Cor 12:3-7. 12-13; John 20:19-23
Today’s Gospel takes us back to Easter Sunday. On the evening of the first Easter Sunday the Risen Lord comes to his dear disciples, to those who are fearful and uncertain, and he gives them his peace and his mercy. Indeed, it is through receiving the divine mercy of God that Man finds true peace. On Easter Sunday, the Holy Spirit, then, is given to the apostles, that is, to Christ’s holy Church, so that through the Holy Spirit’s activity in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Man might continue to find peace – a divine peace that surpasses our human understanding. For when we receive God’s mercy and forgiveness, when we are reconciled to Christ, then we can, as it were, look God in the eye. No longer downcast with fear or guilt, we can lift up our face and let the light of God’s face shine upon us. The Gospel put it this way: the disciples see the face of Jesus, and they are “filled with joy”. For there is no greater joy than to see God, that is, to know him who is Love. For the human heart is made for love, and is forever restless until it rests in God’s love; until Man sees God face to face, finally, in heaven. In this life, here in this broken world, there is sorrow, and fear, and uncertainty. But love, peace, and joy – these are just three of the twelve fruits of the Holy Spirit that today’s Gospel invokes – and the Lord wants us to savour the sweetness of every one of these fruits. Thus the Lord ascended into heaven and gives us the Holy Spirit.
Although we might be afraid or angry because of the recent spate of terror attacks in our country, or maybe we are locked into uncertainty and confusion because of the political situation currently, nevertheless the Gospel proclaims that the Risen Christ comes to us today. Indeed, Jesus comes to us daily – he whom no locks or fears can hinder. Into our human situations, our God comes. Jesus comes to us, and he says: “Peace be with you”.
The peace that Jesus gives is a divine gift. Hence it surpasses human understanding, and it is a more profound and genuine peace than we can find anywhere on earth. For Jesus gives us the One whom the Liturgy calls the “Gift of God Most High”. It is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity; God himself who comes and dwells in us, making a little heaven in our hearts. So, in whomever the Spirit is present and active, there is God’s mercy, healing, and peace. As the Sequence hymn for Pentecost sings: “Thou, of all consolers best, Thou, the soul’s delightful guest, Dost refreshing peace bestow”. Jesus longs to give us this peace so, whatever circumstances we are in, today, let us receive the Holy Spirit with great faith and hope. Jesus says: “Peace be with you”, and we say: “Come, Holy Spirit”.
However, the door of the room that the disciples are in cannot remain locked. For Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission. The Gift of the Holy Spirit is not meant just for a privileged few but is for the whole world. The Church is thus to be an instrument of God’s peace by leading many others to receive the Holy Spirit, to enter into the peace that comes from friendship with Jesus Christ. We notice that, in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the setting for the Pentecost event is, once again, the same room in Jerusalem where the Risen Lord appeared on Easter Sunday. This room is sometimes called the ‘Cenacle’ or ‘Upper Room’. It’s significant that, according to Tradition, the Pentecost event happens in the same place as the first Easter appearances of the Lord. For the gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles is now, on the fiftieth day, being brought to fruition. Hence the disciples pour out of the room – the doors are no longer locked but thrown open – and, with courage, conviction, and great joy, they proclaim the Good News of salvation to the whole world. The Church exists for this reason – to preach the joy of the Gospel to all people. You and I are witnesses to this.
For our world, and especially our city today, is desperate for peace and joy. Is it not? It seems to me that, in the final account, neither politics nor force can bring us enduring peace; neither can money nor pleasure bring us lasting joy. It is tempting, perhaps, to escape from all that assails and worries us by taking refuge in life’s passing joys. As St Paul put it, the temptation is to think: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor 15:32). But, in fact, as St Paul said “the kingdom of God does not mean food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). So, let us, disciples of the Lord, be filled today with the Holy Spirit. For as the Sequence hymn for Pentecost sings: “Thou in toil art comfort sweet, Pleasant coolness in the heat, Solace in the midst of woe.” In this time when many are in need of consolation and many are saddened and worried, we have a service to offer to our neighbours; we have a role among our fellow Londoners. We are called to pray, and to be a sign of hope – to remain cool in the heat, as it were. So, “receive the Holy Spirit”, Jesus says, and we say: “Come, Holy Spirit”.
Hence, we are here today. Here, now, you and I, we are in the cenacle. This church is the Upper Room. For the same room, where the Risen Lord had appeared and where the Spirit had descended in wind and flame, is also where the Lord instituted the Eucharist and gave his Body and Blood to his disciples. So, when ever and where ever the Mass is celebrated, we find ourselves in that room, the cenacle. Just as the disciples, in their times of crisis and neediness gathered in the cenacle, so we gather here again and again. For here, now, the Lord comes to us in the Eucharist. Here Jesus is, really present – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – under the external appearances of bread and wine. In the Eucharist the Risen Lord comes to us, and he says: “Peace be with you”. As we receive the Lord and are united to him, we taste the sweet fruit of Christ’s peace; a foretaste of heaven. And when we receive the Eucharist, this “sacrament of love”, with faith and hope, then love for God increases in our hearts – we are being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Like the apostles on the first Easter Sunday, here in the Mass, you and I behold the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and we are filled with joy. Like the apostles at the first Pentecost event, here in the Mass, you and I become temples of the Holy Spirit. And just as the apostles were sent out into the world and they ran into the streets of Jerusalem with surpassing joy, so today, this Pentecost day, you and I are being sent out into the streets and neighbourhoods of our city: London awaits us and needs our witness to the peace that we receive from God. As we prayed in the Sequence hymn: “Give us comfort when we die, Give us life with thee on high, Give us joys that never end.”
Soon we will be told: “Go forth, the Mass is ended”, and we reply: “Thanks be to God”. With these words, we accept our mission. We’re being sent out into the world to proclaim that “Jesus is Lord”: He is the Risen Lord of life; He is the Prince of Peace; He is the Lord who alone can create good out of nothingness and evil. As St Paul says that “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit”, hence we say today, and indeed, every single day: “Come, Holy Spirit! Come, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love!”
