The Feast Of Pentecost – Pope Francis Sermon
The following is the English translation of the homily offered by His Holiness, Pope Francis on the Solemnity of Pentecost, Sunday June 8th, at St. Peter’s Square, prior to the recitation of the Regina Caeli:
My Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!
[simpleazon-image align=”left” asin=”1601374585″ locale=”us” height=”375″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51DoPBMXXOL.jpg” width=”250″]The Feast of Pentecost honors the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles gathered in the Upper Room. Like Easter, this occasion happened on a pre-existing Jewish feast and ended with a surprise. The Acts of the Apostles explains the signs and fruits of that remarkable outpouring: the strong wind and tongues of fire; fears vanished, leaving courage in its place; tongues melted and everyone comprehended the message. Wherever the Spirit of God reaches, everything is reborn and transfigured. Pentecost is the occasion that signals the birth of the Church and her public manifestation.
A basic aspect of Pentecost is astonishment. Our God is a God of astonishment, this we understand. No one expected anything more from the disciples: after Jesus’ death they were a little, insignificant group of defeated orphans of their Master. There occurred instead an unexpected occasion that astounded: the people were amazed since each of them heard the disciples speaking in their own tongues, telling of the great works of God (cf. Acts 2:6 -7, 11). The Church born at Pentecost is a remarkable community because, with the force of her arrival from God, a new message is proclaimed – the Resurrection of Christ– with a new language – the universal one of love. A brand-new pronouncement: Christ lives! He is risen! A brand-new language: the language of love. The disciples are adorned with power from above and speak with great courage – just minutes prior to this, they all were cowardly, now they speak with courage and candor, with the freedom of the Holy Spirit.
Thus the Church is called into being forever: capable of astonishing while announcing to all that Jesus Christ has defeated death, that God’s arms are always open, that his patience is always there awaiting us in order to save us, to forgive us. The risen Jesus bestowed his Spirit on the Church for this very mission.
Keep in mind: if the Church is alive, she must always surprise. It is incumbent upon the living Church to surprise. A Church which is unable to astonish is a Church that is weak, unwell, dying, and that requires admission to the intensive care system as soon as possible!
many in Jerusalem would have liked as for Jesus’ disciples, frozen in worry, to remain locked inside the room so as not to create confusion. Even today, many of would like this from the Christians. Instead, the risen Lord presses them into the world: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” (Jn 20:21). The Church of the Pentecost is a Church that won’t submit to being powerless. No, she does not submit to this! She does not wish to be a decoration. She is a Church that doesn’t hesitate to head out, meet the people, proclaim the message that’s been given to her, even if that message disturbs or unsettles the conscience, even if that message perhaps brings problems and in some cases causes martyrdom. She is born one and universal, with an unique identity, however open, a Church that embraces the world but does not seize it; she sets it free; but embraces it like the colonnade in this Square: two arms that open to receive, but that don’t close to detain. We Christians are free, and the Church wants us free!
We count on the Virgin Mary, who during that Pentecost morning was in the Upper Room; the Mother with her children. In her, the power of the Holy Spirit really accomplished “fantastic things” (Lk 1:49). She herself said so. May she, the Mother of the Redeemer and Mother of the Church, acquire with her intercession a restored profusion of God’s Spirit upon the Church and upon the world.
