Living the Word l Father R. Michael Schaab

Solemnity of Pentecost/May 28

Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1,24,29-30,31,43; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7,12-13; Sequence: Veni, Sancte, Spiritus; John 20:19-23

The Scripture readings for Pentecost are wonderful, but it would be wrong to pretend that they stand alone. The readings of the last seven Sundays, including Easter, have been gradually preparing us for this Feast of the Holy Spirit.

Easter’s first reading from Acts 10 stated that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit.” Then on the Second Sunday of Easter in the Gospel from John 20, the Risen Christ told his disciples to “receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven.” This idea that Jesus had received the Holy Spirit from the Father and that he then shared it with those who believed in him, was expressed in the first reading for the Third Sunday of Easter from Acts 2. Jesus Christ “received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured him forth, as you can see and hear.”

The fact that the followers of Jesus were to receive the same Holy Spirit that he himself had received from the Father was expressed on the Fourth Sunday of Easter in the reading from Acts 2, when Peter told his listeners to “repent and be saved . . . and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” As a matter of fact, having received the Holy Spirit became a sign that a person really was following Jesus. On the Fifth Sunday of Easter, in the reading from Acts 6, Peter instructs the people to “select . . . seven reputable men filled with the Holy Spirit” to serve food to the community.

Just how this transfer of the Holy Spirit was to occur is addressed on the Sixth Sunday of Easter when Acts 6 described how Peter and John “prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. . . . They laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.” Finally, in the Gospel for that same Sunday, John 14 explained succinctly the result of the Father’s sharing the Holy Spirit with the Son and the Son’s sharing the Holy Spirit with his followers. Jesus said, “I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.”

HOLDING IT ALL TOGETHER

Last Sunday, the Feast of the Ascension, was all about Jesus’ last instructions on how to receive and pass on the Holy Spirit. In the first reading from Acts 1, the Risen Lord gave his disciples “instructions through the Holy Spirit,” and told them “you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” and “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.” Furthermore, in the Gospel from Matthew 28, he instructed his disciples to make new disciples and to “baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Throughout this Easter season there has been a constant focus on the working of the Holy Spirit. But, to be honest, there always has been that focus. Recall, Mary is described as having been “found to be with child through the Holy Spirit,” and “Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit” when she met Mary at the Visitation. The Holy Spirit holds the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ together.

But what about Pentecost? In a sense, this feast informs us in the broadest terms that the Spirit comes to establish a community of believers in the world, the body of Christ. It does not explain in detail how the Spirit will work because the Spirit works as it wills.

But we are told that there are different tongues, different kinds of spiritual gifts, different kinds of service and different workings. It would be wrong for anyone to presume to know all these differences. That would be presuming to know the mind of God. But what we do know from this feast is what Christ repeatedly reminds us of in the Gospel: peace is achieved by receiving and passing on the Holy Spirit.

“Peace be with you.”

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FATHER R. MICHAEL SCHAAB is a senior priest of the Diocese of Peoria who gives retreats and days of recollection, and who fills in as presider at parish Masses on weekends. He resides on a hobby farm in Putnam County.