Pentecost - A (May 28, 2023)

“Peace be with you”

John 20: 19-23

During the Last Supper, we learned from Jesus’ prayer that Jesus glorified God by accomplishing the work that God gave him to do.  He did that by making God known to the disciples.  (John 17: 1-4)

Now, to the disciples who are fearful and who had abandoned or denied Him, Jesus gives them peace and forgiveness through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Thus, to know God is to know God’s forgiveness and peace.

Moreover, giving them the Holy Spirit, Jesus now entrusts his mission to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 

Image source: www.agnusday.org 

Pentecost - C (June 5, 2022)

Commandments

John 14: 15-16, 23b-26

 

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

 

Do we sometimes think of Jesus’ commandments as burdensome?

 

Meanwhile, in Jesus’ words, keeping his commandments is our response to his love for us.  And we know, God loves us first, never the other way around.  Moreover, the commandments are God’s gifts to help us to live as God’s children and to love as God loves. 

 

These words of Jesus hopefully will change our perspective regarding God’s commandments.  

 

Image source: www.agnusday.org

 

Pentecost (May 23, 2021)

 

“Peace Be with You”

John 20: 19-23

 

With the gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of peace.

 

These were the gifts Jesus gives to the disciples who had betrayed him.  These were the gifts given to the disciples who were staying behind locked doors, afraid. 

 

These very disciples are now sent forth with the Holy Spirit to be the instruments of God’s forgiveness and peace.

 

The Risen Christ is giving us the same gifts and the same mission today. 

 Image source: www.agnusday.org

Pentecost (May 31, 2020)

“Receive the Holy Spirit”

John 20: 19-23

The disciples hid behind locked doors.  They were afraid. 

Jesus came to them and restored peace in them.  He then breathed on them and gave them the Holy Spirit.

We have been locking ourselves away from others.  We have been anxious, worried and afraid.

The same Jesus is with us with His peace.  He gives us the Holy Spirit just as He did for those disciples.

We also know that Mary, the Mother of Jesus was with those first disciples (Acts 1:14).  As we end this Month of Mary, let us ask Mary to help us know that she remains with us in our times of needs.

Image source: Pentecost, by Titian, www.wikiart.org

Pentecost - C (June 9, 2019)

Many Gifts

Readings

The readings of Pentecost remind us

1.    All gifts are from the same giver – God, through the ongoing presence and action of the Holy Spirit among us.

2.   The gifts given to different people are different.

3.   The different gifts are for us to serve the same God who is the Father of all, and whose richness and boundless love are for all people.

Image source:  www.agnusday.org

Pentecost - B (May 20, 2018)

“I Send You”

Scripture Readings

The Scripture readings for Pentecost convey the themes of unity and peace.  The disciples were together both after the Resurrection (Gospel, John 20: 19-23) and on Pentecost (first readings).  From the beginning, the Church has gathered people from all nations and languages into one (first reading).  God has given different gifts to different people, but all are one (second reading, 1 Corinthians 12).

But it is not a kind of gathering of people who only look inward. 

Jesus sends us out, each with the unique gifts from God, to continue the mission of Jesus, which is to gather all nations into God’s family: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

During World Youth Days, millions of young Catholics from all over the globe gather together with the Pope.  This picture shows a corner of the WYD candle vigil during the 2016 World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.

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Pentecost - A (June 4, 2017)

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John 20:19-23

Commentary

The Breath of God’s Life, the Breath of Forgiveness

“Jesus breathed on them.”

This is the only time this verb “to breathe” is used in the New Testament.

John seems to draw the parallel between this act of the Risen Lord with God’s action in Genesis 2:7.   “The LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” [1]

The Risen Christ, in giving the gift of the Holy Spirit, gives his followers new life, divine life.

And with this divine life comes both the power and the command to forgive. 

Forgiving is living the life of God.

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[1] http://www.progressiveinvolvement.com

Pentecost Sunday - C (May 15, 2016)

Commentary

John 20: 19-23

Receive the Holy Spirit, Forgive

The last sentence of this Gospel passage gives us one main identifications of the Holy Spirit, namely the power to forgive sins.

Here, the Risen Christ empowers the disciples with the gift of the Holy Spirit when he sends them just “as the Father sent” him.

Where there is the Holy Spirit, there is forgiveness. And where there is forgiveness, there is peace, the peace of the Risen Christ.

In other words, when a disciple of Jesus forgives, that disciple witnesses to the presence of the Holy Spirit. In this way, the disciple continues the mission of Jesus – to bring peace to the world.  

Pentecost Sunday - B

Commentary

John 20: 19-23

Peace Comes with Forgiveness

To the disciples who are afraid, Jesus gives his gift of peace.

To the disciples who know they have denied and abandoned him, Jesus gives his gift of peace.

And the disciples are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to give that gift of God's peace through the gift of forgiveness. “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

 

Pentecost Sunday - B (May 24, 2015)

Readings

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Pentecost (June 8, 2014)

Commentary
John 20: 19-23

"Jesus Came and Stood in their Midst"

The disciples were afraid.  They still locked themselves behind closed doors.  This still happened though two of them, Peter and the other disciple, had seen the empty tomb (John 20: 7-8).  Moreover, the Risen Christ had appeared to Mary of Magdala and spoken to her.  She then told them, "I have seen the Lord" (20:18).

Yet the disciples were still afraid.

The witness of others at times might not be enough.

To his fearful disciples, the Risen Christ "came and stood in their midst."  His presence alone can shatter their fear.  More than that, the Risen and living Lord turns their fear into peace and joy.  [1]

Only an encounter with the Risen and living Christ can have such an effect.

And he strengthens the weak and fearful disciples with his gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Risen and living Lord continues to be with us in his words, his EucharistA, in the community gathered together, and when we touch his wounded body in the wounded members of His Body.

There, he comes and stands in our midst.

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[1]  Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of John; Sacra Pagina Series, p. 531

Pentecost Sunday

Commentary

John 14: 15-16, 23b-26

“The Holy Spirit Will Teach and Remind You”

Today’s Gospel passage recalls some of the words Jesus spoke to the disciples during the Last Supper.  Shortly afterwards, Jesus would be arrested, and the disciples seem to forget his words ever so quickly.

Knowing those he has chosen, Jesus knew that they needed help to remember “all that [he] had told them.”

And remember they did.  

They would recall his words, his deeds, and the way he lived his life among them.  At least twice, John’s Gospel indicates that.  “When he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.” (2:22 and 12:16) [1]

And remember they did.

Thanks to them, Jesus’ words, actions, and his very life continue in the Church today.

Indeed, today, we still live in our lives the words of Jesus, “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” 

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[1] Francis J. Moloney, SDB., The Gospel of John.  Sacra Pagina Series, Collegeville, MN. Liturgical Press, 1998; p. 410.

Pentecost Sunday (May 19, 2013)

Readings

Image: Holy Spirit Window, St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican