Today on this glorious feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the outpouring of the holy spirit up on the apostles and the birth of the Church. The readings remind us of the transformative power of the spirit, which equips and empowers us to fulfill our mission as witnesses of Christ. In the first reading of Acts, we see a powerful moment when the spirit descends like a mighty wind and rests up on the apostles. They speak in various tongues, symbolizing how the gospel transcends cultural and linguistic barriers. It is a powerful reminder that the spirit calls us to reach out to others, embracing our differences to build a community rooted in love and understanding. Psalm 104 beautifully praises God’s creation and highlights the spirit’s role in it: “when you send forth your spirit, they are created”. We are reminded that the spirit not only animates our lives but also breathes new life into our world. Each of us carries the spirit within us, empowering us to be cocreators with God, and bringing hope and healing to those around us. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul speaks of the various gifts of the Spirit, which are given for the common good. Each of us is uniquely gifted, and we are called to discover and use these gifts to serve one another. The unity we experience through the spirit does not erase our individuality; but it enhances it, allowing us to work together harmoniously as the Body of Christ.
In today’s Gospel, the disciples are gathered in secret behind locked doors ‘for fear of the Jews’ reflecting both the political danger after Jesus’ crucifixion and their own confusion. It is most likely that the disciples continued to meet in the upper room where the last supper had been held. But they met in something very like terror. They knew the envenomed bitterness of the Jews who had compassed the death of Jesus, and they were afraid that their turn would come next. So, they were meeting in terror, listening fearfully for every step on the stair and every knock at the door. Lest the emissaries of the Sanhedrin should come to arrest them too. This episode mirrors Old Testament commissioning scenes particularly prophetic call narratives (Isaiah 6 Ezekiel 2). As they sat there, Jesus was suddenly in their midst. He gave them normal eastern greetings: “peace be to you” Jesus’ greetings “peace be to you” recalls both a common Jewish salutation and a fulfillment of the promise. The repetition of the phrase shows that peace is not simply a wish but a gift from the risen Christ, dispelling fear. “He showed them his hands and his side” Jesus retains the marks of crucifixion, underscoring that the resurrected Lord is the crucified one, a key Johannine claim. Their Joy fulfills Jesus’ prior promise “you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy”. He said that as God had sent him forth, so he sent them forth. This verse captures Johannine missiology: the mission of Jesus now extends through the disciples. It is not merely a continuation, but a participation in the divine mission.
Jesus breathed on his disciples and gave them the Holy spirit. There is no doubt that, when John spoke in this way, he was thinking back to the old story of the creation of man. There the writer says: “and the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). This was the same picture that Ezekiel saw in the valley of dead, dry bones when he heard God say to the wind: “come from the four winds, o breath, and breath upon the slain that they may live” (Ezekiel 37:9). The coming of the Holy spirit is like the awakening of life from the dead, when he comes up in the church she is recreated for her task. Jesus said to the disciples: “if you remit the sins of anyone, they are remitted; if you retain them, they are retained.” One thing is certain no man can forgive any other man’s sins. But another thing is equally certain: it is the great privilege of the church to convey the message of God’s forgiveness to men. So, my dear brothers and sisters, our personal encounter with the spirit empowers us to carry Christ’s message into the world renewing our commitment to being an instrument of peace. Let us pray for the courage to share our gifts and for the strength to bridge divides, knowing that with the spirit all things are possible.