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| Pentecost |
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| The Acts of the Apostles 2 |
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The central point of the Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. This is celebrated at Easter. |
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| But this event is followed by several celebrated events like Ascension and Pentecost; they are part of the Pascal mystery. There is a way to celebrate Easter by forgetting that before the resurrection, there has been the death of Jesus, a true death. It is what is recalled in the Ascension, when Jesus disappeared from this world. The resurrection is not the resuscitation of the body of Jesus. Already the empty tomb was a sign that the body of Jesus was given up for lost. Even in the apparitions of Jesus, after his resurrection, his disciples did not recognize him, it was some body else, thought subsequently, they were certain that it was also him. Some signs made him recognized: when he broke the bread with the disciples of Emmaus (Luke 24, 13-35), the miraculous fishing when the apostles resumed their occupations after Jesus’ death (John 21). |
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| Strange presence! It is the Pentecost that exemplifies the best this new kind of presence. This celebration should be named the new presence of Jesus among us, not a presence like a living matter, but a spiritual presence. It is now the time of the Spirit that Jesus had promised to send (John 16, 7 and follow). |
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| The upsurge of the Spirit is recognized by its effects: the opening of the doors of the Cenacle where the disciples took refuge, the fear that locked them indoor is over, the courage to be seen and to speak in front of every body with persuasion. The experience of this gift of the Spirit has been felt by the disciples like wind and fire. The wind, that is the circulation of the air, is the symbol of space for breathing, for moving and getting in relationship without suffocating the others; when we feel too crowded we willingly say, “ Let me breathe”. Regarding the fire, it brings light and warmth. Now there is a new light on Jesus: the disciples understood better who he is really and what was his message, they experienced what Jesus had announced: “When the Spirit of truth will come, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16,13). It is also a warm space, where confidence and mutual love can flourish. These are today the signs given by Jesus for his presence. Everywhere the Spirit expresses, Jesus is there. Where Charity and Love are, God is present. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est. It is the meaning of the writings about the last Judgement: ” When does it happen to see you starving and to feed you, thirsty and to give you drink, to be a foreigner and to welcome you, naked and to clothe you, sick or in prison and to visit you? And the King shall answer: really I say that to you inasmuch as you have done it at one of the least of my brothers, you have done it to me” (Mathew 25, 37-40). It is in the quality of sharing with others that Jesus is making himself present. It is for that reason that in the Eucharistic sharing we can speak of real presence, on the contrary we can doubt of the real presence when during the Eucharist a dimension of community is missing. |
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The desire to do some thing without concentrating only on oneself is a mark of the action of the Spirit. Just before disappearing from the sight of his disciples, Jesus sent them: “ you will receive a strength… you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and in Samaria and to the uttermost part of the earth”
(Acts 1, 8). |
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It is a universal mission for everybody, men and women. “ Go to the entire world, proclaim the Good News to every creature” (Mark, 16, 15). They started to do it on the day of Pentecost. No time to spare by looking in the sky.
This good News is the same that the one Jesus announced by his actions. When the disciples after this event went out of the Cenacle, their language was understood by every one, because it is the language of action, a language that every body can understand and that speaks to the heart: the possibility for every one, men and women, to be loved, to be welcome and to live plainly and free, to recover his dignity and to be recognized. For these, Jesus can promise:
” And I, I am with you always, even until the end of the world”
(Mathew 28, 20). |
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