Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
It is a moment of extreme Joy as Christians that we commemorate the Pentecost after 50 days of Easter, as the fulfilment of Jesus’ Mission on earth. Thereafter, the same Mission is transmitted to His 12 Apostles to carry on by bestowing upon them the power of the Holy Spirit. In the first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles, we begin to understand more clearly that although the followers of Jesus believed in Him, they were still afraid to teach about Him publicly and to proclaim Him to all of the nations. They had to wait for the Holy Spirit to take hold of them and give them courage in the face of persecution. Many of us are also nervous about proclaiming our faith in the Lord Jesus. Perhaps today we can pray for this Holy Spirit to come on us and to give us courage so that we may witness to Christ Jesus on earth without fear.
The second reading reminds us that we form the one body of Christ in this world. Our gifts are different, one person from another. All the gifts are indeed needed to continue the work of Christ in our world. How different our world looks when we begin to recognise that each person brings his or her own gifts and that we need those gifts to live in the fullness of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel today, from Saint John, tells us about the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is clear again that these early followers were trembling behind closed doors with fear. The coming of the Holy Spirit takes their fears away. These first followers seem to need peace, because that is the first greeting of the Lord to them: Peace be with you! May we know the peace of Jesus in our own lives! With peace comes the capacity to forgive the sins of others. This forgiveness is clearly a gift of the Lord who loves us. This gift is given to each of us individually, and also, to the Church in her ordained ministers. Today we can rejoice in forgiving all who may ever have harmed us in any way of any kind. And we can invite others to forgive us if we have ever harmed them in any way at all. May God the Holy Spirit bless each one of us and infuse our hearts with His gifts and fruits.