A reading from the Acts of the Apostles
(Chapter 2:1-11)
Today, we celebrate the birthday of the Church, an event that Jesus had foretold and that took place a few weeks after his death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.
On this occasion, Pentecost, the Spirit of God—always present in the world—infused itself in a particular way in the small group of disciples who became the infant Church. This occurred while the apostles and others, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, were gathered in Jerusalem. The apostles and others had been hunkered down in one place because they knew the Romans and the religious authorities would be hostile to any claim that Jesus had risen from the dead. They didn’t know what to do next.
But the implication of what we just read in the Acts of the Apostles is that once they had been filled with the Holy Spirit, they found the exits easily enough, burst out of that room and into the streets and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of who tried to stop them. And from that small group of frightened men and women the church spread throughout the world.
Pentecost commemorates the day on which the Church began its ministry, and it reminds us that now we are the church, we have received the Holy Spirit in baptism, and we—every baptized Christian—are called to carry on that ministry today. We have been touched by the Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation and we are touched by the Holy Spirit every time we hear the gospel proclaimed and every time we receive Christ in the Eucharist.
And when the priest or the deacon at the end of mass says, “Go,” we are called to head for the exits and make the gospel of peace and justice and mercy and charity alive in the world outside the church walls and parish grounds.
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 104)
"Lord, send out your spirit, and renew the face of the earth." From the day of our baptism, the Holy Spirit lives in each one of us. By responding to its prompting, we can play a part in renewing the face of the earth with acts of compassion, generosity, and justice.
A reading from St. Paul's first Letter to the Corinthians
(Chapter 12:3B-7, 12-13)
In this passage, Saint Paul reminds the early Christians in Corinth, and us, "that there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone." No act of service is more important than another. Whether we donate cereal to a food bank, shop for groceries for a homebound neighbor, teach a faith-formation class, or drive an elderly parishioner to church, we are carrying on our baptismal mission by bringing the gospel to life.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
(Chapter 20:19-23)
The details in this reading are important. The author writes that Jesus entered the room where the disciples were, "even though the doors were locked" but then adds that Jesus "showed them his hands and his side." The author doesn't mention these things casually, nor are they unrelated. These two facts together tell us that Jesus, who had been crucified and buried, was alive and that his physical being had been taken into a new condition no longer confined by time and space. In St. Luke's account, Jesus tells the disciples, "Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” That same Jesus is alive among us today, here and now. This is a central tenet of our faith. In the gift of the Eucharist, we encounter Jesus, become one with Jesus, in a unique, palpable way, but he lives and is with us no matter where we are.
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Painting: Pentecost, Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319), Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena. Public domain.
Excerpts from the English translation of the Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved.
Charles Paolino is managing editor at RENEW International. He is a permanent deacon of the Diocese of Metuchen.