The Sánchez Archives PENTECOST SUNDAY Year B

By
Patricia Datchuck Sánchez

Discovering Fire

ACTS 2:1-11
1 CORINTHIANS 12:3-7, 12-13
JOHN 20:19-23

The day will come,” said Teilhard de Chardin, “when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.” In a sense the annual feast of Pentecost is another opportunity, placed in the path of the believer, for discovering and participating in the ever-present fire which is God’s love. Pentecost rounds out and climaxes the Easter event. All that we have remembered and celebrated, viz., Jesus’ saving death, his resurrection and ascension to glory, all of these sacred events took place so that the Holy Spirit might be unleashed upon the world.

As Karl Rahner (The Great Church Year, the Crossroad Pub. Co., New York: 1994) once explained, Pentecost calls us to the realization that the center of all reality, the innermost heart of all infinity, the love of the all-holy God has become our center, our heart. God is ours, God has been given to us as gift, without reserve. God has made our own the joy, freedom, knowledge and peace of the divine life.

The name of this gift is Holy Spirit; the experience of this gift is fire, fire in our hearts, fire in our belly. The experience of this gift is also wind and breath so powerful as to infuse its recipients with new life. We know this gift is ours, but we have yet to fully discover it, harness it and become active participants in the process of human redemption.

An annual or occasional plea, “Come, Holy Spirit!” is not sufficient; tending the fire and grasping the wind of the Spirit requires daily effort, struggle and commitment. Hans Küng (Why I Am Still A Christian, Abingdon Press, Nashville TN: 1987) suggests that before the power of the Holy Spirit can truly take hold, all contrary spirits must be exorcized. “Go out you unholy spirit! Go out, you who divide, separate, delay and protract! Go out of our churches and centers, faculties and institutions, authorities and commissions! God out of our hearts and make room for the Holy Spirit who is both tender and strong, who reconciles and unites.” . . . Come Spirit of God who is effective and seizes hold of us, but cannot be seized. . . who gives but cannot be owned. . . who creates life and also directs it.

In today’s first reading, Luke attempts to describe the indescribable power of the Spirit, in terms of noise, like a driving wind and tongues, as of fire. John, in the gospel, speaks in terms of peace, breath and forgiveness. Paul, in the second reading, assures his readers of the unifying vitality of the Spirit, bestowing and coordinating a variety of different gifts for the sake of the common good. Each of these ancient authors, Luke, Paul and John, invite the gathered assembly to renew its desire to be seized, filled and enflamed by the Spirit.

But there is also another voice from the past who aids the community in its liturgy today, that of Innocent III (1198-1216 C.E.) to whom the sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus, has been attributed. In an effort to accommodate this ancient prayer to the contemporary human experience, Hans Küng (op. cit.) offers the following rendition:

Veni Sancte Spiritus - The Holy Spirit cannot be compelled to come, we can only entreat. We can only ask;

Sana quod est sordidum - Heal what is wounded! Help those who have been hurt by an unjust church law and those who have not been treated fairly in the church, especially women;

Riga quod es aridum - Water what is barren! Enliven those who have become resigned in the church and those who have been marginalized and especially let young people live in renewed hope;

Flecte quod est rigidum - Bend what has become rigid! Humiliate the obstinacy of theologians and hierarchies and shake all false security so that everything will not always remain as it was;

Fove quod est frigidum - Warm what has become cold! Drive out all our fears and anxieties, our prejudices and restrictions, and open our hearts with your love that knows no bounds;

Rege quod est devium - Direct what is going astray! Enable us to call what is error and injustice by its name and to work in the Church and in society for truth, justice and peace.

ACTS 2:1-11

In one of the earliest artistic renderings of Pentecost (6th century C.E., Gospel Book of Rabbula), the Holy Spirit is represented by tongues of fire descending upon the heads of the apostles and Mary. Other artists through the centuries have similarly depicted this event in a variety of media. When Hollywood involves itself in the business of religious films, it can recreate the experience of Pentecost with even greater vividness by adding sound to reproduce the noise that filled the place and movement to illustrate the rush of the driving wind. But more important than any natural or symbolic phenomena that accompanied it, Pentecost’s true significance is to be found in the transformation that took place within the disciples. As Beverly Robert Gaventa (Proclamation, Easter, Fortress Press, Minneapolis MN: 1996), explains, Luke allows his readers to sense the enormous upheaval that took place in a single moment. In one sweeping movement, the gathered believers are blasted from within the upper room (see Acts 1:13) and thrust out into public view. They are wrested from what might have been quiet conversation and prayer (1:14) and thrust into a maelstrom of sounds and sights.

