A Tour of Salvation History with the Holy Spirit

Solemnity of Pentecost–At the Vigil

Why?  That is the question in some of your minds right now.  Why so many readings?  This may remind some of you of the Easter Vigil.  But this is the Pentecost Vigil, and it is one of two Masses in the year that the Church gives us the option of an extended Liturgy of the Word, to hear the Word of God and meditate on it to a greater extent than usual.  Just as we prepared for and began our celebration of one of the great mysteries of our faith, the Resurrection of Jesus, with an extended time of prayer, so as we prepare for and begin our celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples, we have an extended time of prayer.

The introduction that I said at the beginning of Mass, also reminds us that tonight, as we gather, we are following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Apostles and disciples, who were waiting for Jesus’ promised gift of the Spirit, who would be their Advocate, and help them to proclaim Jesus to the world.  We are invited to relive all of salvation history in a quick glance, and see how God’s promise of the Holy Spirit was from the beginning and continued through the Old Testament, as was the Resurrection of Jesus.

The readings that we heard tonight tell us something about how the Holy Spirit acts in us, as He acted in the Apostles.  The Holy Spirit unifies what sin divided.  In Genesis, sinful humanity tried to get to God on their own terms by building a tower to the heavens.  But it didn’t work.  We cannot get to God on our own terms.  And where our sinful pride led to the multiplication of languages, the Holy Spirit, given at Pentecost, allowed the Gospel, the new of way life and the way to eternal life with the Father, to be proclaimed so that all could understand.  

The Holy Spirit is the source of power, and consecrates the People of God.  In Exodus, we are told of how God’s people are called to be a “‘kingdom of priests, a holy nation.’”  And Mount Sinai gets wrapped in smoke and thunder and fire, with trumpet blasts, so much that the people are afraid to approach God.  Through Baptism, we are made priests, so that we can offer our spiritual sacrifices in union with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and we are given power from on high.

The Holy Spirit is the giver of life.  If we are just flesh and bone, then we do not have life.  But if the Spirit of God fills us, then we are no longer zombies, no longer the walking dead, but are filled with life.  When God first made us, He breathed His life into us.  We lost that divine life when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.  But through the Holy Spirit, new life is given to us.  Finnian will receive that new life today as he is baptized, so that he is not dead in his sin, but alive in Christ.

The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the things of God.  In the Old Testament, only certain people were able to speak for God, and they were called the prophets.  God would speak to individuals like Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Joel, and they would pass on what God had said.  But in this new age after the Resurrection, all of God’s people have access to His voice, and have the possibility of seeing with the eyes of God.  All flesh has the possibility to receive the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a well-spring of life.  We cannot live without water.  But Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will be a river of living water flowing from within us.  It will give us new life so that we can truly live, not for ourselves, but for God.  The Holy Spirit helps us to believe in God the Father and His Son, Jesus, and to quench our thirst for the infinite and the eternal, that can only be satisfied in God.

All of what I mentioned happens today as Finnian is baptized.  Finnian is united to God, receives power and consecration to be a member of God’s priestly people, receives new life, is able to understand the things of God, and is given the ability to live for God.  All of that happened to us when we were baptized.  And it was given to us in a new way in the Sacrament of Confirmation.  Union with God, power and consecration, new life, seeing things through God’s eyes, and living for God are all possible because of the great gift of the Holy Spirit, who continues the work of Jesus.  That work is continued in us.  Will you cooperate with the Holy Spirit in proclaiming the Gospel and living as a disciples of Jesus, as the disciples did after they received the Holy Spirit?  Will you put into action in your life what was foreshadowed in the Old Testament?  Will you receive the Holy Spirit?