20200531 RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH
31 May, 2020, Sunday, Pentecost
First reading
|
Acts 2:1-11 ©
|
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
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.’
Responsorial Psalm
|
Psalm 103(104):1,24,29-31,34 ©
|
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!
Second reading
|
1 Corinthians 12:3-7,12-13 ©
|
In the one Spirit we were all baptised
No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ unless he is under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them. The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.
Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.
Sequence
|
Veni, sancte Spiritus
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.
Gospel Acclamation
|
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia!
Gospel
|
John 20:19-23 ©
|
As the Father sent me, so am I sending you: receive the Holy Spirit
In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.
‘As the Father sent me,
so am I sending you.’
After saying this he breathed on them and said:
‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
For those whose sins you forgive,
they are forgiven;
for those whose sins you retain,
they are retained.’
RENEW THE FACE OF THE EARTH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 2:1-11; PS 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 COR 12:3-7, 12-13; JN 20:19-23]
This world is in bad shape. Culturally we have lost all dignity and graciousness even among some of our leaders. Society has degenerated much. We are lacking graciousness in modesty, in speaking and dressing. We are no longer respectful to elders or those in authority. This is supposed to be a civilized world but even leaders are uncouth. Young people behave and conduct themselves without regard for the sensitivity of others. People use all kinds of vulgar words and nasty remarks on social media and when speaking. Morally, we have lost all sensitivity to what is right and wrong. We cannot tell what is good and what is evil. Society has become ambivalent to the values of the world. There is a lack of discernment and judgment on values offered by the world, especially in the area of entertainment. Today, people are afraid to pass judgement on values. Socially, we have become individualistic. It is about ourselves, our immediate needs and gratification. Our life is reduced to pleasure, entertainment, and enjoyment. There is nothing to hope for beyond this life on earth.
That is why the psalm refrain for this Sunday sums up so beautifully our great hope for this world. “Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.” We need to pray to God to renew the face of this earth and to restore the glory of creation so that this world can give praise to God. As it is, we are like the people during the time of Babel, which the first reading makes inference to. In Babel, the people were seeking to build a tower to reach the heavens without the assistance of God. They were proud and arrogant. Isn’t this happening in our times? We have the best technology, whether in transport, telecommunications, digital media or internet food production, medical advancement, and even Artificial Intelligence. But look at the world today; there is greater division and miscommunication even though we have the best communications technology; poverty even though we produce more than enough food to feed the whole world; insecurity among powerful countries even though they have the most advanced weapons in the world; and rapid developments happening all over the world, yet we are asking why the planet is burning itself up.
How can this world be renewed? It begins with us! If we are not renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit, how can we ever think of renewing the face of the earth? We need to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus so that we can transform the world with His truth and love. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Love. Only He can lead us into the fullness of truth and love. Only the Holy Spirit can bring lasting unity to the world. That was what the Spirit did at Pentecost. The Spirit brought all of humanity into one big family of God and that was how the Church was born. We read that people of all nations were present when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. They heard the message that St Peter proclaimed in their own language. And three thousand were baptized on that day! The Spirit enlightened the minds of these people and they were docile to the sermon preached by St Peter. We read that their hearts were cut to the quick! They repented of their sins!
These tongues of fire that came upon the apostles remind us of the presence of God in the Old Testament. God’s presence is always enlightening, purifying, and cleansing. When Moses went up to the Mountain to receive the Commandments, there were strong winds, clouds, thunder, lightning, and fire. The tongues of fire symbolize the presence of God coming upon them. The Holy Spirit is a purifying agent because it enlightens us in the truth and brings about the forgiveness of sins. The Risen Lord’s first gift to the apostles was the power of discernment and judgement. “After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.” The power to forgive or retain sins has to do with the authority to judge. So the world needs the Holy Spirit to purify itself of ignorance and sin.
