Pentecost Sunday homily 09-06-2019: Readings: 1st Reading: Acts:2-1-11; 2ndReading: 1Cor.12:3-7,12-13; Gospel: Lk: 1:26-37
An alterpiece at Siena (1308-1311) by Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319)
Today our Kalena Agrahara Church celebrates with great solemnity two feasts: One is universal feast and the other local feast. First one is Pentecost, the coming down of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles and the second one is the feast of our parish, the parish, which is dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Both feasts help us to manifest our faith and it's practice. Thanks to the Spirit of the Lord, who strengthens our faith and gets actualized concretely in our parish when participate in the liturgies of the universal Church. But, first I would like to share a few reflections on the significance of the feast that the universal church celebrates today, i.e., the Pentecost.
I
The name “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word meaning “fiftieth”. It is the fiftieth since the day of Easter, the Resurrection of the Lord. The very first reading that we have from the Acts of Apostles gives a vivid picture of how the forlorn, fearful disciples who were holed up in a room for safety felt strengthened, energised, empowered, when the Holy Spirit came down upon them as tongues of fire. The Spirit of the Lord makes them to bust out of their caged room and are out among the people preaching what they have seen, heard, and touched (Acts 4:13). Instead of fear, anxiety, depression, the disciples of Jesus in his absence feel a great power entering into their bodies, minds and spirits.
In a world of powers of politics, economics, computers, man made inventions, artificial intelligence, the power of the Holy Spirit is incomparable. The damning energy of the Lord shattered Apostles history of ignorance and fear and the scripture tells us so beautifully “devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5) heard a loud noise and were able to understand what these illiterate fishermen of Galilee were speaking.
The power of the Spirit is very active and alive. How could a teen-age Jewish virgin clothe God’s Son in her flesh? Listen to an angel: “the Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Lk 1:35).
What did the Risen Jesus promise his apostles just prior to his ascension, to make their preaching effective? “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).
St Paul would preach to the Gentiles “by the power of the Spirit” (Rom 15:19). What was Paul’s prayer fro the Christians of Rome? “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rome 15:13).
The Byzantine theology speaks about God in his essence and energy. We as His created beings only able to participate in God’s energies. The Greek word for power and energy is “dunamies”, English equivalent is “dynamite.” Holy Spirit is dynamite. It is the dynamo that led Jesus from the River Jordon to the dust and din of the Holy Land.
As Jesus himself describes in Luke 4: 18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He has anointed me
to preach the good news to the poor.
He has sent me
To proclaim release to the captives
And recovering of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed.”
This is the dynamo Jesus promised the apostles the night before he died: “another Counselor, to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth… He will teach you all things, bring to your remembrance all I have said to you… guide you into all the truth” (Jn 14: 16-17; 16:13). This is the same Spirit that Jesus breathed onto his disciples.
In fact, the Acts of the Apostles is from beginning to end a story of the Spirit: the irresistible, irrepressible power of God’s presence in the apostles and their disciples, in converts Jewish and pagan, in martyrs like Stephen and persecutors like Paul.
Holy Spirit continues to act in you and in me. The power of the Lord is upon us. Our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, frees us from sin and death, makes us sons and daughters of God, helps us in our weakness, intercedes for us with the Father. It gives peace and joy that the world cannot give.
It is the Spirit of the Lord inspires to do good, make this world beautiful place for us and future generations to live. This is the spirit that inspires so many young men and women to work for justice and peace, in his evangelizing mission, sending his sons and daughters to distant and unknown missions as missionaries to preach his word of God.
This is the spirit of the Lord makes these missionaries to live their lives learning unknown languages and communicate that message that makes them to give their life to God as martyrs.
II
The second feast that we celebrate today is the feast of our dear parish, where every Sunday we attend the Lord’s Supper and get energised, Feast of Our Lady of Immaculate Heart of Conception.
The Gospel reading that we have is of the birth of Jesus and how Our Lady said “yes” to the Lord’s Spirit. Because she said yes, to the Lord, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word”, because of her complete yes, she has become the Mother of us, mother of the Church.
To understand better the Motherhood of Mary we should go back to the Old Testament. It is through typology we can understand and grasp Mary as Our Mother.
What is this typology? It is the way of understanding Mary from the Old Testament. How Mary of the New Testament is prefigured in the Old Testament. This is how Early Fathers of the Church taught people the essentials of faith – St. Cyril of Alexandria, St John Chrysostom, St Augustine, St Gregory of Nyssa, etc.
In Genesis 3:15 - God tells the Serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
It is the woman and seed will crush the head of the serpent, the evil.
It is the Our Lady of the New Testament who is a queen mother prototype of Eve.
Gen 17:16 - God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”
Isaiah 7:14: Prophet gives the king Ahaz a sign of Immanuel when he asked for it. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel”. This is accomplished in Mary. Let’s see the text again. Matthew 1:22–23 “All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel”.
Prophet Micha in Chapter 5 speaks of Jesus’ birth in the house of David. Jesus will be born in the house of David. Joseph came from the Davidic ancestry. Therefore Jesus was born in Bethlehem, where David the great king of Israel was born.
In Mary, Isaianic oracle is fulfilled. Queen mother was more than a protocol. In Jewish kingdoms it is not the wife of a king who took the place of honour. But the Queen Mother! Role and office of queen mother was much more honourable then anyone in the kingdom.
Revelation 11:15 - Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices crying out in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 12:1 says, “A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”
Who is this woman with clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, head with a crown of twelve stars?
She is the queen of the earth, she is the queen of heaven. She is the queen mother of all. Her royal authority is of cosmic queenship. It is none other than the Mother of Our Lord, Our Lady, and our mother.
Revelation 12:2 writes, “She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth”. She continues in birthing us, labouring for us so that we may attain eternal happiness that is deigned for us.
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel”. Early church recognized Our Lady as “queen mother”
Therefore, my dear friends, this is our legacy, this is our faith, this is our lady, this is our mother, this is our queen, this is our integral, indispensable part of the kingdom of Jesus. It's the Gospel of the covenant.
Therefore you cannot have Jesus as king if you do not have Mary as queen mother.
Questions for reflections:
1. Where do I demonstrate my Spirit-filled actions?
2. Where do I give witness to Jesus Christ in my life?
3. How has been my relationship with the Mother of the Lord?
- Olvin Veigas, SJ
Pentecost Sunday 2019
2 comments:
Hi Olvin,
Really enjoyed reading about the power of the Holy Spirit and the importance of Mother Mary.
How do we build up our relationship with the Mother of our Lord?
How blessed and happy I am to arrive at your article just a before the same feast. I'm much thrilled with gratitude to God for creating such a coincidence that I feel very meaningful to enter into the celebration this year. Your reflections o theme was beautifully penned. It's an inspiration to all of us to keep meditating and it's taking us to new heights of holistic living. Go ahead with the same spirit and give the best of your writing. YOU CAN DO IT.TAKE COURAGE.
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