Last week I concluded my article with the invitation/challenge to connect the Feast of the Ascension with the Pentecost event that we mark this week. The Ascension drama occurred forty days after Jesus rose from the dead. Consistently the number forty is used to mark a long period. The chosen people journeyed through the desert from slavery to freedom for forty years. Jesus was in the desert for forty days during which he was tempted by the devil. There are several other references to this number indicating a significant length of time. Therefore, the forty-day period between the Resurrection and the Ascension was indeed a long time. This allowed people to really believe that he had risen. A much shorter period of time might have allowed some doubters to say he really did not rise from the dead.
Penta is a part of the word Pentecost indicating the number fifty. Significant things occurred between forty- and fifty-days post-resurrection. First of all, the community gathered to add a twelfth member so that a team that was whole could carry out the Great Commission of Jesus. The departure of Judas diminished the perfect number needed to start something significant – twelve. They surfaced two disciples who had been with them from the start. They prayed over them and cast lots. The lot fell to Matthias and he became the twelfth/thirteenth Apostle.
Now the team/community was back to full strength. They can begin to tackle the assignment of the Great Commission that Jesus gave them.
As a matter of review, he said:
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded and behold, I am with you always until the end of the age.”
On the day of Pentecost, ALL twelve of the disciples were gathered together. Suddenly a strong driving wind erupted. You know how right before a big storm in the summer the wind picks up? This acts as an alert that something big is coming. The Holy Spirit is associated with breath and wind consistently. This driving wind lets the apostles know that the Holy Spirit is coming. Then tongues of fire appear above their heads and the chosen twelve, suddenly are able to speak different languages. Notice how these events happen suddenly. Doesn’t the Holy Spirit act suddenly in our lives as well?
This last manifestation of the Holy Spirit enables these Apostles to tell the Jesus story to literally the whole world at the time. The disciples were ALL together and they could now speak languages of ALL nations thus receiving the support and giftedness that the Holy Spirit brings.
However, I like to emphasize a distinction that was important in the mission of those twelve and equally important in ours. Notice that the Holy Spirit gives them not simply what they need to accomplish good things, but the Holy Spirit gives them what they need to accomplish what Jesus asked them to do. There is a difference between those two.
I encourage you to engage in a partnership with the Holy Spirit that enables you to do what God is asking you to do, not only what you want to do. Seek the support and wisdom of a wider community, one that may not include the number twelve, but one that will help you to address what God is empowering you to do. Pay attention to the strong driving winds of life that tell you something of importance is coming. Be open to identifying tools, talents and gifts, such as language, to accomplish the wider and larger commission of Christ in your life.
The Gospel of John goes on to tell us that Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Be open to receive the breath of Jesus that brings life, and as Corinthians tells us, “No one can say Jesus Christ is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.”
June is designated worldwide as Refugee month. There are more than 25 million displaced persons seeking to sustain their lives and the lives of their families across the globe. Father Corey Brost will preside next weekend at the 9 am and 11 am Masses. He will share his work with Viator House of Hospitality and Holy Family’s work with Exodus World Service. A brief question and answer session will be held in the chapel immediately following each Mass.