Commentary
Sunday, 6/9/2019, Pentecost Sunday
The Third Glorious Mystery of the Rosary
The Holy Spirit Is Among Us
Commentary for Acts 2:1-11
The Apostles together with Mary and other disciples were all together when suddenly there was a noise like a strong driving wind and there appeared upon them tongues of fire which rested on each one of them and they began to speak in different tongues. There were devout Jews from every nation in Jerusalem and a large crowd of them gathered and they were confused because they heard the Apostles speaking in their languages of the mighty acts of God and they wondered how this could be.
This was able to happen because all things are possible with God and He had filled the Apostles and those who were with them with His Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues is one of the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit and there is more than one way to speak in tongues. What happened at Pentecost is the same thing that Pope Saint John Paul II was known for being able to do. That is, speaking a language which he did not know to people who understood that language.
What happened on Pentecost was the fulfillment of the promise made by Jesus of sending the Advocate. Jesus promised the Apostles that the Advocate would strengthen, teach and guide them. That is what the Holy Spirit does to all of us with His Seven Gifts which are; Wisdom, Understanding, Council, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. We are also strengthened by the fruits of the Spirit's gifts which are; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
With these gifts, the Apostles no longer needed to stay together for fear of persecution by those who did not want the Word of God to be spread. The Apostles and the disciples who were with them had everything they needed to go out and grow the Church by proclaiming the Word and performing great works (miracles).
We receive the Holy Spirit at Baptism. The Spirit is strengthened within us at Confirmation. We need to do two things in order for the gifts to work within us. First, we must believe. We cannot hear God or know God or love Him or obey His commandments if we do not first believe in God.
Second, we must listen to God who speaks to us through the Spirit. In order to do this, it is sometimes necessary for us to be still and quiet. We need to take time to pray in silence and meditate and shut out the rest of the world. Sometimes, we can hear God through a little voice in the back of our minds. Sometimes, He will talk to us by allowing certain thoughts to come across our minds. But we won’t hear any of it if we do not listen and sometimes, we need to just be still.
Sometimes, God will communicate with us by way of things that happen in our lives and sometimes, He will talk to us through other people. Therefore, we need to be open-minded and listen to what other people have to say. It is not uncommon for God to use such occasions to talk to us. But again, we won’t hear any of it if we do not listen. The person talking to you may not have a clue that God is using them but you will know if you are listening because what they say will strike your faith with enlightenment and it may be the answer to a prayer.
There are many things which have been said and could be said about Pentecost. For me, I think that the most important thing to remember is that all things are possible with God and in the person of the Holy Spirit; God is with all of us always. We simply have to believe that and keep our eyes and ears open to the Spirit's good counsel.
Do Not Live According to the Flesh
Commentary for Romans 8:8-17
There are two choices in today’s liturgy for the second reading. They are 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Romans 8: 8-17. This commentary is on the reading from Romans.
St. Paul wrote, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God…Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him…we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die…”
St. Paul is telling us not to live for the world and its pleasures. That does not mean that we should not enjoy the pleasures of the world. If God meant for that to be the case, He would not have made them available to us. To the contrary, God wants us to enjoy life. But God does not want us to put the pleasures of the world ahead of Him. Money, material possessions and sexual gratification can and will lead us into serious sin if we do not keep God first in our lives. That is the first part of St. Paul’s message to us today.
Paul wrote, “…you are in the Spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you.” When we make God the most important thing in our lives, the Spirit, who dwells in us, is able to work through us. Paul continued, “…if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness…the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also…For if you live…by the Spirit you will put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Our mortal bodies will die because of sin. But that does not mean that our spirit has to die to sin and if we make God first in our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to live in us, then we will be given a new life in heaven which is eternal. This is the second part of St. Paul’s message today.
St. Paul put his message together when he wrote, “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God…you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
Jesus gave us a new beginning and in His Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:1-12, He promised the Kingdom of Heaven. Being raised on the last day and glorified with Christ in heaven is our inheritance but in order to receive it, we must claim it. We do that by living our lives according to God's commandments, which will cause us to suffer from time to time here on earth. We each have a cross to bear and Jesus told us to carry our cross. When we do that, the Spirit will lead us to the Son and the Father and we will gain our inheritance of being glorified in heaven as joint heirs with Christ.
The Holy Spirit in Three Sacraments
Commentary for John 20:19-23
The disciples were in a locked room and Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
When a man is ordained as a deacon, priest or bishop in the Catholic Church, he receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders. The anniversary of the Priesthood is Holy Thursday because it was at the Last Supper that Jesus made the disciples the first priests and gave them the power to consecrate bread and wine into His Body and Blood.
In today’s gospel, the first thing that Jesus did was to offer His peace. Next, Jesus re-enforced the priesthood on the disciples and made them the first bishops of the Church with the words, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” From that moment on, they were Apostles.
When referring to the Twelve, we often times use the words disciples and apostles as though they are the same thing. Indeed, both words do refer to the same twelve men but it is in this Gospel that the Twelve disciples became the Twelve Apostles.
Then Jesus strengthened the Spirit within them as He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” It is a strengthening of the Holy Spirit within us which occurs when we receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.
With the words, “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained,” Jesus gave His new Apostles the authority to absolve sins. This is the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. With just a few short words from the Risen Christ, we see the institution of three sacraments.
Although this Gospel exposes three of the seven sacraments, we must remember that the grace of any sacrament comes to us by way of the Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who comes to a newly ordained priest and guides that priest through his ministry. The Holy Spirit comes to us at Baptism and is strengthened within us when we accept His gifts and fruits at Confirmation. God forgives us of our sins by way of the Holy Spirit’s grace as the Son speaking through the priest grants absolution at Confession.
We do not always think of God being with us at all times and in everything that we do. But Pentecost Sunday gives us an opportunity to reflect on the fact that He is. When we allow ourselves to be led into sin, we ignore God's presence and if we do enough of that without repenting, He will ignore our request to enter His Kingdom.
In the end, heaven or hell is a choice that we all make. This is because, what lives in our hearts and the way that we live our lives, are what we will be judged on, and, again, that is a direct result of the choices that we make. But no matter how we choose, the Holy Spirit is with us, living in our conscience, and if the Holy Spirit is with us—God is with us.
