Solemnity of Pentecost
[In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.] Harold Samuel is famous (or at least his phrase is) for saying in 1944 that the most important thing in property is location, location, location. And as we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost, it’s important to look at the location of this dramatic gift of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son.
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| The Upper Room in Jerusalem |
The Eucharist is the sacramental presentation of Jesus’ suffering and death, His sacrifice on Calvary. Through it we are connected to the oblation which saved us from sin and death. In the Eucharist we receive the love of the Son, who was willing to lay down His life, not only for His friends, but even for His enemies. Christ commanded His Apostles to celebrate the Eucharist in His remembrance throughout the ages as the way to connect all people who were baptized into His Death and Resurrection, and who follow Him in their life, to Him so that they could grow in that same love that Christ first showed us.
The Resurrection, for its part, is the proof that Christ is who He says He is. People saw the Lord die. They saw Him expire on the Cross. But when He was raised from the dead, that was a shock to most. It certainly shocked the Apostles. The Resurrection proved that nothing was more powerful than Christ, and that He truly was divine. No one had risen before by their own power, and it has not happened since. While the many healing miracles gave proof to the divinity of Christ, the Resurrection closed any doubt that our Lord was greater than the prophets, some of whom had also healed people, and had even raised people from the dead. But no prophet raised Himself from the dead. And so, when the tomb was empty; when our Lord appeared and showed His wounds, first to Mary Magdalene, and then to the Apostles and Blessed Mother gathered in the Upper Room, there was no doubt that this Jesus was different, an unlike any who had come before Him.
And, as we celebrate Pentecost today, we know that the Father sent the Holy Spirit through Christ the Son to the Blessed Mother, Apostles, and disciples gathered in that same Upper Room, at which point they could not help but speak about Christ, who had suffered and died, and who had risen from the dead. And the Holy Spirit gave them the ability to speak in many languages, so that all could understand in their own native languages. The dispersion of Babel was undone in the unified gift of tongues; the hope of Moses and the prophecy of Joel that all would speak for God as prophets came true; the dry bones of faith that the disciples had was enlivened by the courage that the Holy Spirit gave them to proclaim that Jesus is Lord and Messiah.
But we also are in the Upper Room, each time we gather in this sacred space. We assemble to have Christ provide His Body and Blood once more for us, as we are obedient to His command to do this in His memory. We who have been baptized into His Death and Resurrection, and who do not have any major departures from following Christ are invited to taste the Bread of Angels.
The Bread of Angels gives us the new life of the Resurrection and raises us from the coma of daily life through which we can so easily sleepwalk. Christ said in John chapter six that if we do not eat His flesh and drink His blood, we do not have life within us. When we worthily receive the Eucharist, we are given the new life of Christ, the life of the Resurrection dwelling inside of us and connecting us to the one over whom even death has no power.
But it is not meant to end there. The Upper Room is not only the place where we sacramentally enter into the Paschal Mystery; not only the place where we rise with Christ through our reception of Holy Communion. It is also the place from which, like the disciples, we are sent out by the Holy Spirit to share the Good News that God has taken flesh and dwelt among us; that sin and death have been conquered in Christ; and that we can have access to that eternal life through union with Christ. The Holy Spirit works to push us out of here to share the Gospel by word and deed to those who have never heard the proclamation of Christ, or who have heard it but who have fallen away, or who have heard it and have remained faithful, but need a new invigoration to continue living out the life of Christ in our daily circumstances.
Our challenge today and every day is to take practical steps to share the Gospel. When we notice a co-worker who is struggling, to ask them if we can help, especially by listening to them and praying with them. When we see someone bound in the slavery to sin, to let them know that their actions are leading them further away from God, and to offer our assistance to bring them back, perhaps by bringing them to confession with us, and then to Mass. When someone has good news, to celebrate with them and say, “Praise God!”, from whom every good thing has its origin. There are so many other ways, but these are just a few of how we take what we have received, and share it with others.
Our Mass is not meant to stay here within these walls. Yes, we come to this Upper Room to receive the new life of the Resurrection in the Eucharist. But our daily worship of God, for which the Eucharist strengthens us, is meant to be extended into each hour of every day in our homes, in our cars, in our workplaces, and in our recreation. Our religion is not simply about coming together into a sacred place once or more a week. Our religion is also about acting differently, treating others differently, and bringing them to the truth and healing that only Christ can provide. In the ways that are proper for our individual lives, may our deeds and words speak “of the mighty acts of God,” [the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.]