Of significance also is the fact that once the disciples were transformed and empowered by the Spirit, they in turn began to transform the world. Into what it had been a cacophony of disparate voices and languages, they brought understanding and insight. The thousands of pilgrims who had made their way to Jerusalem for the feast of Shevuoth (also called Feast of Weeks and/or Firstfruits) each heard and understood the Spirit’s bold proclamation in their own language. Just as Jesus’ saving ministry and death had been accomplished for the redemption of all peoples, so also would the abiding gift of the Spirit and the apostolic ministry of the church be universally extended. This fact is further stipulated by the listing of peoples and nations in verses 9-13.

If North America had been the venue for the emergence of the nascent church, Luke might have written, “How is it that each of us hears the message in his/her native tongue? We are Canadians, Americans, Mexicans and Native Americans; we come from east, west, north and south; we speak Italian, Irish, Spanish, Inuit, French, Chinese, Japanese, German, etc. etc.; yet each of us hears and understands!

Jerome H. Neyrey (The Social World of Luke-Acts, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA: 1991) understands this emphasis on the universal quality of the church’s ministry as an indication that through Jesus (and the disciples) new maps of God’s chosen people were being drawn. “Unlike the Jewish map of persons, this new Christian map was consciously inclusive in scope.” As Acts proceeds, it will become clear that the new demographics of salvation will exclude no one. Gentiles as well as Jews, slaves and freed person, rich and poor, healthy and handicapped, women, men and children, friends and enemies, sinners and saints, each is called by God to discover the fire of the Holy Spirit and to be transformed by that experience. For its part, the believing community is to be a help and not a hindrance in the process.

Karl Rahner (The Content of Faith, Crossroad Pub. Co., New York: 1992) once noted, “Only he who is a member of the church and independent, humble and daring, obedient and conscious of his own personal responsibility, a pray-er and a doer, adhering to the church in her past and in her future -- only such a one as this makes room for the Spirit of God at Pentecost.” Today, as every day, the Spirit is present; today each of us is challenged to ask: Have I made room for the Spirit? Am I willing to discover fire?

1 CORINTHIANS 12:3-7, 12-13

No one could accuse the first Corinthian Christians of tepidness or mediocrity. They did nothing by half measures either before Paul introduced them to Christ or after they had become believers. Their former way of life was so markedly base and licentious that Corinth had earned for itself a notoriety that spread far beyond the borders of the Roman province of Achaia. It was Paul’s hope that, after they had turned away from their former way of life to embrace the gospel, the Corinthians’ reputation for goodness and holiness would also spread throughout the region. Nevertheless, Paul was well aware of the Corinthian penchant for exaggeration and excess; to that end, he maintained a steady correspondence with the church. In today’s second reading, the apostle offers the early Greek Christians (and us) some basic principles as regards the gifts of the Spirit.

From what can be deduced from Paul’s letter, the Corinthians were so enthusiastic about the gifts of the Spirit that the harmony of the community was being disrupted. As Kevin Quast Reading the Corinthian Correspondence, Paulist Press, New York: 1994) explains, people prayed aloud and prophesied freely. “The Eucharist became a gala gathering -- for those who could afford it. . . Unrestrained ecstatic spiritual manifestations emerged.” Many would speak in foreign tongues or chant unintelligibly. Often, more than one person would speak at a time, with no one to offer any interpretation of what was being said. Unity, discernment, order and authenticity were being threatened by an excess of individualism, confusion, chaos and meaninglessness.

