Year C – Pentecost Sunday | Genesis 11:1-9; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17 (25-27)
Pentecost was a Jewish festival now connected to the Christian Church. The first Christians were Jews. They followed God’s word as revealed to them. They would later learn that Christ was the mediator of a New Testament. The transition required to shed traditions and adopt new religious practices and was only possible with Holy Help.
From the beginning, God knew the power of human unity. Humanity has a power to perform anything it imagines. That power, however, is often exercised in rebellion to their Creator. God created humanity to multiply and replenish the earth. Humanity is responsible for taking care of the entire globe. Yet collective human thought seeks to congregate and leave Nature to care for itself. That is why God was forced to create languages. Languages are a divine barrier between cultures that encourage God’s work with Holy Help.
The Psalmist this week points the reader back to God as Creator. God’s Spirit is credited as that Force which created life. The Holy Helper is the source of life as the very Breathe of God.
Jesus promised his disciples that in his absence the Father would send forth Holy Help. The Spirit of God is one and the same as the Spirit of Christ. That Spirit comforts, helps, and advocates on our behalf during this life. That Spirit circumcises our human spirit from its earthly soul and seals us in Christ’s Universal Body. That Spirit is our Holy Help without whom we have no hope.
And so the day of Pentecost celebrated after Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension would mark the birth of Christ’s Church—that Universal Body of all believers. On that first Pentecost, Holy Help came upon the first Christians, breathing life into the entity formed by Jesus. That Breathe of Life renewing creation in the beginning gave life to Christ’s Body of believers. This week, we celebrate the birthday of the Church made possible with Holy Help.
Do not feel alone in this world. Christ is with you in Spirit and in Truth.