Fr. Richard Ver Bust

The Spirit brings new life to all

June 11, Pentecost Sunday

The Feast of Pentecost brings to a grand conclusion our celebration of the Easter season.

It reminds us of the many themes that have emerged in our reflection on the meaning of this season. It unifies what we have been celebrating. Christ's glorification and the sending of his Spirit tell us that we have entered a new age. In the same chapter, in the Acts of the Apostles from which our first reading is taken, Peter suggests to the assembled crowd that the new age predicted by the prophet Joel has arrived.

Luke implies by his description of the diverse crowd that had assembled on the great pilgrimage feast that the coming of the Spirit would reverse the disunity that the story of the tower of Babel had suggested. The role of the Spirit would be to bring all people together to share the good news of salvation. So with the force of a mighty wind and fiery tongues the disciples of Jesus were empowered to accomplish this task. It is not clear from the text who was all assembled in that upper room. Was it just the apostles or was it the hundred and twenty disciples whom the Acts 1:15 said were gathered to select a successor to Judas? Some paintings have Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the center of the gathering. Were they all males or were the faithful women there too?

Luke's description of the event also recalls previous signs of the presence of God. God appeared to Israel at Sinai amid thunder and clouds. God appeared to Moses in the fiery bush that was not consumed. Now the external signs in the coming of the Spirit are wind and fiery tongues. For Luke these signs point to what the Spirit will accomplish. In the early church, the Spirit was the source of enthusiasm, effective preaching, and the energy for the rapid expansion of the good news. The gift of tongues stressed the spreading of the good news to all people regardless of their national identity.

Paul, in the second reading, part of the First Letter to the Corinthians, writes about gifts of the Spirit given to the church community. The first is to acclaim and witness to a person's conversion to following Jesus. Paul stresses the call depends upon the Spirit. One does not take the first step on their own. They need the call of God and because of that call the person now can call Jesus their Lord and Savior. Paul further believes that all subsequent gifts given to members of the church by the Spirit are for the benefit of the church. The gifts are those which are especially evident in the gathering of the community such as speaking in tongues and prophesying. Yet there are also gifts that enable members of the church act in service to others. Ministry in service was important for the life of the church community.

Finally, Paul uses the image of the human body to teach how the members of the church work together. Each part of the body has a specific function. But all of these parts of the body work together for the benefit of the whole. So too in the church all members have different tasks but all work to further the work of the church.

Our Gospel is the same we heard on the Second Sunday of the Easter season. The purpose of repeating it is now to share John's version of the coming of the Spirit. Jesus in wishing peace to his disciples on the evening of the resurrection also breathed upon them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Like the creation of Adam and Ezechiel's description of the restoration of Israel, the coming of the Spirit brings new life. The Lord in this act shows his power to create and recreate. The coming of the Spirit certainly brings new life to all.

(Fr. Ver Bust is professor emeritus in religious studies at St. Norbert College, De Pere.)