Today on this great feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the Holy Spirit – the greatest gift from the Risen Christ. We celebrate the outpouring of the Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles gathered in prayer in the upper room two-thousand years ago (Acts 2:1-11). We celebrate God’s Spirit living among us and within us today.
Over the past few weeks in our daily Mass we have been hearing segments of Jesus’ “farewell discourse” from John’s gospel (John chapters 14-17). It is remarkable reading – Jesus at his most intimate. You really get a sense for how deep and passionate Jesus’ love is not only for his closest companions but also for all those who would come after those first disciples, including all of us. In this discourse we hear Jesus assure us that God loves us dearly, that God is attentive to our needs, that God will guide and protect us, and that – when our time comes – God will have a place in heaven prepared for us.
Maybe the most significant point Jesus makes in this farewell discourse is his promise that God’s Spirit would be sent into the world (John 14:16). Think about what Jesus says as he’s trying to calm and soothe his friends – “it is better for you that I go, for if I do not go the Spirit will not come to you, but if I go I will send the Spirit to you” (John 16:7).
Think about that – there was Jesus, our God and Savior, living in our midst, walking this earth, journeying with us, teaching us, healing us. What could possibly be better than this? What could possibly be better than the gift of Emmanuel, “God with us”? What could possibly be better than God living among us? Jesus gives the answer: only one thing – God living within us.
And this is what we celebrate today, and every day – that God loves us so much that he sends his own Spirit to live within us, to guide and inspire us, to nourish and sustain us, to purify and renew us, to transform us and bring us to perfection. Maybe most importantly, Jesus tells us that the Spirit living within us will help us come to know and love God more and more, and help us become intimately united to God and each other. Pope Francis articulates it well – “it is the Spirit – the inexhaustible source of God’s life in us – who opens our hearts and minds to friendship and communion with God. It is the Spirit who makes us participants in the very life of God who is love, so that we might love”.
Just think about it – God’s Spirit living within us, working within us, right now, allowing us to share in God’s divinity, to love and serve God, to be one with God, to love and serve each other, to be one with each other. Truly amazing!
Today, on this great feast of Pentecost, we celebrate God’s Spirit coming into the world, coming to each one of us. With grateful hearts we celebrate this most generous gift from our gracious and loving God.