Indeed, the way to unity must always begin with forgiveness. But forgiveness can only be received by those who acknowledge their sinfulness and wrongdoings. Only when man comes to realize his arrogance, pride, and blindness to what is true and good, there can be no repentance. However, when we come to realize how sinful and foolish we are in subscribing to the values of the world, then we can ask for forgiveness. The good news is that forgiveness is always there waiting for us. If man cannot forgive each other, it is because they cannot forgive himself in the first place. If man is vindictive and revengeful, it is because he has never received forgiveness in his own life. The way to peace in our family, offices and indeed, the whole world, among nations is forgiveness. This explains why when the Risen Lord appeared to the disciples, He offered the gift of peace which comes with forgiveness.
To renew the face of the earth, we need to change the individualistic and self-centered mentality of society today. Because we have been conditioned to believe that there is no life beyond this world, we live for ourselves and only for today. The tongues of fire that descended on the apostles is the fire of love that unites all the nations as one, all hearing the same language of love. Furthermore, the same Spirit gives us gifts not for ourselves only, but they are for the service of humanity and the service of God. These gifts are meant for the building of society. St Paul wrote, “There is a variety of gifts but always the same Spirit; there are all sorts of service to be done, but always to the same Lord; working in all sorts of different ways in different people, it is the same God who is working in all of them.” Unfortunately, the world is becoming more selfish and inward-looking. It is about myself, my organization, my society, my religion, my race, my country, and my nation. Individualism and autonomy is selfishness. All that we have are meant for everyone.
The Holy Spirit reminds us that we are all called to be one. St Paul wrote, “Just as a human body, though it is made up of many parts, is a single unit because all these parts, though many, make one body, so it is with Christ. In the one Spirit we were all baptised, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as citizens, and one Spirit was given to us all to drink.” We are all members of the human family, having the same goal and aspirations. We all desire peace, joy, happiness, and unity. These are gifts meant not only for a certain race, nation, or people. They are gifts meant for all. So it is important that we care for each other because we are all interconnected. The Covid-19 pandemic is a good lesson that God has sent to teach us that all are equal before God. If we want to remove the pandemic, we need to protect all men and women, all peoples in all countries. We cannot isolate ourselves from the rest of the population or from the world. To be safe from the Covid-19 we need to protect everyone from it. This pandemic is a good instrument of the Holy Spirit to teach us the unity of the human race. Indeed, the Holy Spirit reminds us that we are all the children of God. We are given new birth in the Holy Spirit and made children of God, having God as our Father.
The feast of Pentecost reveals the catholicity and universality of the Church. It shows that the Church, although comprising peoples of all races, nations, and languages, is called to be one. The Catholicity of the Church precisely embraces all cultures and languages. It is the Holy Spirit that makes this unity in diversity possible. This unity is not rooted in uniformity. Rather, the unity of the Church is one of diversity. This is the beauty of the Church of Christ. We share a common faith and common values of love, forgiveness, and unity but we express these differently according to our cultures.
On the Feast of Pentecost, the Spirit is pouring forth new life into humanity and the world. Just as the Father at creation breathed life into man fashioned from the earth, so too, the Risen Christ breathed on the apostles and give them the New life of the Spirit. He granted them peace and the power to transform the world, set the world free from sin and evil. We are also animated by the Holy Spirit to bring about the transformation of the hearts of mankind by our love and service, by announcing the truth and forgiveness and most of all, by embracing the diverse cultures of all, celebrating our diversity in unity. The Holy Spirit is given to us for this mission of being sent out to announce the Good News.
Truly, we can be certain that just as the Holy Spirit transformed chaos into cosmos at the beginning of creation, in this re-creation, He will once again bring order in the midst of our chaos, and once again, new life and a new creation. We must hold on to this truth even if we see from appearances that evil seems to be growing from strength to strength. Indeed, there is much chaos around us, whether social, political, religious, or moral. But the Spirit will renew the face of the earth, if we ask Him and collaborate with Him in the use of the gifts bestowed upon us. Let us not allow fear to hinder the work of the Spirit. Let us with courage, like the apostles, go out and transform the world in the power of the Spirit.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
No comments:
Post a Comment