by Fr. Julius C. Lupot

MAY 24, 2015 – PENTECOST SUNDAY (Cycle B)

READINGS:     Acts 2: 1-11   /   Psalm 104: 1. 24. 29-30. 31. 34   /   1 Corinthians 12: 3-7. 12-13

JOHN 20: 19-23

HIS WORD… PEACE BE WITH YOU. AS THE FATHER HAS SENT ME, SO I SEND YOU… RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. WHOSE SINS YOU FORGIVE ARE FORGIVEN THEM, AND WHOSE SINS YOU RETAIN ARE RETAINED.

my words… Today, Pentecost Sunday is the birthday of the Church.Today, we remember as recounted in the First Reading, “the time when the disciples were all in one place togetherand suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2:1-4). What a beautiful description of the event when the Church was born! What a terrific and magnifying manifestation of the real power of the Holy Spirit descending upon the early Church!

Brothers and Sisters, this is how Pope Francis in his Pentecost Homily of May 2013, described the Holy Spirit as the “Giver of Life” when he said, “Christians accept that the Holy Spirit is the inexhaustible source of God’s life in us. People of every time and place desire a full and beautiful life, just and good, a life that is not threatened by death, but can still mature and grow to fullness” (quoted by Fr. James H. Kroeger, MM). God’s gift of the Holy Spirit therefore, radically transforms the entire Christian Church. From the first Pentecost down to our present generation, the dynamic, life-giving, powerful, and personal presence of the Holy Spirit is still present and active today. Thus, to live and attain quality and good life, we need “God’s Gift” of the Holy Spirit.

This is now the picture of the Church as dynamically powered by the same Holy Spirit in the 21^st Century generation. In our technological generation, the same Holy Spirit penetrates and conveys the message of God through our technological gadgets and other means of social communications. Last Sunday (Ascension Sunday), we celebrated the 49^th World Communications Sunday, which is a very good reminder for every baptized Christian that our modern means of communications in Mass Media, Social Media, Worldwide Websites (www.com), Clouds, etc. can still be means of Evangelization powered by the dynamic gifts and presence of the Holy Spirit. Truly, God speaks to us in the Holy Spirit through all generations.

May the gift of the First Pentecost continue to be vibrant in our times… May the same Holy Spirit continue to empower us as God’s children with Jesus bringing us to the fullness of time…

HAPPY PENTECOST SUNDAY… HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US, PEOPLE OF GOD, THE CHURCH OF GOD…