THE SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST
By our Pastor, Fr. Carmelo Jiménez
The Readings for this Sunday are precious because they let us know the great Unknown: the Holy Spirit. Constantly we pray to God the Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is very seldom we pray to the Holy Spirit. The Third Person of the Holy Trinity is the one who drives the whole life of the Church and our own life, even though he is the most unknown person.
Where does the celebration of Pentecost come from? This solemnity was a Jewish holiday, originally called the Feast of Harvest because they offered to God the first fruits or sheaves of the new harvest and gave thanks for the fruits of the earth (also called the Feast of Weeks, because it was seven weeks after Passover was celebrated, so the name of Pentecost means fifty days). A long time later that feast was given a spiritual value and was held to commemorate and remember the demands of the Covenant at Sinai between God and his people.
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind… And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2: 1-2a. 4) The day of Pentecost the Apostles were still behind closed doors for fear of the Jews, and it was already 50 days since Christ had risen, for 50 days they enjoyed Christ a few moments at a time. They saw him ascend to the heavens but their hearts miss Him. But at that time of the coming of the Holy Spirit the doors and windows were opened where they stood and they proclaimed their faith with force; fear was gone as they received the Holy Spirit. As the Apostles, we open ourselves and let the Holy Spirit flood our hearts, so there is no room in us for fears or concerns. One who is locked within oneself will live with fears and disappointments. One who opens oneself to divine inspirations is carried away by God and that person will give the fruits of faith and love.
The Catholic Church Catechism in the paragraph 1831 says: “The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations”. Following that statement, we can say that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits infused by God into the soul’s powers and in that way makes it very easy to follow the motions of the Holy Spirit. If the gifts of the Holy Spirit are supernatural habits infused by God it means that no one can claim them as their own and those gifts are in some degree in the soul of every Christian. Each of the faithful, who is open to divine inspirations, is made perfect little by little, and slowly lives out the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and it will be easier to practice the Christian virtues. That is the route of each person to holiness. Therefore, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are personal and they lead to a moral life, which leads to holiness.
Pray to God to continue leading his Holy Church with the Holy Spirit. Pray to God to instill in us his gifts, and make us worthy for the gifts he knows we need and we will bear fruit each day in the Holy Spirit. And picking sentences from the Sequence we say together: “Holy Spirit, heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour your dew; Wash the stains of guilt away. Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the steps that go astray”. Come, Holy Spirit! Amen.