May 19, 2024: Pentecost Sunday

Gospel: John 20: 19-23

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, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Reflection

The resurrected Jesus appears to the disciples who are in hiding. He offers them peace. And as God breathed life into Adam in the Genesis story, Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them to give them new life as he sends them on a mission.

“As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” To forgive sins and to bring the world to know Jesus. They will face many trials and much suffering but the Holy Spirit will give them the courage to persevere, bringing this new church to a world that know knows nothing of it yet.

This is our mission as well. To forgive, to live with love not grudges, hard feelings or in fear. Letting go of earthly things, desires and attitudes that keep us from living in Christ and seeing Christ in everyone we encounter.

Our mission is to love as Jesus taught us, aided by the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of God.

Action

Among the things we can do to cooperate with the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as wisdom, understanding and knowledge are to read and study scripture to increase our knowledge and understanding of the teachings of Jesus.

To increase our piety we should pray regularly. Prayer isn’t limited to the formal words written over time in numerous prayers. It is also finding quiet time to listen to God, to talk with God and to reflect on what we read in Scripture.