My Pentecost Experience

Pentecost Sunday

09 June 2019

First reading                                                                        Acts 1:1-11
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

Second reading                                                       Romans 8:8-17

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ-if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Gospel                                                                     John 14:15-16; 23-26

Jesus said to his disciples, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever,.

Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”

Reflection

By Ma. Rosalina S. Flores

Pentecost is very special to me. I got to travel to Europe in 2017 for two weeks, my first out of the country travel which fortunately, happened during Ascension and Pentecost Sundays. I was sent to London to attend the training on the new special program of our mother organization. I was with my colleague during the training but I went solo when I did my side trips in the neighboring countries. I remembered my goals of attending Mass in each country that I will visit. I was blessed to attend Masses in London, Paris, Barcelona, and Rome in local languages,  in English, French, Spanish, and Italian. I also witnessed an Ad Orientem Mass (priest and people face the wall behind the altar during the liturgy), an evening prayer of the monks, and a general audience with the Pope. In spite of the language barrier, I felt totally a part of the Eucharistic celebrations because the Holy Spirit was there in our midst.

Those events were my own empirical version of the apostles' Pentecost experience as narrated in our First Reading today from the Acts of the Apostles. “They were all in one place together, then there appeared to them tongues as of fire which 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.” I felt like I was one of the large crowd that came from a far land and yet I understood what was being said by the Mass readers, the choir, the priests, the monks, and even the Pope mainly because they spoke to me through the heart. My tears flowed freely on my chubby cheeks as I thank God for the beautiful encounter.

Aside from the ability to speak in various languages, the apostles also received peace from Jesus as mentioned in today's Gospel from St. John. We can recall that the apostles were gathered in locked doors for fear of the Jews. But Jesus came in their midst, and upon showing His side and hands, He said to them, “Peace be with you” and the apostles rejoiced. This Pentecost Sunday reminds us that whatever it is that bothers us, we can always find peace in Jesus. The thought of Jesus in our prayers will calm us and help us think clearly of the solutions to our problems. Jesus is the key to genuine peace. It doesn’t mean that we will be free of things that wary us, instead, we are assured that Jesus is there to assist us.

When Jesus rose again, He gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles, sending them to mission, and whatever sin they forgive will be forgiven and whatever sin they retain shall be retained. This marks the birth of the Catholic Church, the start of its mission to call all sinners and lead them to repentance. As we always hear, the Church is the hospital of sinners. In the Church, we will be healed and we will be brought back to life to live for Christ.

As a closing, Pentecost does not end today, it is an everyday experience of God's love for us through the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Lord, send out Your Spirit on us to renew us. We hope to feel Your love each day. Embrace and lead us to Your house. Amen.