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Lectionary Readings for Solemnity of Pentecost

“Receive the Holy Spirit…”

The readings for Pentecost Sunday is the same for all the
three liturgical cycles of the Church.  It is taken from
the Acts of the Apostles, the first letter of Paul to the
Corinthians, and the gospel of John.  It is in the Acts of
the Apostles where we have the account and description of
the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the apostles.
The coming of the Holy Spirit is depicted as a “strong,
driving wind which was heard all through the house”.  And
His presence in each and all of the apostles was that of
“tongues of fire which parted and came to rest on each of
them”.  The effect of the Holy Spirit upon them gave them
gifts of speech - so amazing, that people who assembled
outside their house, heard them speaking in each of their
own native tongues, and wondered how that could be since
they were only fishermen, unlettered, and only Galileans.
But each of the apostles spoke greatly about the marvels
that God has accomplished in Jesus of Nazareth.

In the gospel, the passage is taken from the gospel of
John and depicts a resurrection account.  In this account,
Jesus appears again before the apostles and greets them
with “Peace”.  He then commissions them as the Father has
commissioned Him to preach the kingdom of God.  Being filled
so much with the Holy Spirit as He had been resurrected from
death by the power of the Spirit, He breathed this same
Spirit on the apostles - giving them power to forgive sins.
It will be only when the Holy Spirit Himself descends upon
them that they will have the power to go forth and preach
what Jesus had taught them “in Jerusalem, in Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”.

The event depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the
apostles is called Pentecost.  Just as the Holy Spirit had
the power to conceive Jesus in the womb of Mary, so did
He conceive and bring forth into the world the Church.
Pentecost is thus the birth of the Church.  The life of
the Church flows from the life of Jesus, who sends the
Holy Spirit to the Church for the gift, task and
responsibility of bringing the good news to all people.
The gift of the Holy Spirit which the apostles received
at Pentecost is handed down to us at our baptism and
confirmation.  After being purified of our sinfulness, we
are then commissioned to be a Christian presence in the
world - sanctifying the secular spheres in which we act
and move.  We continue to receive the strength and power
we need to do our Christian duties and obligations through
frequenting the sacraments of Penance and Eucharist.  By
our membership and active participation in the life of
the Church, we continue the work of Christ in the world:
to shepherd people to God, teach them about the Gospel,
and help in their spiritual and moral healing.

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Lectionary Readings for Solemnity of Ascension, Year C

“See, I send down upon you the promise of my Father.”

In our day and age, it is sometimes difficult for us to believe
in the supernatural.  But Catholic history and stories from the
lives of saints attest to the fact that indeed, there are gifts
given by God for those who are called to witness to His great
power.  There is the story for example of St. Teresa of Avila
and St. John of the Cross, who were known to have levitated
at a certain height from the floor, while they were speaking
of spiritually ecstatic mysteries.  And there is also the
story of St. Joseph of Cupertino, a Franciscan friar, who
has been made patron saint of aviators, because at the mere
hearing of Christian mysteries or revelation, he would fly
high up in the air.  A movie depicting this little friar’s
special gift shows him being held down by his companion
monks so that he would not fly too high into the air.

The ascension of the Lord only confirms how great the power
of the Lord is over natural phenomenon.  His ascension into
heaven is necessary so that the Holy Spirit may be sent by
the Father in His name.  And the Lord Jesus wanted to share
the power of God to His apostles and disciples so that they
may understand all His teaching, and be encouraged to boldly
speak the same words that He spoke with them and the people.
He told them, “Remain here in the city until you are clothed
with power from on high.”  The power which Jesus speaks of
is the same power He exercised during His ministry: the
power to heal, to forgive, to teach, to shepherd, to produce
miracles, and to create Christian communities that will
testify to the great saving power of God.  This power is
the Holy Spirit Himself who manifests Himself through the
spiritual gifts He gives to the apostles.

The mystery of the Lord’s Ascension is one of the glorious
mysteries in the rosary.  In this month of May, being the
month devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can perhaps
contemplate during Wednesdays and Sundays this glorious
mystery and pray for the graces inherent in the mystery
as St. Louis-Marie de Montfort does in one of his methods
of praying the rosary. Through this mystery and the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin, we can pray to Jesus
to help strengthen our faith in the power of God -
a power that can help heal, grant mercy and forgiveness,
one that can shepherd us to good and justice, and one
that will unite us as a family, or a working community,
or a parish through the Holy Spirit.

