Luceat!

Today is Pentecost, a feast that has been celebrated for thousands of years; first by our Jewish brothers and now more fully by Christians. The promise of our Lord that he would send us another advocate who would teach us all things and help us remember all that He had taught us is fulfilled on this day. The Apostles, who have been praying and fasting with Mary, the mother of Jesus, are now filled with tongues of fire and holy boldness in proclaiming Christ risen from the dead.

No one can read over today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles and think that Christianity is a boring and dead religion. What we find, when we open this small reading is fire being placed on the tongues of the Apostles, a thunderous sound erupting in their midst, and people speaking and understanding languages they had never heard.

They were inebriated in the Spirit, while men even thought they were drunk.

Now, let’s take a step back from the excitement. Where did this feast come from? We find two interpretations in the Old Testament. There is the feast of harvest, also called the feast of sevens. This is when the first fruits of grain were offered to God, but also it is the feast of Israel receiving the law and covenant on Mt. Sinai. The Holy Spirit comes on the day of the law, because the Holy Spirit is the new law. And now the law will not be written on stone tablets but on flesh, on our hearts.

The Holy Spirit brings life. On the day Pentecost, St. Peter preached and baptized 3000 people into the Church. This is drastic in comparison to Israel’s days on Mt. Sinai. After the people of Israel build and worship the golden calf, the Levites are commissioned to go and kill those continuing to partake in the horrific incident. They slaughter 3000 people on that day.

Jesus desired to send us the Holy Spirit, because we would then enter into the life of God. This Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, gives us courage in the face of danger and many gifts to spread throughout the Church.

Finally, we should be aware that the Holy Spirit still works in amazing ways, even in our day. I have a friend who prayed over a man, who had been born with a deformed armed. Praying in the name of Jesus and asking for the healing power of the Holy Spirit, my friend saw this man’s arm be made new. The arm had no traces of ever being deformed! Do not be afraid of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. Answer the promptings of the Spirit, for to do so is to set out on the greatest of adventures.