-

 

Pentecost Day, June 8, 2025

Genesis, Acts 2,1-21; Genesis 11, 1-9 and John 14,8-17

Revd. Neli Miranda

 

Shavuot, one of the principal pilgrimage festivals of ancient Israel was celebrated fifty days after Passover and from which the Greek name Pentecost (meaning "fiftieth") is derived. Originally, this festival marked the culmination of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest, a festival of first fruits. In rabbinic tradition, Shavuot also commemorates the day when God gave the Torah (the Law) to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. In Jesus’ time, this celebration attracted many pilgrims to Jerusalem, including Jews born outside Israel and proselytes, who were gentiles that had embraced the Jewish faith

Today’s second reading taken from Acts Chapter 2 unfolds in Jerusalem during the festival of Shavuot or Pentecost. Following Jesus’ ascension, the community of disciples had remained in Jerusalem, just as Jesus had commanded them. So, during the celebration, they were gathered together in a house when suddenly, “. . .there came a sound from heaven like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting” (2:2).  The rushing, mighty wind at Pentecost powerfully evokes the imagery of the first creation. In Genesis, we read that as God began to create the heavens and earth there was chaos and darkness “. . .while a wind from God [or, the Spirit of God] swept over the face of the waters” (1:2). This divine movement proclaimed the coming of life. Similarly, on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, true Life was dawning: a new creation, a new humanity inaugurated through Jesus’ resurrection was emerging.

On this great Day of Pentecost, empowered by the Holy Spirit—the divine wind—Jesus’ community boldly proclaimed the good news of God’s ongoing work of re-creation in the world. All the people in Jerusalem “from every nation under heaven" (2:5) witnessed this extraordinary event and heard Jesus’ disciples speak in their respective native languages. They were utterly amazed and perplexed, exclaiming, “And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?” (2:8). Though they came from different nations and spoke in varying languages, every person understood the disciples proclaiming “the mighty works of God” (2:11). Thus, every nation gathered in Jerusalem became participants in and witnesses to God’s act of re-creation!!

 

The arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost stands in stark contrast to the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis Chapter 11, where we read about a confusion of languages and the people were unable to understand each other’s language, leading to their dispersion. In this passage we also read, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words” (11:1). United by this single language, some conspired to build a city with a tower reaching to the heavens—a monument to their own power, ambition, and self-sufficiency apart from God: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (11:4). Their aim was to consolidate power and resist the divine purpose to fill the earth, but God intervened confounding their language so they could no longer understand one another, thereby frustrating their design. In contrast, at Pentecost, the confusion of languages was overcome because people from diverse linguistic backgrounds understood the proclamation of God’s mighty deeds and God’ re-creation.

Dear sisters and brothers, human systems shaped by the “Babel ambition” are often characterized by arrogance, the will to dominate, and a false unity imposed by coercion. At Pentecost, however, the divine wind, the Holy Spirit, moves among us, breathing new life and re-creating us. It is the presence of the Holy Spirit that makes us the great community of Jesus that embraces and affirms diversity and everyone hears the good news in their own mother tongue. Thus, Pentecost brings a true unity in the Spirit, forming a community that joyfully proclaims in all languages the inaugurated re-creation of the world.

Sisters and brothers, each Pentecost celebration is an invitation for the Holy Spirit to re-create us and commission us anew to proclaim the good news. This proclamation transcends mere words, extending to “the language of God”—a language expressed through acts of love, compassion, and service. A well-known saying, often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, reminds us of this: “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary”.

May the divine Wind, the Holy Spirit, indeed re-create our St. James’ community on this day of Pentecost by empowering us with the great mission of proclaiming the Good News of God!

Amen.

https://quotefancy.com/

Comentarios

Publicar un comentario

Entradas populares de este blog

-
Imagen
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany February 23, 2025 Lucas 6:27-38 Rev. Neli Miranda  Today’s Gospel continues Jesus’ teachings addressed to a large crowd of disciples gathered on a plain, as we heard last Sunday. He speaks to a multitude of impoverished, needy people whom he calls “blessed”—a term traditionally reserved for those who possessed material wealth and high social status. However, Jesus subverts this conventional understanding by declaring his disciples blessed, stating, “. . .yours is the Kingdom of God”. This radical statement affirms the dignity of his followers and establishes the foundation for a new community, the community of the Kingdom of God. Jesus and his first followers faced enemies, those in positions of power who dominated and oppressed the people, persecuting and murdering all those who cried out for justice, beginning with Jesus himself.   Amidst this reality, marked by violence and hostility, Jesus urges the new community to live in a transfo...
Leer más
-
  Second Sunday of Advent Luke 3:1-6 Rev. Neli Miranda   Prepare the way of the Lord…! In the 6 th century BC, the prophet Isaiah announced liberation to the captive people of Judah who lived exiled in Babylon without hope. He announced their forthcoming liberation and proclaimed, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”   In 538 B.C., with great joy, the Jews initiated their return to the land of Judah, bringing gifts and offerings, including the original temple vessels that had been looted by Nebuchadnezzar. In the 1st century BC, John the Baptist embodied the spirit of Isaiah's prophetic voice crying out in the wilderness, bringing hope to his people who were oppressed under the rule of human kingdoms. Luke meticulously delineates these dominions in a hierarchical structure: Tiberius, the Roman Emperor; Pilate, the governor of Judea; Herod, the ruler of Galilee; his brother Philip, the governor of Ituraea; and Lysanias, the ruler of Abilene....
Leer más
-
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, August 4, 2024 John 6:24-35 Rev. Neli Miranda   Today, we continue reading John’s account of the events following the feeding of the five thousand. Most of these people returned home satisfied. They had been filled with the Word of God and with the bread and fish distributed by Jesus and his disciples. Some among them also experienced healing at the hands of Jesus, returning home full in body and spirit. However, as John recounts, some of them continued looking for Jesus and followed him to Capernaum, seemingly drawn by the prospect of continued physical sustenance rather than by understanding the liberating message of the Kingdom of God. The Roman government had a practice that kept the large crowds pacified by offering them free food and “entertainment” at the Colosseum a practice known as “bread and circus”. While bread is sacred and a fundamental human right, here it was used as a tool of control, providing temporary relief while...
Leer más