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Lectionary Readings for the 6th Sunday of Easter, Year C

“…My peace is my gift to you…”

Of the many resurrection passages that the gospel narrates
to us, Jesus always greets His followers with the word
“Peace”.  In this Sunday’s passage, we see Him speaking
again on the theme of peace and He qualifies this peace by
saying that it is a peace different from how the world
gives us peace.  From what he says in this passage, it
seems that the peace He is talking about is one that is
free from distress and fear.  Jesus knows that when He
will be struck down and sent to die on the Cross, all His
followers will feel very much distressed and fearful. And
indeed, this is what happened, for they locked themselves
in the Cenacle for fear of the Jews.  So Jesus assures them
and helps His followers feel secure by telling them: “the
Paraclete, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My
name, will instruct you in everything, and remind you of
all that I told you…I tell you this now, before it takes
place, so that when it takes place you may believe.”

Fear and distress is often felt when we don’t understand
what is going on, or we don’t have any control over a very
overwhelming and overpowering situation.  The disciples
felt fearful and distressed over the death of Jesus because
they did not as yet understand fully what it meant. Although
Jesus many times predicted to them that He was to be taken
into custody and sentenced to die, they really did not know
what all this had to do with the Kingdom of God.  They
always believed that the Messiah-in-Jesus would save them
not only from sin but also from their bondage to the Romans.
But when Jesus rose again from the dead, His presence assured
them the peace they needed to get over their fear and
distress.  He promised to them a Paraclete, who would give
them the gift of knowledge, the gift of understanding, the
gift of wisdom and many more gifts besides that will help
them understand the mysteries of the Kingdom.

In times when we are distressed and fearful, we often
seek the comfort of others.  Many of us seek the comforting
presence of God.  There is a pious legend that tells of
St. Thomas Aquinas who, because his infant sister was
accidentally killed by lightning while they were sleeping,
always runs to the Blessed Sacrament during a thunderstorm
and prays as a child even though he is a grown man. Like
St. Thomas, let us remember that we are like children
before a Father who will assure us and comfort us during
times of fear and distress.  When we seek the presence of
God, we are assured and comforted that even though the
“earth should shake or the stars will fall from the sky”
we need not fear for there is a reason that lies in all
these - a reason we trust as lying in His plan for the
good of us all.

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Lectionary Readings for the 5th Sunday of Easter, Year C

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.”

The context of this gospel passage is the Last Supper event
at the cenacle.  The chapter before speaks of Jesus visiting
his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus at Bethany and then his
entrance back to Jerusalem where He was greeted with branches
of palm trees.  This chapter sets the tone of the impending
suffering, passion and death of Jesus.  And that is what
will truly exemplify what this commandment that Jesus is
teaching us: “love one another”.

Jewish religious teaching, and also other Semitic religions
of those eras always taught the wisdom of “an eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth”.  This belief teaches people
to live by a standard of justice that is to be expected of
sinful human nature.  When Jesus teaches us the new commandment,
He is calling us to live out the “image of God” that has
been impressed upon us at birth.  His mission is to bring out
that divinity in us that has been soiled by original sin and
by much personal sin.  It is from His teaching of “love
one another” that we also derive the spiritual maxim: “to
err is human, to forgive, divine”.  And true to His teaching,
Jesus showed us the way of Christian love by forgiving those
who crucified Him at Calvary.

Our life is not perfect.  It is filled with snags, twists,
turns, messes, and many things that really make our soul
feel dirty and soiled with sin.  But God is merciful.  He
shows His love and mercy by always and constantly calling us
to seek mercy, repent and make our lives aright with Him,
with others and with ourselves.  He forgives us if we ask
His forgiveness.  And when we receive His great mercy, He in
turn only asks us that we also bring this mercy of His to
our brothers and sisters.  We too are called to forgive and
share in His divinity.  But we know this is not easy. And
what makes it difficult for us is our history and records
of wounds, pains, sufferings, and many scars incurred in our
relationships with others.  Though it may be difficult to
forgive, it is possible through God’s grace.