This Sermon is prepared by
Rev.Fr.Peter Jayakanthan sss
Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Corpus Christi Catholic Church,
Houston, Texas, US
The Pentecost SundayThe Holy Spirit…….Our Life giving Breath …..!Acts2:1-11, 1Cor12:3b-7, 12-23, Jn20:19-23Dear sisters, Brothers and children, I wish you all a very happy Feast of Pentecost. It is the birthday and beginning of the Church. We are proud and glad to celebrate as members of the Church, our origin of faith filled community life. The Holy Spirit is ever present in our gatherings, celebrations and in our reception of Sacraments. The Holy Spirit brings the abiding presence of Christ among us. We are united as we express the same faith from different parts of the world only through the unifying power of the Holy Spirit. As we enter into this celebration of our life and the Church, we shall carry in our hearts the words of Blessed Mother Theresa: “I pray for you that the Holy Spirit may fill you with His purity. I ask the Holy Spirit to free you of all impurity--body, soul, mind, will, and heart--that each one of you become the living tabernacle of God Most High, and so become a carrier of God's love and compassion.”Through the eyes of purity, the Holy Spirit hovers over each one, enlightening our souls with a deepening faith that unfolds through prayer and catechesis. There was a boy riding on his bike outside a church. The priest saw him and told him to come into the church and the boy said, “But they'll steal my bike." The priest explained how the Holy Spirit would take care of it, so they went inside. The priest showed the boy how to make the sign of the cross, asking the boy to repeat it..."In the name of the Father, the Son...Amen "The priest said, "What about the Holy Spirit?" The boy replied, "It’s outside taking care of my bike! While amusing, this example demonstrates the way some religious persons divide the Trinity, thus separating the power of the Holy Spirit as acting independently from the whole Triune God. Why do only some groups proclaim themselves as people of the Holy Spirit? Why do people leave the Church in spite of their Sacrament of Confirmation? How come the work of evil increases day by day in the forms of violence, abuse and killing? How come the dying person experiences the life of the Spirit through the Sacrament? The Holy Spirit is ever active and alive. The Sprit keeps moving, and we cannot curtail or restrict the moving presence of the Holy Spirit. When we do not allow or may not be aware of the energizing power of the Sprit in our life, then we miss our joy of life and peace. People are filled with joy when they are open to the life giving force of the Spirit. The readings of today’s liturgy reveal that the Holy Spirit is life-giving and ever-acting. The Feast of Pentecost invites us to celebrate the active presence of the Holy Spirit from the beginning of Salvation History, at the birth of the Church and in the present time of the Church. The expression, “Holy Spirit,” was used only seven times in the Old Testament; whereas the terms, “Spirit of God” or “Spirit of the Lord,” occur 67 times in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the very first line of the Book of Genesis 1:1, God’s Spirit was gently hovering over the primordial waters waiting for the opportune moment of drawing order from that chaos. Pentecost means fifty. It refers to the awaiting of the Apostles from the period of Resurrection until the day of Pentecost. In all these days they were taught and trained by our Risen Christ on His various apparitions until the Ascension Day. It is also one among the three major festivals of Jewish people. They are the feast of Unleavened Bread--Passover, the feast of Tabernacles and the feast of Pentecost. During these three great Jewish festivals, every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to go to Jerusalem to participate in the feast. The word Pentecost is Greek for “pentecostes” which means “fiftieth.” This was the post-harvest time where the people gratefully remembered the Covenant and receiving of the precepts through Moses, the Great leader. How is the feast of the Pentecost in the Old Testament different from our liturgy? Feast of Pentecost in the Old Testament: • It is recalling and remembering the Covenant of Yahweh with His people through Moses • It is the fifty days of encounter between God of Yahweh and Moses the Great leader • It is the first expression of the Lord by giving the precepts in tablets on Mount Sinai • It is the Second Harvest festival connected to their new life • They were called “the chosen free people of God from slaves” Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament: • It is after the fifty days of waiting and longing of the Apostles and Christian community • Jesus prepared them to receive the Holy Spirit through various apparitions • 120 People were present, along with the Apostles and Mother Mary • They were one in mind and heart in prayer in the Upper Room • Fearful followers became courageous and full of life for the Risen Christ • It was the birth of the Church The forms of the Holy Spirit are scripturally described as fire, breath, wind and dove; we shall reflect on these. We read Jesus breathed in them. The Holy Spirit is referred to as breath, in Hebrew Ruah, and in Greek Pneuma, meaning: the advocate who will be beside you always. He will activate you. Human breath is important; we inhale and exhale every second to live. Breath is life. The followers of Christ were dead in worries, fears and sadness after the leaving of Jesus. They were infused with the fresh breath of life of the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 2:7, we read: “The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the Spirit, the breath of life and man became a living being. As a result of this divine breath, the human creature is transformed into a living being, no longer to be simply a creature, but a partner, made in the image and likeness of God, with whom and to whom God speaks and confides responsibility for the world.” Whenever we profess the Nicene Creed (and normally we do that every Sunday during Mass) we profess that“we believe in the Lord, the giver of life.” If we recited the Nicene Creed in Latin we would say that we believe “in Spiritum Sanctum, Dominum et vivificantem,” in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life. The Holy Spirit is all about life…creating, re-creating and renewing life. The word, vivacious, means: full of life, active, vigorous. The phrase, “Viva il Papa” means, “Long Life to the Pope.” The Holy Spirit is the vivifier, the life-giver, and makes us move actively and fully. Thousands of people who were on their way to Jerusalem for the festival, stopped and heard the message in their own languages; it is said they were from 16 different language speaking nations and communities. This shows the Universal Church and life-giving alertness of the Holy Spirit, Who allowed them to understand in their own language. We are called to rise, move, and become active from our mute and immobile bitterness. We are invited to recognize the fullness of life we receive in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation that we awaken from our ‘slumber excuses.’ More than a century ago, a great sailing ship was stranded off the coast of South America. Week after week the ship lay there in the still waters with not a hint of a breeze. The captain was desperate; the crew was dying of thirst. And then, on the far horizon, a steamship appeared, headed directly toward them. As it drew near, the captain called out, "We need water! Give us water!" The steamship replied, "Lower your buckets where you are." The captain was furious at this cavalier response, but called out again, "Please, give us water." But the steamer gave the same reply, "Lower your buckets where you are!" And with that they sailed away! The captain was beside himself with anger and despair, and he went below. But a little later, when no one was looking, a yeoman lowered a bucket into the sea and then tasted what he brought up: It was perfectly sweet, fresh water! For you see, the ship was just out of sight of the mouth of the Amazon. And for all those weeks they had been sitting right on top of all the fresh water they needed! What we are really seeking is already inside us, waiting to be discovered and explored, and waiting to be realized and embraced…the Holy Spirit of God has been living within us from the moment of our Baptism. Archbishop Blessed Oscar Romero’s declaration reminds us -- as does today’s Gospel -- that Pentecost is not just one day, but every day. Without breath, there is no life. Without the Spirit, the Church is a field of dry, dead bones. Today is a great day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the spirit of new life and enthusiasm, the fire of God's love. Let us repeat Cardinal Newman’s favorite little prayer, “Come Holy Spirit.” As the soul is the life of the body, so the Holy Spirit is the life of our souls. -- St. Peter Damian -Amen 
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