Jn. 20: 19-23
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Lk. 12: 49) Today we celebrate the solemnity of Pentecost, the foundational feast of the Church. After the ascension of the Lord, the disciples were praying in a closed room; The Holy Spirit descended upon them like tongues of fire and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Thus, the disciples received the fire, the courage, and inner strength given by the Holy Spirit to continue the mission of Christ, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom to all creation and to remain as his witness.
However, the disciples witnessed the risen Christ they could not overcome the fear of Jews fully. They stayed aloof from the external world. They were spending time in prayer that they knew that their divine Master would empower them with His Spirit. Anyhow, the moment they received the Holy Spirit, they were no more fearful disciples of Jesus. They came out of the closed room. St. Peter, the leader of the apostles and one who denied Christ thrice publically, started to preach him with overwhelming enthusiasm. Acts of the Apostles testifies: “Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.” (Acts.2: 14)
Jews from different parts of the world gathered there to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. They all amazed at the fact that how this Galileans could speak in different languages? In the book of Genesis, we read about humanity trying to build the tower of Babel to challenge God. Nevertheless, they were punished by God and had to give up their plan due to diverse language and it was impossible for them to communicate with each other. On the other hand the Pentecost day we see that the new Israel surrendered them to the glory of God though they belonged to the diverse linguistic group, The Spirit of God united them and overcoming the barriers of linguistic and cultural differences, the mystical body of Christ, the Church was raised by the Spirit.
Once they received the Holy Spirit, they were filled with the passion for the mission entrusted to them by Jesus, setting the world on fire by proclaiming the Good News of Jesus to the ends of the earth. In fact, the disciples of Jesus were fallen men; they all denied Jesus and ran for their life. All the same, now the fallen men have become the superheroes of Jesus and their life underwent drastic transformation so to say the life of disciples before and after Pentecost.
The Spirit of God empowered the disciples and members of early Communities to stand for their faith in Christ Jesus. Being in this experience Paul proclaims: “Who can separate us from the love of Christ…” Dear friends as we celebrate this feast, it is a reminder for us to examine the quality of our Christian witness. If we are living a lukewarm life, it is an evident fact that we are not empowered by the power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t have a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit. The quality of our witness depends on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life. The fearful and illiterate disciples of Jesus could carry the Gospel to the ends of the world and convince the world about His redemptive mission, indeed it was not because of their potential and merit rather by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit they received on the Pentecost Day. As we celebrate this feast let us pray sincerely that the gift of the Spirit, we received through the sacrament of Baptism and confirmation be awaken in us and we may be empowered by the Spirit to live the gospel values in our day to day life.