20190609
THE
HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US REDISCOVER OUR SONSHIP IN CHRIST
09 JUNE, 2019,
Sunday, Pentecost
Acts 2:1-11
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one
place. 2 And suddenly a
sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. 3 And there
appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of
them. 4 And they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit
gave them utterance.
5 Now there were dwelling in
Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And
at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because
each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And
they were amazed and wondered, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? 8 And how is it
that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians
and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia,
Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from
Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and
Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”
Ps 104:1, 24,
29-31, 34
1 Bless the Lord, O my
soul!
O Lord my God, thou art very great!
Thou
art clothed with honor and majesty,
24 O Lord, how
manifold are thy works!
In
wisdom hast thou made them all;
the
earth is full of thy creatures.
29 When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed;
when
thou takest away their breath, they die
and
return to their dust.
30 When thou sendest forth thy Spirit,s they
are created;
and
thou renewest the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure for ever,
may
the Lord rejoice in his works,
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for
I rejoice in the Lord.
Rom 8:8-17
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot
please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh, you are in
the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not
have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although your bodies
are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life
to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to
the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you
live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death
the deeds of the body you will live. 14 For all
who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery
to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we
cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is the
Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and
fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also
be glorified with him.
John 14:15-16,
23-26
15 “If you love me, you will
keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the
Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever,
23 Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he
will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our home with him. 24 He who
does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not
mine but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you, while
I am still with you. 26 But the
Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach
you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
HELPS US REDISCOVER OUR SONSHIP IN CHRIST
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1, 24,29-31, 34; Rom 8:8-17; Jn 14:15-16, 23-26]
Recently, a Dutch
teenager was allowed to die, following a year-long battle with depression and
anorexia after she was raped as a young child. She explained her choice to end her
own life by refusing food and water in an Instagram post, saying she struggled
to live with the trauma which had become insufferable. In the Netherlands,
children as young as 12 years of age can seek euthanasia, although those below
age 16 need parental consent to do so. Even if the withdrawal from
treatment is not exactly euthanasia, the decision to end a life is no longer in
the hands of God but in the hands of man! In 2017, the country had 6,585
deaths by legal euthanasia.
How did the world come
to this stage when even human life is no longer considered sacred? It is because of the sins
of man. We live unspiritual lives. St Paul wrote, “People who
are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God.”
When we are worldly, we are selfish and inward-looking. We only think
about ourselves, how to satisfy our physical and sensual needs. We go
after comfort and pleasures instead of seeking higher goals in life.
Unspiritual people are not in touch with the hunger of their soul except the
needs of their bodies. They are cut off from God, from the spiritual.
This, precisely, is what
is hinted in today’s first reading. The story of Pentecost is a reversal
of the story of the Tower of Babel. At Babel, the people thought highly of
themselves, thinking that they could reach the heavens on their own without
God’s help. This is a repetition of the sin of Adam, wanting to be
like God without God. They thought that by building the Tower, they could
access heaven whenever they wanted. We fail to realize that we are finite
beings and ignorant of many things and do not have the fullness of truth.
Because today, all are right and no one is wrong, people no longer listen to
each other. Each clings to his or her view. As a result, what
follows is the division of humanity.
Hence, after same sex
union, euthanasia is the next agenda promoted strongly by an atheistic world. The truth is that in an
atheistic world, life is no longer sacred. It ends at death. There
is no soul, no afterlife. This is the other message of atheism; that we
are all the same. We are made of matter, not spirit. So what is the
purpose of prolonging life if there is no meaning? My life is mine so it
is for me to decide what I want to do with it. This is the mentality today,
which of course is driven by secularism, pragmatism and relativism.
In public space today, we cannot mention the name of God, much less speak of
the sacredness of life. Since God does not come into the picture,
what is the basis to say that life is sacred and we cannot kill or take away
our life just as we do with animals? The basis of “Thou shall not kill”
ironically is a biblical concept. Yet, the world is denying the reality
of the sacred. But they know that deep in their hearts there is an
afterlife or God, or else why do we give so much honour to the dead or try to
rescue bodies from the sea in an airplane crash.
