A Homily for the Feast of Pentecost

+ The great feast of Pentecost can sometimes appear more than just a little esoteric. Whilst Our Lord’s passion, death and resurrection are, as it were, tangible-enough events—even as they utterly transcend their merely material elements—to speak of tongues of fire descending and a spirit Who gives the ability to speak in unknown languages sounds more than somewhat strange to our ears. This morning’s Epistle recounts the astonishment of the Jews in Jerusalem at the time. One can only wonder how the Apostles—relics of many of whom grace the altar this morning—felt as they found themselves, sinful men, overtaken by God’s power and working wonders of which they themselves were utterly incapable? Here, though, we encounter the essence of Pentecost: sinful men, overtaken by the power of Almighty God working wonders of which they themselves were utterly incapable.

Let’s ponder this a little. The Apostles, as we know well enough from the Gospels, were really quite ordinary people. They had no particular or special religious formation. Their occupations were diverse and practical—many were fishermen. And they had their very real limitations. How can we forget the protestation of St Peter: “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” (Lk 5:8)

And yet, these ordinary, sinful men became the very pillars of the One True Church built by Our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of all people of all races and nations in every age. How? Did the Holy Spirit possess them and take over the control of their minds and bodies and transform them into some form of angel or other good spirit?

No. Possession is the work of demons, not of God the Holy Spirit. The Apostles were not somehow controlled or captured. Rather, they freely responded to Our Lord’s call to “Come: follow me…” (Mt 4:9). This is crucial. As the Gospels tell us they left everything and followed Our Lord, not because He somehow took over their minds or manipulated them, but because in hearing His call they sensed something of God, just enough, to be able to take the first step along a path that would see them assist at many miracles only then to scatter in the face of the Crucifixion, before being astounded beyond all human comprehension in the light of the Resurrection and finding themselves on Pentecost morning speaking of the wonders of God in languages they did not know.

The key here is that first step, that fundamental openness to begin to walk the often unexpected and surprising path that God has opened up before us, and the will and determination to put aside distractions (howsoever good in themselves) and to persevere each and every day in taking the next step along it—even when crises and fears and doubts cloud it over and obscure the way forward. One can only imagine the thoughts of the Apostles between Our Lord’s Crucifixion and Resurrection, and even afterwards, when they were “in fear of the Jews”. (Jn 20:19) Yet, in spite of these all too human emotions and reactions, somehow, they persevered and remained open to the working of God’s grace. They were sufficiently receptive to allow His Will to become a reality in them and through them, even as they themselves were weak and unworthy.

And this, surely, is the lesson we must each learn again and again: to sufficiently open and receptive to allow God’s Will to become a reality in them and through us, even as we are weak and utterly unworthy: a lesson that we must learn when we are young and that we must re-learn time and time again throughout the exigencies of all that this life can involve. For God’s providential plans can and do often surprise and astonish us just as they did the Apostles. Each one of us can and most probably shall find ourselves becoming witnesses to the Truth of Jesus Christ in ways in which we could never have imagined, provided that we are open to the transformative power of God the Holy Spirit living and working in and through our hearts, minds, souls and bodies.

Thus, Pentecost is not an esoteric feast. It is a profound and urgent call to each and every one of us to open or to re-open our very being to all that Almighty God wishes to give to us in order that we might become the person whom, from all eternity, He has willed us to be, and that thus transformed, we may bear abundant fruit for His glory and for the salvation of souls, our own included.

Rightly, then, does the Sacred Liturgy of this feast implore: Veni, Sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium: et tui amoris in eis ingem accende. (Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of thy love.) Rightly does its beautiful Sequence ask for the healing outpouring of the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit. Rightly does it implore the recreation and renewal of the face of the earth through His power. But this renewal is only possible if each and every one of us opens ourselves anew, through repentance where necessary, with loving generosity in respect of God’s call to follow Him further along the path He has shown us. Only then will the world be renewed. Only then will the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit bring forth their saving fruit.

For the necessary increase in generosity and love in each of us, let us beg Almighty God at His altar this morning. +