Today is Pentecost Sunday! The original event occurred on the fiftieth day after Jesus rose from the dead and ten days after He ascended into heaven. And because He ascended, He was able to offer His eternal sacrifice once and for all in God’s heavenly Holy of Holies. As a result the Holy Spirit, who descended upon Jesus at His baptism, descended upon those who were gathered together in Jesus’ name in the upper room in Jerusalem. Infused with the Holy Spirit, this group of Apostles and disciples became the Church, the Body of Christ, and emerged fearlessly into the world to bring all people to Jesus.
We celebrate this event because the organization and expansion of the Church is the final act of God in salvation history until Jesus’ second coming. Jesus had done all the work necessary to bring us back into God’s family by His sinless life, His willing death, and His just resurrection. As a result, He mercifully offers to us (those who accept Him) the ability to enter into His life through the gift of His family and His Body (The Church).
Now, because of the Apostles and their successors, that life is extended to all of us, and we have the choice to accept or reject this gift. But it is not like the choice that we all have in high school when we are choosing a profession. It is not the choice between selecting a form of entertainment or hobby. Rather, it is the choice between accepting or rejecting who we are meant to be. It is the choice between misery or happiness. It is the choice between death or life.
The mental assent to the life of Jesus is simple. Whenever we are given the choice, we will always choose life over death. But the path and execution is difficult. In this sinful world, the only two persons who always chose love encountered a cross. One was hung on it, and one was at the foot of it. If we are to become who we were meant to be, we will end up there as well, and that is a difficult road.
This is why Jesus gives us free access to the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit who led Him to the cross, and it was the Spirit that filled Mary and helped her be present and accept and support her Son’s mission. Without the divine Holy Spirit, we are powerless to overcome our sinful desires. So it is essential that we receive God’s Spirit to enter into His life. But in receiving His life, we receive everything that comes along with it in this sinful world. God’s Spirit is love and the Spirit of the world is domination and use. The world naturally moves to eradicate true love from its midst. And that is what we will encounter if we accept the Holy Spirit.
But the Good News is that Jesus has conquered the world. Love and mercy win out because of the divine justice that is given to Jesus. When we love, we are not only satisfied and at peace despite what the world does to us, but we are also raised to new heights because God defends and rewards His own who persevere to the end. So as we celebrate this joyful occasion in the Church’s history, let us accept a life in the Spirit and all that comes with it because that is the life that God has offered to us and how we will be who we are meant to be.