“Receive the Holy Spirit” (Jn 20:22)
In the recent years I have been travelling across continents and living in different cultural contexts. The question, “Where do you come from,” has become so difficult for me to answer. I am grateful to God for the variety of cross-cultural experiences that I have had, and I feel I am a citizen of the world. One thing that has made this possible, easy, and enjoyable, is the fact that I am a Christian, and a Catholic! Today we celebrate the birthday of this Church – the universal church. The liturgy of the Word on this day suggests the theme of unity of the Church. Our reflection focuses on three possible meanings of this feast.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Risen Lord: The evangelist Luke considers the event of the resurrection (Easter) and the decent of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) as two distinct events, not necessarily as separate events. As the resurrection of the Lord is associated with the Jewish feast of the Passover, Luke considers it meaningful to situate the coming of the Holy Spirit within the Jewish feast of the Pentecost. On the other hand, according to the Gospel of John – as we heard it read in today’s gospel text (Jn 20:19-23), the descent of the Holy Spirit is on the day of the resurrection of the Lord. It reads: “In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week… Jesus came and stood among them… he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’! In other words, the Holy Spirit cannot be separated from the Risen Lord. The Holy Spirit is the continued presence of the Risen Lord.
Unity in diversity: One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to bring people together. In the first reading of today we hear that the first sign of the descent of the Holy Spirit was that the Christian message, the Good News, was proclaimed in different languages. The same message in different languages! And people of different backgrounds heard the message in their own native language. They were brought together under the umbrella of the one experience of the Risen Lord. This is the miracle of the Holy Spirit! Unity does not mean uniformity. Apostle Paul writing to Christians in Corinth who had some problems with unity would tell them – as we heard in the 2nd reading of today (1Cor 12:3-6): “Nobody is able to say, ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit. There are many different gifts, but it is always the same Spirit.”
Variety even in the descent of the Holy Spirit: One of the problems of the Church in some parts of the world today is the Holy Spirit itself. How does the Spirit manifest himself? It is easy, but misleading, to identify the Spirit only with miracles: deliverance and healing. We need to understand that the Holy Spirit can descend in powerful ways – tongues of fire, and powerful wind from heaven, with noise, as described by Luke in Acts 2:1. But He can also descend as a gentle breath (John 20:22). Both these manners are valid, as Jesus said to Nicodemus (Jn 3:8), “The wind blows where it pleases.” Today, the Spirit is present in a priest who is able to preach in a powerful way – may be accompanied by the gift of knowledge and healing. The same Spirit is very powerfully present when an elderly priest prays over the altar with a very feeble voice: “Lord, send forth your spirit.” On this important day, then, we want to allow the Spirit to work in us. In His own way!
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