“Sunday Reflection” is a regular feature, looking at the specific readings used in today’s Mass in Catholic parishes around the world. The reflection represents only my own point of view, intended to help prepare myself for the Lord’s day and perhaps spark a meaningful discussion. Previous Sunday Reflections from the main page can be found here.  For previous Green Room entries, click here.

This morning’s Gospel reading is John 15:26–27; 16:12–15:

Jesus said to his disciples:

“When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

“I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

Come, Lord Jesus, send us your spirit,

Renew the face of the Earth …

The above is from the refrain of one of my favorite songs from the hymnal used in our parish, a modern song of joy by David Haas about the Holy Spirit. It’s a song of prayer and praise, and a song of unity in rebirth. It’s a plea for all of us to experience a Pentecost for ourselves, each and every day, and that the gift of the Holy Spirit be shared with all.

Fill all the earth with the love you have taught us. Let all creation now be shaken with love.

In an already beautiful lyric, that line stands out. Why would all creation be “shaken with love” at Pentecost, and with the Holy Spirit? All creation springs from the love of God, through His Word and the Holy Spirit. It would not exist without it, and yet we see from the Gospels that Pentecost transforms the world. It represents a new creation in its way, a shaking of the world to open the path to salvation.

At the time of the Pentecost in Acts, the world had already been shaken for the Apostles. The Messiah had been scourged and crucified in front of their eyes, humiliated and discredited to all but His most loyal followers. Even those disciples struggled with doubt during the Passion. Then, on the third day, Jesus arose from the dead, shaking their world all over again and showing that death could not triumph over the love of God. His Ascension shook their world all over again, passing directly into the glory of God to open salvation throughout all time.

However, the preparations had not yet been completed. Before the Passion, Jesus explained that they needed more to succeed in their mission of salvation. Knowledge of Jesus and the Word would not suffice; they needed to have the Holy Spirit within them to strengthen them, and prepare their hearts as His temple. Only when the time was right would they be able to bear the knowledge that the Holy Spirit would impart, but through the Paraclete they would spread the Gospel and shake the world with love, rather than arms or oppression.

This, of course, was the Pentecost described in the very beginning of Acts. The theophany manifested itself as a strong wind, and sent down “tongues of fire” which rested on the Apostles. This parallels other theophanies from the Old Testament; the fire of the burning bush and Moses, which spoke but did not consume, and the “strong wind” that accompanied the passing of the Lord with Elijah but which did not contain Him.

What then occurs? Immediately, the Apostles begin speaking in the various languages of those gathered, proclaiming the Gospel to all nations. This is not an act of division, but an effort to transcend division and bring unity to creation. The Holy Spirit acts to break down the walls and the barriers erected by man in and for the hearts of men, and calls all to unity in Jesus Christ. The Paraclete works through the humble Galileans, the crowd marvels, to “speak[] in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”

This does not end with the Apostles. In fact, the Apostles go out around the known world to tell people that they can have their own Pentecost by welcoming the Holy Spirit into their hearts. They may not be given the same gifts as the Apostles, as Paul writes to the Corinthians who began to exhibit jealousy over them, but all the gifts serve the Lord and His desire for unity in salvation. The greatest gift, though, is faith. “No one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit,” Paul writes, and declares that the Holy Spirit calls us to the unity of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-13):

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit are transformative in many ways. These gifts are not passive, and they are intended — as all creation was originally intended — to build connections, to bind us to one another in love, and to prepare ourselves for life in the eternal embrace of God as a free choice. That is the key; God does not force Himself upon us, but gives us the grace to invite Him into our hearts if we choose to do so. We must ask for our own Pentecost. We must open ourselves to the Holy Spirit so that we can sincerely say that Jesus Christ is Lord.

When we do that, we shake our own world. Augustine famously hesitated in making that conversion of heart, too enamored of the material pleasures of life to put them aside for eternal salvation in the future. Accepting the Holy Spirit shakes our world, and inspires us to see it differently. As we help others to accept the Holy Spirit, the entire world shakes with His love. In order to do that, we all must put aside our divisions and say:

Come to us, dwell in us, change our lives, O Lord. 

Come to us, spirit of God!

Note: David Haas lives not far from me, as it turns out. While this is one of my favorites from his collection, Haas has written many beautiful hymns, and I’d encourage those interested in contemporary sacramental music to acquaint themselves with his work.

Front page image is a detail of “Pentecost” by El Greco, circa 1597-1600.