Happy Pentecost Day! Congratulations to Our Graduates!

Happy Pentecost Day!  Congratulations to Our Graduates!

This Sunday, we have a lot to celebrate and remember. We are honoring graduates in our cluster, we are celebrating Pentecost, which marks the end of the Easter season and beginning of Ordinary season.

Congratulations to Our Graduates! How exciting!! We ask: “What will they become?” “What will they do?” Everyone wants to know what they want to do, or what they want to be when they grow up. Graduates, the word you will hear a lot is “success.” Everybody wants you to be successful in life. We are praying for you. Every time when you come home, please don’t forget to come and pray with us. Also, wherever you are, please remember to find time to pray the Mass.

This weekend we are celebrating another success story: the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost means 50. The Jews celebrated the feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the Passover. Originally it was an agricultural feast (Leviticus 23:15-17) and later giving of the law at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-20). Now we celebrate the new Pentecost after the fifty days of Jesus'  resurrection. When God came to Mount Sinai, there was fire and a loud sound with trumpet blasts. In the new Pentecost, there was a mighty wind, and tongues of fire came over to the Apostles.

After the resurrection, Jesus prepared them to receive the Holy Spirit and mission. After 40 days, Jesus entrusted the mission to his disciples and he ascended into heaven. He asked them to remain in Jerusalem until Pentecost. After 50 days of Easter, the Pentecost took place which transformed their lives. No more fear. Apostles first proclaimed the risen Lord to people from all over the world, yet were heard speaking in their own languages. The Greeks heard the message in Greek, the Persians in Farsi, the Romans in Latin, the Jews in Hebrew or Aramaic, etc. Although the people who heard the message were from all over, the message itself united them into one people. This was and is the work of the Holy Spirit, forming us into One Person, the Body of Christ. St. Paul tells in the 1st Corinthians 12, "We are all     different, we have different gifts, we do different things, but we are united in the Holy Spirit into One Body.”

One of the readings for the Vigil Mass is from the book of Genesis 11:1-9, which gives the background for the understanding of Pentecost as a reversal of Babel. The word babel means confused voice(s). The story of the Tower of Babel tells us that the sinful pride of the human beings separate them from God and to show their pride they decided to build the tower to touch the sky. They all spoke the same language, but God confused them and that prevented them from building the tower. At the Pentecost, (Acts 2:1-11) however, even though there were people from many nations, they overcame the language barrier. All of them were able to understand each other. The Christian tradition views Pentecost as the undoing of the Tower of Babel, and the reunification of the human family through the mission and witness of the apostolic Church.

We received the Holy Spirit at our Baptism and strengthened the Sacrament of Confirmation by the laying of hands. Anointing of the Holy Spirit takes place in us when we eagerly are asking for it. Sometimes we may attempt to think, it is for the saintly people. It is not a wrong concept. Anointing of the Holy Spirit is for all of us to grow in holiness. Jesus promised the apostles an advocate, a helper. When they received the Holy Spirit, it changed their life, they got out of the fear. They went out to the street and proclaimed the Good News. Today, we are called to gather to follow his command, “Do this in memory of Me” and after reception of his body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, the nourishment for our journey and then we are sent out to proclaim the good news. It may be our homes, our neighborhood, workplace, and so on.  Suppose, you didn't see your neighbor or friend at the Mass, do you feel the need to call? Maybe I have to rephrase that question, “do you miss them?” Pentecost reminds us that we need to ask the Holy Spirit to inspire us to reach out to others because we are sent out to evangelize the Good News. Happy Pentecost!