Given the situation, Paul thought it necessary to set down some ground rules for expressing and experiencing the power of the Spirit. First, Paul affirmed the fact that only through the abiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit can believers profess and live the faith (Jesus is Lord!) authentically (v. 3). Second, Paul admitted that there are a variety of different gifts but only one Spirit who endows believers with the gifts (v. 4). Third, each of the Spirit’s gifts prompts the believer to exercise a ministry that most appropriately manifests his/her charisms (vv. 5-6). Fourth, each and every person has been uniquely gifted by the Spirit (v. 7). Fifth, every gift of the Spirit has been given, not for self-aggrandizement but for the common good (v. 7).

In the second half of this excerpted pericope, Paul introduces his one body-many parts analogy as another way of understanding the mutual sharing and complimentarity which should characterize the Christian community. Not the first to employ this analogy, Paul was probably influenced by the philosophical writings of this period. However, Paul was unique in his understanding of the body of the church as a living organism constituted by love. As Jerome Murphy-O’Connor (1 Corinthians, Michael Glazier Inc., Wilmington: 1982) notes, “One cannot be as God intended and be alone. To be authentic, one must be a vital part in a web of power constituted by the reciprocity of love. The interchange of love is the new being of the believer. Only as part of the greater whole is he ‘alive’.”

On this feast of Pentecost, the assembled members of Christ’s body are renewed in the fire and love of the Spirit. Today also stands as a sober reminder that there are many who have not yet discovered this love and been kindled by this fire.

JOHN 20:19-23

In one of his many insightful reflections about living a committed Christian life in the midst of an unreceptive culture, Dom Helder Camara (archbishop of Olinda-Recife, Brazil) once prayed, “Lord, what is the point of your presence in our lives if our lives do not change? Change our lives, shatter our complacency. Make your word our life’s purpose. Take away the unearned quietness of a clear conscience. Press us uncomfortably. For only thus is our peace - your peace - made. Amen” (from Bread of Tomorrow).

Today, on Pentecost, the church once again (see Easter 2) puts before the gathered assembly the Johannine version of the disciples’ first experience of the risen Christ and the powerful presence of the Spirit. Today, once again, the church, through the living word of scripture, asks believers, how has your life changed? What is the point of the resurrection? Has the fire of the Spirit made any impact in my life? Has my life, in turn, made any impact or brought any change to the world in which I live? Has my fear and complacency be transformed into power and passion? Has peace - God’s peace - taken root? Is forgiveness of sin a reality in which I believe and toward which I exercise a responsible ministry?

The Johannine evangelist tells his readers that before their experience of Jesus and the Spirit, the disciples had hidden themselves away in a locked room “for fear of the Jews” (v. 19). Jesus’ sudden presence among them, without benefit of key or opened doors, underscored the transformed quality of his resurrected body. The reference to his hands and side (v. 20, wounds from spear and nails) emphasized the continuity between the crucified Jesus and the risen Christ.

Jesus’ double wish, “Peace be with you” (vv. 19, 21), was not simply the traditional Jewish greeting, “Shalom”; indeed, Jesus emphatic repetition of the phrase transformed the common greeting to a victory cry. Sin and death had been defeated. The peace that Jesus had promised (John 14:27; 16:33) was now a reality to be experienced. But peace does not mean passivity; Jesus’ peace and his gift of the Spirit enflames his disciples with a passion for the work he had begun. He had died to effect the forgiveness of sins; the disciples, in turn, are sent forth as missionaries of that peace and forgiveness. As Kevin Quast (Reading the Gospel of John, Paulist Press, New York: 1991) has explained, “the disciples are new partners with the Son and the Spirit in their ministry of forgiveness. They are, in effect, pronouncing forgiveness of sins to those who believe, and retention of sins (hold them bound) for those who reject the gospel.”

Others have proposed that the reference to forgiveness (or loosing) and/or holding sins bound (v. 23) should be understood as the church’s prerogative to confer or withhold baptism depending upon the candidate’s acceptance or rejection of the kerygma. In later centuries of the church, the Council of Trent cited this reference as a source text for understanding the sacrament of penance or reconciliation.

At its very heart, however, this familiar gospel reminds each of us that the victory of Jesus over sin and death, and the peace that continues to be breathed among us, as well as the power of the abiding Spirit are all aspects of the fire that we are daily challenged to discover and experience in ourselves and in one another.

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