Descended to Unite Us

Pentecost  15 May 2016  

First reading
Acts 2:1-11

When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.

  Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’

 

 

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 103:1,24,29-31,34

Second reading
1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13

No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

  There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.

  Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.

 

Gospel	John 20:19-23

In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.

‘As the Father sent me,

so am I sending you.’

After saying this he breathed on them and said:

‘Receive the Holy Spirit.

For those whose sins you forgive,

they are forgiven;

for those whose sins you retain,

they are retained.’

  Reflection
By Benj Santiago  

“And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim...but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in an amazement they asked,  how does each of us hear them in his native language?"

Today is the first Sunday after our National Elections. More importantly, today is Pentecost Sunday which is a Sunday after the Ascension of the Lord to heaven. In the First Reading according to Acts of the Apostles, today the Lord's promise  was delivered: The Holy Spirit came down to all the Apostles, disciples, and believers that were gathered together. And as Christ's followers received the Holy Spirit, the crowd that gathered to listen to them were all astonished - the Apostles and disciples were able to speak in various languages.

In the most recent political process we just had, we were like those people in the Old Testament who were building their Tower at Babel. We were very busy building up our idols, our candidates. And so many families went up against each other. So many friendships were broken. So many hurting words and invectives thrown at each other. Such event got us into confusion, division, hate, and misunderstanding. We speak the same language but it is quite obvious we don't understand each other. This reflects what happened in Babel. The exact opposite transpired on that first Pentecost Sunday!

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit that descended to the believers about 2000 years ago would descend upon all of us to unite us, and gather us towards our healing process. I believe in the true nature of Filipinos. And may the healing process start within me. O come oh Holy Spirit!

 Prayer

 

Heavenly Father we thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit. May the Holy Spirit be with all of us to unite us, to enable us to understand each other, and to heal the wounds of division brought about by the most recent political exercise our country  had. May the Holy Spirit bring peace and love to all of us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen!