The Honorable Bird...at Pentecost

An Archbishop somewhere recalls the time when he was discussing Christianity with a learned Japanese writer. The writer told Bloom: “I think I understand about God the Father and the Son, but I can never understand the significance of the ‘Honorable Bird’.” The Holy Spirit has traditionally eluded the attention of scholars and preachers like a bird in flight resists capture. This bird-like Spirit flies higher than any airplane; it flies across vast expanse of lands and oceans; it could go down the valleys, along creeks and above the highest mountains. As it flies, it brings blessings, healing, new life and hope wherever it passes.

There are three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew living within 20 miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come, they are: the Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost means “The fiftieth”, and another name for it was “The Feast of Weeks.” It was so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. The Passover fell in the middle of April; therefore Pentecost fell at the beginning of June. By that time, travelling conditions were at their best: at least as many came to the Feast of Pentecost as came to the Passover. That explains the roll of countries mentioned in this chapter; never was there a more international crowd in Jerusalem than at the time of Pentecost.

The time of Pentecost also happens at the time of harvest of grains, therefore its Old Testament name is Feast of the Harvest (Ex 23, 16); it is also called the “Day of the First Fruits” (Num 28, 26). So at the gathering of nations to celebrate the fruits of the earth, God poured out the fruits of heaven, the gifts of the Holy Spirit on his people. Is this not sending special message to us? Is God not saying to us, “As you enjoy the perishable fruits, open your hearts to fruits of imperishable values because the world needs them more than petroleum, gold, diamond, platinum, copper, silver and the rest of them?

Our language tells us that it is difficult to contain or even describe ‘Spirit’. However, spirit-talk suggests life, movement and energy. We talk of creative energy in inspiration; an energy which has the power to break though barriers, break through records, and go beyond the expected and the mediocre; the energy that breaks through the locked doors of convention and not be bound by any kind of restrictions.

This energy is manifested in creation, when it brought life out of nothing but by the Word of God. This Word of God is Jesus, the Christ, and the action of the Word is the Holy Spirit. He is that Breath of Life that came from God and made humans living beings (Gn 1, 1ff; 2, 18 – 26).

The same energy, the Spirit, also showed his presence and power in the form of Pillar of Fire and Cloud to protect and guide the pilgrim people of God as the march to freedom across the desert (Ex 14).

This energy is the Consuming Fire that ate up the sacrifice of Elijah, the prophet when he challenged the false prophets – those who hide under the cover of religion and spirituality to do evil and oppress others (Ikgs 17 and 18). The same Spirit lived in the prophets who spoke courageously against the social, moral and religious evils of their time. Mary, the virgin, was overshadowed by the power of God, the Holy Spirit, at the conception of Jesus (Lk 1, 18 ff). This “Honorable Bird” appeared again at the baptism of Jesus in the river Jordan (Mt 3).

Now Fifty days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, a group of dispirited followers of Jesus had gathered and locked themselves in the upper room. There was more perspiration than inspiration in the room; there was fear and suspicion, and they listened attentively to every footstep on the stair-case; waiting for the executioners to knock at the door. They must have been praying that no one would discover their hiding place.

In contrast to their expectation, there came the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit as one who is cannot restricted by the boundaries and barriers erected by people. He is not halted by locked doors or locked hearts; he doesn't exclude himself from the restrictive areas that people settle in. When the Spirit comes, it will not be like Spring breeze that whispers unnoticed through a room; it is more like a hurricane that lays flat all the precious protection against its force. The Spirit takes this group of dispirited folks and fries them with new energy; enthusiasm and a new authority. The presence of the Holy Spirit makes the disciples open their lives to others. The Holy Spirit brings the following gifts: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and the fear of God.

One interesting thing about the Pentecost is that all those who receive the different gifts of the Holy Spirit spoke the same message that was understood by everyone who gathered in Jerusalem from various cultures and nations of the world. The message is LOVE. It has the same sound, texture, effect and power in every person, culture, race and country. Paul in the second reading of today reminds the divided community of Christians in Corinth that their diverse gifts are for the good of the community. When love becomes the language we all speak, the powerful breathe of God will be felt by everyone at every time and place.