Sunday 24th May, Day of Pentecost (Whit Sunday)

This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, which some have called the “birthday of the Church”. Our two readings, from Acts and John, give different accounts but make similar points. In both, the Holy Spirit is crucial to the Church’s commission to continue the ministry of Jesus. “As the Father sent me”, Jesus says in John, “so I send you” (Jn 20:21). In Acts, the scope of this mission is represented by the languages that the crowd hear the disciples speaking – languages from throughout the Roman Empire and beyond. The Gospel is for everyone, everywhere.

We might think that this was enough, but John adds more. In telling us that Jesus “breathes” the Spirit into the disciples (Jn 20:22), John echoes the creation of Adam in Genesis and Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones brought back to life. The Spirit does not just empower us, it enlivens us. In receiving the Holy Spirit we are made anew, and the life of God himself flows through us and from us out into the world.

What is the sign of this new life? For John, put simply, it is love. “Those who live in love live in God,” he says, “and God lives in them” (1 Jn 4:16). Jesus’ command to “love one another as I have loved you” (Jn 13:34-35) is an impossible challenge for us as human beings, but as part of the new creation, a community in which the Holy Spirit abides, it becomes core to our identity and our calling. Ultimately, we all want most of all to be loved.

Every blessing
Roger