Pentecost Solemnity/ Day John 20, 19-23

Today, on the Feast of the Sending of the Holy Spirit, we are aware of the importance of the words of the Holy Father John Paul II on the New Evangelization, that today, in this time, we have a responsibility for the faith that we have received from our fathers. We have an obligation to how and what kind of faith we will pass on to future generations. Indeed, we are aware of the responsibility for our nation’s confidence and witness the devotion to the whole world. The Feast of the Sending of the Holy Spirit is a souvenir to remember that the mission movement is the thermometer of the overall state of the faith. Where missionary zeal is lacking, faith is weak.

St. Luke wrote in the Acts of the Apostles about the direct witnesses of the descent of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak… As the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4).

St. Luke presents the Church as the result of the work of the Holy Spirit. He describes a story loaded with many symbols such as the roaring, the tongues of fire, the power they began to speak in other languages, or the dove symbol by the Jordan River when Jesus was baptized. The descent of the Holy Spirit is a great act of God, witnessed by various people who ask, “Aren’t all these people who are speaking here Galileans? And how is it that each of us hears them in the language in which we were born? We, the Parthians, the Medes, the Elamites, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, of Phrygia and Pamphylia, of Egypt and the Libyan regions around Cyrene, the immigrant Romans, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs: we hear them speaking in our tongues of the great works of God” (Acts 2:7-11). This event can be seen as an antithesis to the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel. The sign occurred due to human pride; people ceased to understand each other, and here is the beginning of a new life, the characteristic of which is that we know each other. It is the beginning of a great process in history. We begin to understand the Holy Spirit as the power and strength of God, as the emotional moment in history that sets in motion the history of the Church.
Here is a unique way we see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but that doesn’t mean it was just a one-time event. The Holy Spirit has begun an activity that will last until the end of time. The Holy Spirit is and will be the main initiator of the history of the Church, as her inner guide in her life. We are accustomed to speaking of the Holy Spirit in the Church in connection with the Sacrament of Confirmation, but Holy Scripture and Church tradition tell us of a Holy Spirit who cannot be shackled; He acts as the wind and works wherever He wills and however He wills, regardless of our habits. Our faith teaches us that the Holy Spirit takes possession of a person irrespective of any patterns, and a person’s age or status does not condition it.

