Pentecost Sunday Year A

Today we commemorate Pentecost Sunday, or the coming down of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, to strengthen them to proclaim the Good News that comes from Jesus. Our liturgical readings are very clear about the image of the Holy Spirit. In the First Reading, the Holy Spirit "makes noise." We can say that sometimes the Holy Spirit can be disturbing. Isn't it? But what the Holy Spirit does to the disciples is to compel them to proclaim the Good News. And what is interesting in the narration of the First Reading is that the Holy Spirit gifted the disciples a tongue to speak in different languages. Which is very true in our Christian faith. We cannot talk about Jesus without the Holy Spirit moving us to faith. This is what St Paul is talking about in the Second Reading. No one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. We have to remember that the Holy Spirit will never alter, modify, or add anything to what Jesus said and did. But rather the Holy Spirit will fulfill in us and through us what Jesus began in us. We may recognize many gifts from a Christian community, but this gift, according to St Paul, must be used for the edification of the building of communities. When you do not use your gift for the community, the Holy Spirit will disturb you. In the Gospel, Jesus is bestowing peace to his disciples. When we are doing something for the LORD, we will always be peaceful. I realize just now that life is uncertain. When we are uncertain about something, we are restless. During this coronavirus pandemic, all of us are afraid to die. And you know I met someone who asked me a very disturbing question: Why are you afraid to die? Are you afraid to meet the LORD? Although he asked me jokingly about this I realized maybe, I am still thinking of the many things that I need to do. One time before I slept, there was this question I asked myself that probably can change the way I look at my life everyday: Do you regret anything that happened today? If there is one thing that you will need to do tomorrow so that you will not regret your life, what would it be? And these questions become a daily prayer for me, to remind me of the important things that I will need to do to fulfill what Jesus began in me. And so today we ask the Holy Spirit to disturb us when we are not doing the right thing that we need to do so that at the end of the day we will not regret anything that Jesus entrusted to us. Amen