Feast of Pentecost (C)

Acts 2:1-11
Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17
Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 14:15-16, 23b-26

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the "Sunday Soundbite" for the Feast of Pentecost. Shortly after Easter one year, a woman in my parish who had been received into the Church at the Easter Vigil told me how welcomed she felt in the Catholic family. The sense of openness and tolerance she experienced was especially important to her.

It's a characteristic of Catholicism to see God's goodness in all of creation, in various human endeavors, and in the cultures and histories of human beings wherever the Gospel is preached. While we haven't always lived up to that ideal, I was happy that my new parishioner experienced something of that spirit.

That universal dimension is also one of the themes of Pentecost. The dramatic story of the descent of the Holy Spirit tells us how the Holy Spirit can break down walls we may put up between peoples, races and cultures. What we see as obstacles, the Spirit can use to create a new unity, a reversal of the story of the tower of Babel in Genesis, when people let human arrogance lead to disunity, as one human language fractured into many different tongues.

Today across the world, a myriad of voices, different languages and many cultural expressions will celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Let's join our voices with that Pentecost chorus.

Scripture:

•And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4)

• May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD be glad in his works! (Psalm 104:31)

•The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (Romans 8:16)

•Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:21,22)

Reflection:

•Are you aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit?

The Spirit alone guides us to the Son and draws us to the Father. Indeed, “the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons of God” (Romans 8:16).… Praying means allowing the Spirit to instruct us; the Spirit allows us to understand and taste the things of God. He gives us, in particular, an understanding of God's plan; he brings us into the ways of God. The Spirit gives us this important discernment, this gift of wisdom, which allows us to discern what is according to God's will in such a way as to bring it to bear on our practical decisions and to establish a hierarchy of values and order our occupations, not according to human wisdom and prudence, but also to the folly of the cross and the inspiration of the Gospel.… The Spirit gives us a sense of spiritual things and a just hierarchy of values to be found there.