The Holy Spirit Breaks Down Barriers Of Division

A young friend of mine commented to me a few days ago how intrigued she was to discover people of different languages falling in love with each other even though they could not speak well the language of the other. It is a well-known saying that love knows no boundaries; not even the boundary of language.

Today we celebrate the feast of Pentecost, the feast which celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, (who essentially is personified love) with whose coming the boundaries which separate people, symbolized by language, were removed.

In the first reading, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are told that “They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language?” There were at that moment in Jerusalem people from all corners of the known world and they could all understand Galileans, not known for their cultural formation, speaking about the marvels of God.

In the second reading we are told, “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons,” Again through the Spirit, the boundaries between persons very different culturally as Jews and Greeks and socially as slaves and free persons are removed. Together they form one body, all depending on the other.

In the Gospel passage, Jesus breathes on the disciples and gives them the power to remove sin which is the major obstacle to harmony. It is sin which creates boundaries and divisions. The disciples are given the power to remove them. “he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.”

As we celebrate this feast of Pentecost, we remember that through our baptism and confirmation, we, like the first apostles and disciples, have also been given the Holy Spirit, Personified Love, who penetrates every aspect of our being, and like the first disciples, we too are have been sent into the world, through the same Spirit to speak a language which everyone understands, a language which does not divide but rather unites. Of us too, it must be said, “How does each of us hear them in our own native tongue?”

The spirit also sends us to remove the boundaries which prevent us from collaborating with each other so that together we form one body, all of us together with our unique gifts continuing the work that Christ began and for which we were chosen. We remember the words of Christ, “You did not choose me, no I chose you so that you may go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last.”

Last but not least the Spirit has been given to us so that we can remove sin from our personal lives and the structures of sin from our society. Sinful structures create and maintain divisions between peoples and ethnic groups and social classes.

As we celebrate this event of Pentecost, we thank God for those who give us the example of living in the Spirit. We thank God for those who have dedicated their lives to removing the boundaries which do not permit or which impede the coming of the Kingdom. We thank God for Nelson Mandela and the truth commission. We thank God for Mother Teresa and her sisters. We thank God for the many nameless peacemakers throughout our countries and throughout the world.

May this celebration of Pentecost help us to be faithful to the impulses of the Spirit, so that together we may remove the boundaries which keep us separated from each other.

Prayer

All powerful and ever-loving God we thank you for your continued presence with us through the Holy Spirit. May this Spirit so penetrate our beings that we  become removers of boundaries  and peacemakers in our divided world. Fill us with the confidence which your Spirit brings so that discouragement may not deter us as we face a world which does not believe in you. We ask this through the intercession of Mary our mother and Jesus your Son. Amen

First Reading :- Acts 2:1-11
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans? Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”

Responsorial Psalm – Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34

R. Send forth your Spirit O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.

Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD, my God, you are great indeed!
How manifold are your works, O LORD!
the earth is full of your creatures;
R. Send forth your Spirit O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.

May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
may the LORD be glad in his works!
Pleasing to him be my theme;
I will be glad in the LORD.
R. Send forth your Spirit O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.

If you take away their breath, they perish
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
R. Send forth your Spirit O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.

Second Reading :- The Letter Of Stl Paul To The Galatians 5:16-25

Brothers and sisters, live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. For the flesh has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want.

But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

Gospel: John 20:19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”