Pentecost enables us to be Christ's witnesses to the ends of the world

Sunday, June 13, 2011 Pentecost
Fr. Elvio Baldeon
Gospel: John 20:19-23 “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”

Homily summary: The coming of the Holy Spirit was a historical moment. It was also a historical moment when we received the Holy Spirit in Baptism and Confirmation. We can ask ourselves, why do we not receive the Holy Spirit in the same way? We receive Jesus in our hearts quietly.

Fr. Joseph Eddy is the vocation director of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, founded to redeem Christians whose faith is in danger. The Order’s student house in the U.S. is in Philadelphia.

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We are to be his witnesses. People don”t like to be reminded of God. Still, we are commissioned to be his witnesses to Jerusalem, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. The disciples were afraid of the Jews. This changed when they received the Holy Spirit. They received the spirit of wisdom, understand, counsel, and so on.

If we have received the Holy Spirit, why are we afraid to talk to our neighbor of God? We say we are Catholic, Christian; we follow Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit empowers us, reminds us that we have a mission.

The good news is that God is Father of us all. We all have different languages, different social status. We are all one family, living as brothers and sisters. Our mission will be accomplished with God”s help.

In the sequence of today”s Mass we pray, “Come Holy Spirit, come. Enlighten our hearts and minds.” We are one family, one Church, one faith. The Holy Spirit is not only in our hearts, but our minds. The Holy Spirit invites us to live as a family, to live as brothers and sisters.

Sometimes it takes time. Jesus asked the Apostles to wait for Him, and then they received the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we are asked to wait.

For some people, it was through a prayer group that was the moment they received the Holy Spirit. In the Eucharist, we have the opportunity to receive the Holy Spirit. That ought to be our personal Pentecost.