Pentecost is a reversal
of the Tower of Babel. Instead
of man seeking to meet God by building a tower to heaven, God sends us the Holy
Spirit to connect us with Him. Babel was a human effort and initiative,
but Pentecost is a divine initiative in God’s plan. Instead of miscommunication
in the Tower of Babel, at Pentecost we read that all the people present could
understand the apostles in their own language. People from different
ethnic backgrounds could “hear them preaching in our own language about the
marvels of God.” They said in wonder and amazement, “Surely, all these men
speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his
own native language?”
Through communication,
not just of words but of love, which is the universal language of the Holy
Spirit, Pentecost renewed
humanity into one people of God. Once again, under the banner of God’s
love and that of our Heavenly Father, we are one family. This is a
universal family comprising all men and women, all of whom are our brothers and
sisters. It is the Holy Spirit that makes this possible by enlightening
us that we are all one in Christ, and filling us with His love, without which
we would not able to look at each other as our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Pope Emeritus Benedict
tweeted, “Euthanasia is a false solution to the drama of suffering, a solution
unworthy of man.
The true response cannot be to put someone to death, however, ‘kindly’, but
rather to witness to the love that helps people to face their pain and agony in
a human way.” Only love can overcome death, especially for those who are
suffering. If people commit suicide, it is because no one journeys with
them or feels with them.
It is within this context that we
need to ask for the renewal of the Holy Spirit in our lives and to come again.
This is what we prayed at the responsorial psalm. The Holy Spirit
comes to renew our relationship with God who has become distant from us.
This is even true for those who are Christians. Many Catholics do
not live as if they are God’s chosen people. They are more like His
frozen people, living like dead men and women, without life and love and
passion. Many do not live like His children, His sons and
daughters. This is because even though they are baptized and in
principle have received the Holy Spirit, they have no conscious experience of
the Holy Spirit in their lives. The Holy Spirit is still latent in
them. For us to encounter God personally once again, we need to allow the
Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts to receive His personal love.
The Spirit is the One
who helps us to recognize Jesus as the Son of God because “the Advocate, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and
remind you of all I have said to you.” Only through the Holy Spirit, can
we recognize that Jesus is Lord. Only through the Holy Spirit, can
we accept the Word of God as it really is, God’s word and not some human
thinking. (cf 1 Th 2:13) The Holy Spirit is,
therefore, the One who brings us to Jesus and in and through Jesus, we come to
know the Father’s love and mercy, especially through His teaching, His life,
death and resurrection. Without the Holy Spirit, we will not have the
faith to know and believe in Jesus, nor the power of the sacraments, especially
Baptism, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Reconciliation and the Holy Orders.
With acceptance in faith
of Jesus as the Son of God, we enter into the Spirit of Jesus in experiencing
the Father’s unconditional love and thereby are able to “cry out, ‘Abba,
Father!’ The
Spirit himself and our spirit bear united witness that we are children of
God.” Through Jesus in the Holy Spirit, we come to know in the depth of
our soul that we are children of God. “Everyone moved by the Spirit is a
son of God. The spirit you received is not the spirit of slaves bringing fear
into your lives again; it is the spirit of sons.” Knowing that we
are His sons and daughters gives us the courage and dignity to live as God’s
children because we have come to know God’s love in Christ. We no
longer live as if we are orphans, not knowing our identity, our origin and our
calling. We know where we came from and where we will return.
How, then, can we renew
the Holy Spirit in our lives? Obedience is the precondition for receiving the
Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “If
you love me you will keep my commandments. I shall ask the Father, and he will
give you another Advocate to be with you for ever.” Obedience means
renunciation of sin. We must desire to give up sin even if we cannot do
it on our own. But when we are sincere, the Holy Spirit will give us the power
and grace to live a spiritual life. “So then, my
brothers, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to
live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but
if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will
live.” Indeed, with the Holy Spirit, we are given true freedom to love
because the Spirit frees us from our bondage to selfishness.
In this way, we become
true sons and daughters of God. We are now connected with God, our origin and goal of
life. We are also connected with our brothers and sisters. Indeed,
as St Paul says, “And if we are children we are heirs as well: heirs of God and
coheirs with Christ, sharing his sufferings so as to share his glory.” We
too are empowered to suffer with Jesus in giving ourselves to others in service
and love, and so share in His glory, in His joy of emptying ourselves for
others, and participating in the Trinitarian love of God. Life,
therefore, is now complete. We now live in love with purpose and
meaning. Life is sacred and it is made possible because of love.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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