20180520 WITNESSING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
20 MAY, 2018, Pentecost Sunday
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First reading
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Acts 2:1-11 ©
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They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
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When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when
suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of
which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something
appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to
rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit,
and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of
speech.
Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from
every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one
bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and
astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does
it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians,
Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well
as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and
Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 103(104):1,24,29-31,34 ©
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Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the
face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
How many are your works, O Lord!
The earth is full of your riches.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the
face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
You take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the
face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
May the Lord rejoice in his works!
May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I find my joy in the Lord.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the
face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
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Galatians 5:16-25 ©
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If
you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you
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If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of
yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the
Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because
the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions.
If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you. When self-indulgence is at
work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual
irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad
temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and
similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very
different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness,
gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of
course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent
passions and desires.
Since the
Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit.
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Sequence
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Holy Spirit, Lord of Light,
From the clear celestial height
Thy pure beaming radiance give.
Come, thou Father of the poor,
Come with treasures which endure
Come, thou light of all that live!
Thou, of all consolers best,
Thou, the soul’s delightful guest,
Dost refreshing peace bestow
Thou in toil art comfort sweet
Pleasant coolness in the heat
Solace in the midst of woe.
Light immortal, light divine,
Visit thou these hearts of thine,
And our inmost being fill:
If thou take thy grace away,
Nothing pure in man will stay
All his good is turned to ill.
Heal our wounds, our strength renew
On our dryness pour thy dew
Wash the stains of guilt away:
Bend the stubborn heart and will
Melt the frozen, warm the chill
Guide the steps that go astray.
Thou, on us who evermore
Thee confess and thee adore,
With thy sevenfold gifts descend:
Give us comfort when we die
Give us life with thee on high
Give us joys that never end.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia!
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John 15:26-27,16:12-15 ©
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The
Spirit of truth will lead you to the complete truth
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Jesus said to his disciples:
‘When the Advocate comes,
whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father,
he will be my witness.
And you too will be witnesses,
because you have been with me from the outset.
‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.’
WITNESSING IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ ACTS 2:1-11; PS 104; GAL 5:16-25; JN 15:26-27, 16:12-15 ]
The feast of
the Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. For on this day, the Holy Spirit
gathered together all the believers from every race and nation and bestowed
upon them the Spirit of the Lord. In the one Spirit of Christ, we become
the Church. St Paul wrote, “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized
into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we were all made to drink
of one Spirit.” (1Cor 12:13) The Church is the assembly of
believers. We come together not because of an affinity based on race,
language or social and political ideology. We are united together because
we share in the same faith in Christ. This is why the mass begins with
the invocation of the name of the Holy Trinity. The gathering of
Christians at worship is not a sociological or political gathering but of faith
in Christ.
However, the
Church is convoked not for herself and her members only. The Church is
not an exclusive club where members get special privileges. The Church
exists for the world. The Church by its very nature is missionary.
She exists to be the sign and the sacrament of love and unity in the
world. She is called to bring others into communion with her and to God
through our communion with the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit. This
is why at the beginning of the mass, the celebrant greets us saying, “The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy
Spirit be with you all.”
Indeed, the
invitation to every Christian is the call to renew the face of the earth, as we prayed in the responsorial
psalm. “Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth. Bless
the Lord, my soul! Lord God, how great you are, How many are your works, O
Lord! The earth is full of your riches. You take back
your spirit, they die, returning to the dust from which they came. You send
forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the
earth.” This is urgent in a world that is divided, where extremists in
religions are causing division in the world through intolerance, persecution,
discrimination and violence. There are also civil wars being fought and
governments tainted with corruption. On the level of society, we see the
growing trends of individualism, where people live for themselves instead of
living for and with others. Most of all, we cannot but be worried about
the individualistic, materialistic and self-centered values that a godless
society is promoting.
How, then,
can we witness the gospel to all peoples? The truth is that witnessing is
not merely the work of our hands. We cannot change lives or bring people
to conversion without the help of the Holy Spirit. At most, we are
instruments. That is why in the gospel, Jesus speaks of the coming of the
Holy Spirit, our advocate, “When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you
from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my
witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the
outset.” Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit whom He sends is
His witness.
