Pentecost Homily

April 20th seems like it was such a long time ago. It has now been 50 days since that date and the world around us has entirely moved itself away from that great celebration. Now 50 days removed it is hard for us to fathom the reality that the Church has proclaimed all along. Today the Church celebrates Pentecost Sunday and with this celebration we come to the conclusion of the Easter season which began only 50 days ago. The world around us spent so much time preparing through buying jelly beans and decorating eggs that once Easter came and the egg hunts were finished so to was this beautiful season. But we began to prepare ourselves differently ,first, by passing through the penitential character of Lent and then we moved into the joys of the Easter season that we have now remained within for these past 50 days. Pentecost is a huge celebration for the Church because it signals to us the reality of transformation. Transformation is something that all of us are greatly in need of. None of us have yet received our heavenly reward and therefore we must strive to undergo transformation in our daily life.

All of those who were present in the Upper Room on Pentecost Sunday encountered great transformation. This was so because with the coming of the Holy Spirit they were said to be baptized in fire. This is to say that the Holy Spirit came down upon them and then they were transformed into something new. We can picture in our mind that this event made them clean as our baptism does for us. This event did not just spring up out of the blue, but this event was something that Christ had prepared them for. He told them that He would send the Holy Spirit upon them and even in our Gospel He breathed upon them as a foreshadowing of what would soon come. They did not just rush into this celebration as if it were just another day, but instead they were found together in prayer as they prepared themselves for what would soon take place. Through the descent of the Holy Spirit upon them they were truly transformed. They were transformed because now they were held in union with God and were given the great gifts that were necessary to proclaim the Gospel to the world and to draw souls to the triune God.

In this whole period we have been preparing ourselves to undergo this same transformation. The problem is that it is so easy to get sidetracked along the way and therefore we do not allow ourselves to be properly prepared for such a wondrous event. We live in a world that does not want to stand still even for a minute. We are always ready for the next activity on our schedule and due to this quickness of pace we allow so much to pass us bye. Before we know it we are a year older, a child has moved out of the house, we are advancing a grade in school, or we are even moving towards the end of our life. Pentecost was not just rushed into, but instead it was prepared for during a ten day period with prayer and fasting. Through prayer and fasting they were prepared for the great transformation that was going to take place within their life. Indeed any time that we allow the Holy Spirit to enter into our life we will be transformed in a positive way. The Holy Spirit is constantly coming upon us and guiding us towards truth and love, but we might be to busy or prideful to allow such a transformation to take place within us.

 

Pentecost is a celebration that is about the transformation that is encountered in our life through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This transformation was begun in our life when we entered into the waters of baptism and this was eventually brought to its fulfillment through our reception of Confirmation. Confirmation has been modernly made out to be one's adult acceptance of the Catholic faith, but this notion is not true. Confirmation is about the Holy Spirit being called upon us as it was upon the apostles and anyone else who was present at Pentecost. Through our Confirmation we partake in the event of Pentecost and thus we are forever transformed because we are given spiritual growth and strength. In baptism we were transformed through birth where we were granted new life from our state of sin. Through the Eucharist we are transformed because through our reception of it we are given nourishment in order that we may be sustained in our faith. These three sacraments are known as the sacraments of initiation and are concerned with our transformation that we may better conform ourself to Christ

Now that we have come to the end of the Easter season and joined within this great celebration of Pentecost may we allow the gift of the Holy Spirit to enter into our life and truly allow this gift to transform us. We are indeed a fast paced society and due to this we must be willing to take time out of our day to pray and to be drawn into relationship with Christ in order that we may be prepared to undergo such a transformation. Yes, the promptings of the Holy Spirit may seem to be most difficult to accept, but when we do embrace them we will encounter a true sense of transformation that will open us up to God and lead us towards the Kingdom of Heaven.