We, too, need to take as our own the words of the Lord Jesus, which He spoke after His resurrection, when He breathed on the apostles, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22). And then to the troubled apostles, he gives the commission, the power, and sends them out into the world saying, “Whose sins you forgive will be forgiven, and whose sins you retain will be retained” (Jn 20:23). Jesus entrusts the apostles with the power of the Spirit and sends them into the world not as prophets of doom and despair but as shepherds to seek out the lost, the straying, and the sick sheep and communicate to them the forgiveness of sins. Jesus wants us to receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus wants us to become and feel that we are members of God’s family, those who are gifted with his Spirit. Thus, not only to receive the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation but also to receive the sacrament of Penance – the forgiveness of sins. By receiving sacramental forgiveness, we claim the Holy Spirit. No religion emphasizes and proclaims forgiveness as intensely as Christianity. It is also our task to witness God’s forgiveness in our lives. For us, faith is not just Christmas or Easter but the whole year as we live out our duties and roles as Christians. Our faith cannot, must not, and cannot be confined to our homes, churches, or limited to our homeland. The Holy Spirit leads us to an active faith, an activity of love, truth, and justice in all social life areas: science, culture, art, politics… The Holy Spirit addresses us to think also of those who have not heard of God or have not heard the Gospel sufficiently. The Holy Spirit led the apostles then into all the known world. The apostle Peter goes to Rome, the capital of the then greatest country. The apostle Andrew preached the gospel in the lands near the Black Sea and later in southern Greece, where he was also crucified in the city of Patras. The Apostle James the Elder, brother of the Apostle John, called “sons of thunder” because of his character, dies first in his homeland, where he fearlessly proclaimed the teachings of Christ to his countrymen. His brother was the only one who did not die a martyr’s death when he suffered much. He preached the Gospel in Asia Minor, especially in Ephesus and in exile on the island of Patmos. In modern-day Turkey, Philip died a martyr’s death at Hierapolis, nailed to a cross, and stoned. James the Younger preached the gospel in Jerusalem, where he was thrown off the walls and beaten with a club. The apostle Bartholomew, a native of Cana of Galilee, went as far as India to preach the gospel. In Macedonia, by order of King Astyages, he was flayed and executed. The apostle Thomas preached Christ in Persia, today’s Iran. He was a fisherman of few words. When he receives the Holy Spirit, he not only cries out – My Lord and My God – but dies pierced by a dagger in Mailapur near Madras, India. Stonemasons, surveyors, and architects have chosen him as their patron saint. The apostle Matthew, the evangelist, not only writes but also travels and proclaims the gospel, first in Ethiopia, Pontus and Persia. First, a tax collector, and finally, a martyr pierced by a spear. The apostles Simon the Zealot and Judas Thaddeus labored for Christ in Egypt, Arabia, and Syria and were martyred in Mesopotamia. Judas was a cousin of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus called these twelve men away from the fishing nets to become fishers of men’s souls. They came out of a small country to announce the teachings of Christ to the whole world. They not only received the Holy Spirit, but he also led them. They became witnesses of faith in Christ in the Holy Spirit.
Today we must be witnesses of the faith of Christ in the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, God is distant. Christ would belong to the past, the Gospel would be dead scripture, the Church would be a mere organization, the liturgy would be very memories, and the Christian life would be a state of bondage. The Church of Christ lives and will live today. In the Holy Spirit, she is still alive and young. Even today, the Holy Spirit directs the Church through the Pope, the bishops. The Church in the Holy Spirit has and can give what other movements, organizations, and parties cannot and do not give. New and other workers are going out into the vineyard in the Holy Spirit.
Cardinal Newman used to say that the Church can be seen as a stained glass window. From the outside, we can only see the outlines, but if we want to see the beauty of the window – the stained glass – we have to go inside and look at the light. Those who enter into the communion of the Church and look at people, things, and events in the Holy Spirit receive a very different value about the Church.

Even today, the Holy Spirit inspires the bold ways of the apostles of the new evangelization. Even today, he accompanies those who receive him and let themselves be guided by his gifts. Even today, the Holy Spirit is the motor of the Church’s activity and action. Thus, the Holy Spirit filled not only the Apostles on Pentecost and not only the Apostles with His gifts, but also today and all of us as we do all we can to be witnesses of the faith.
See, a sectarian came to a young man. The young man had a deep faith, and as soon as he had settled the sectarian, he said to him: “Before you begin to persuade me, let me ask you a question: “Tell me, would it be wise for a chauffeur at a gas station to pump gasoline into a full tank?” “No, that wouldn’t be wise,” replied the cultist. “Well, you see. My heart is full of the Catholic faith. Full! It would be unwise to put faith in my heart. And therefore, I advise you to find another person, an unbeliever, who has an empty heart and has no faith in his heart and refuel your faith. I will pray for you that you also may be happy and have true faith.” The sectary stood up, thanked him, and left. Sometime later, the sectary returned, and immediately at the door, he said: “Don’t worry, I’m not going to refuel faith into your full heart. But I came to tell you that I was thinking how lovingly you received me, how nicely you spoke to me on the way from you. And that is why I am leaving the sect; I want to become a Christian Catholic. Thank you!” And he embraced the young man with tears in his eyes.
The Church has her witnesses, and the Holy Spirit wants us to have them. It is fitting that today, on the Feast of the Sending of the Holy Spirit, we want to be faithful witnesses of the faith. We know that our witness is needed in Slovakia and outside our homeland.

Let us pray for new missionary vocations. Let us pray for those who work in missions, especially for Slovak missionaries all over the world: in Russia, Papua New Guinea, Africa, and also in Western Europe.