May 27, 2012: Pentecost Sunday

Our faith is a gift that God intends us to share with everyone who is able to receive it.

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them. (John 20:19-23)

For Christians, this is one of the most important feasts of the year.
It is not Christmas, when Jesus was born into this world, nor Good Friday, when he was cruelly crucified, nor Easter when he rose from the dead and appeared again to all those who loved him.
No, this is the day that Jesus came and gave to all of us the most precious thing he had to give: the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift that would make it possible for all of us to share the love of God with everyone. When we absorb the gift of God and know that God is within us, we cannot help but want to share that.

Action:

As you know, our faith is not just a personal gift to each one of us. It is a gift that God intends us to share with everyone who is able to receive it. How do we share it? It is not simply talking about what we believe–it is by showing through our actions that we love everyone, as Jesus has asked us to.
Try to think today of at least one action you can do to show someone–in your family or among your friends or maybe among those you do not know very well–that you like them and want good things to happen to them.