There are three key celebrations in the Christian liturgy, three Passovers in the most original sense of the term that alludes to God’s “passing” near us. The first Passover was the night of liberation in Egypt. Then it was God who, with his presence, freed the people from slavery. Since then, Easter always speaks of the nearness of God and brings liberating consequences for humanity. In the Christian liturgy, these three Easter seasons are: the Incarnation—God becomes man, he becomes one of us; the Resurrection—God breaks the condemnation of sin which was death and opens us to a new and fuller life; and Pentecost —which is the one we celebrate on this Sunday.
The Spirit of God suddenly invades our world. The book of Acts presented the coming of the Spirit as wind and as fire. Wind and fire are natural phenomena that, unleashed to their own dynamics, could become threatening to the life of humanity. But on this day they symbolise a destruction and a rebirth. As always when a person is touched by God there is an authentic “baptism of fire”, a real transformation. Something dies in the person and something is born.
The passage of the Spirit through their lives had immediate consequences for the disciples of Jesus. If until then they had been locked up (in John’s gospel it is mentioned more than once that they were locked up for fear of the Jews), now they open their doors and windows. That confinement indicated a total lack of communication between the first community of Jesus’ followers and the world around them. Now communication takes place with such abundance and clarity that all who are in Jerusalem, all who come in contact with them, understand them as if they were speaking to them in their own language.
The Spirit, therefore, causes believers to go out into the world, to enter into dialogue and to bring the good news of salvation to all people. The Spirit works in all the members of the community, making them confess their faith without fear. The Spirit promotes various charisms (services, functions) within the community but, at the same time, makes them one community at the service of one mission: to bring peace to the world, to announce the good news, to preach forgiveness and reconciliation.
Today we celebrate that the Spirit continues to reach the hearts of all Christians, that he makes us one family with one mission: to continue to announce in today’s world the good news of the Gospel. Today we feel again in us the flame and the wind of the Spirit that frees and sends us. Because many are still waiting for the announcement that God loves them as children.
For your reflection
Am I afraid to say I am a Christian or to behave like one in some situations? If it is true that the Spirit fills my heart, how should I behave? How should I speak so that everyone knows the love with which God loves us?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