How does the
Holy Spirit witness to Jesus if not through us, as the Holy Spirit cannot be
seen? In the first reading, we see how the Holy Spirit descended upon
the disciples. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they “began to speak foreign
languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Now there were
devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this
sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his
own language. They were amazed and astonished.” Indeed, the ability to
communicate the gospel to the peoples and bring them together as one family was
the work of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy
Spirit gives us a personal relationship with the Lord. He is the one who dwells in
us so that the Father and the Son could live in us. He is the One who
connects us with Jesus the Risen Lord. Only when He dwells in our hearts,
can we know that Jesus is Lord and Risen in our midst. That is why St
Paul says, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:3)
It is not a question of saying the words but to say it with faith and
conviction that the Holy Spirit brings. Only in the Spirit do we know the
personal love of God for His love “has been poured into our hearts”. (Rom 5:5)
The Holy
Spirit works signs and wonders through the hands of the apostles. “Now there are
varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of
services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it
is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given
the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”(1Cor 12:4-7)
The early Church under persecution prayed, “And now, Lord, look at their
threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness, while
you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through
the name of your holy servant Jesus.” (Acts 4:29f)
The Holy
Spirit also helps His disciples to proclaim the truth. Jesus said, “I still
have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has
learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.” Indeed, the world
today is asking for answers to the questions they pose to us. Because of
rationalism, we need to give a reason for our faith. Many are searching
for the ultimate questions of life. Unless we ourselves understand what
the Lord has taught us in a deeper manner, we cannot convincingly proclaim the
gospel so that it makes sense in their lives. We need the Holy Spirit to
make the message ever old and yet ever new. He does not give us a new
message but He helps us to apply the message of Jesus and make it relevant
according to our times. This is what the Lord assures us. “He
will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be
taken from what is mine.”
The Holy
Spirit gives us the courage and the wisdom to say the right things. “When
they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not
worry about how you are to defend yourselves or what you are to say; for
the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what you ought to say.”
(Lk 12:11f)
To be a witness to the Lord, we need to be attuned to the wisdom of the Holy
Spirit. Unless we listen attentively to the Holy Spirit at prayer, we
will not be able to proclaim the gospel with boldness. St Paul said, “I
came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and
my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest
not on human wisdom but on the power of God.” (1 Cor 2:3-5)
But witness
is more than words and works of power. It is an entire way of life. St Paul warns us, “If I
speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a
noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and
understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to
remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all
my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have
love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor 13:1-3)
It is the life of love which is the life of the Spirit that will change hearts
and touch lives radically. This is why St Paul in his letter to the
Galatians reminded the Christians to live in the life of the Spirit. He
said, “You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent
passions and desires. Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the
Spirit.”
Living the
life of the Spirit is to live the life of the Kingdom and under the rule of God
instead of being ruled by our selfish passions. St Paul wrote, “When
self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross
indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and
wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy;
drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before:
those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit
brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Indeed, those who live under
the impulse of their passions, will ultimately hurt themselves although they
think they are satisfying their desires and their needs. But what is the
use of bodily satisfaction when our hearts are full of anger, self-centeredness
and revenge?
Consequently,
the call to be witnesses to Christ is not just for the salvation of humanity
but ours as well. The only way to save ourselves is to save others.
This is because we cannot save others unless we are imbued with the gospel
first and filled with His love and joy. Then by living the life of
the Spirit, we live a life of the Kingdom. We are not divided in our
hearts and we can find peace and joy in living the life of unselfish love.
Indeed, as St Paul said, “If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no
danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of
the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely
because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good
intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you.” So let
us follow the Holy Spirit to glorify Christ by our lives, by our words and
deeds. Let our lives be lived under the Holy Spirit through prayer,
worship and contemplation. Only then can we can, like Him, give glory to
God in all that we say and do, and witness to His power and wonders at work in
our lives.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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