The feast of Pentecost marks the end of the Easter Season. Fifty days have passed since the celebration of Christ’s Resurrection and his victory over death. Prior to Vatican Council II, the Easter Season ended on Ascension Thursday with the celebration of Jesus’ departure from the world and his return to the Father. With the liturgical changes of Vatican II, ten additional days were added to include the feast of Pentecost.

Pentecost marks the beginning of the church with the descent of the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised his disciples that he would never leave them orphaned. The Spirit that Jesus will send into the world will be the source of protection and nourishment for the church and for future disciples.

The descent of the Holy Spirit is a very significant event in the lives of the disciples as well as in the life of the church. The disciples never really grasped who Jesus was even though Jesus made many references to his relationship to the Father and his desire that the disciples would model such a relationship. It was not until the Spirit of Jesus entered into their lives at Pentecost that their eyes were opened and they were able to see things clearly and believe.

Once Jesus had taken his leave and vanished from their sight as the scriptures tell us, the disciples returned to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, they apparently did not engage in “rejoicing” because they, like other converts to Christianity, feared for their lives due to the fact that anyone who professed a belief in Jesus was imprisoned, and some were eventually killed. This was the reason that the disciples locked themselves in the room. Perhaps, the same location where they ate their last meal with their companion and friend Jesus. Fearful as they were and given the present climate of the day, a return to the same location where they once experienced happy times must have been a source of consolation and security for the disciples.

As they huddled together in the locked room, perhaps, they reminisced about the things that Jesus said and the miracles that he performed. Perhaps they remembered how awkward and embarrassed they felt as Jesus knelt before each of them to wash their feet. Perhaps they even chided Peter about initially trying to prevent Jesus from washing his feet and then laughing about Peter’s request for the Lord to wash his entire body.

The disciples never expected to see Jesus again. Perhaps they thought that he would return on the Day of Judgment, yet they truly did not understand what he meant by not leaving them orphans. Nor did they understand what he meant by sending “the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth” into their lives.

There are three powerful moments in the Gospel reading for this feast of Pentecost (John 20:19-23):

1. Jesus’ salutation of peace as he re-enters into the lives of his disciples.

2. Jesus commissions his disciples to be heralds of the Good News and sends them into the world as witnesses to his ministry and mission.

3. Jesus confers the Holy Spirit by breathing new life into his disciples.

1 Jesus’ Salutation of Peace:

The disciples had locked themselves in a small room and were hiding from the Jewish and Roman authorities who they feared would imprison and possibly kill them (John 20:19-31). This was Jesus’ fifth meeting with his disciples since his resurrection, but it was the first meeting with them as a group since they abandoned him in the Garden of Gethsemane the night prior to his crucifixion. Jesus could have scolded the disciples for their lack of loyalty in leaving him for prey at the hands of the Roman soldiers. He could have rebuked Peter with an “I told you so”, stating his disappointment at Peter’s predicted betrayal at a moment when Jesus could have really used a friend. Jesus could have criticized the disciples for not remembering all that he had told them about the “Third Day.” Jesus could have asked them why they continued in their skepticism and disbelief about his rising from the dead even after the disciples visited the empty tomb. Perhaps Jesus could have continued by asking the disciples why they thought that the women who eagerly brought them the news of the Risen Christ, having seen and spoken with him in his glorified form, were not worthy of belief. Jesus could have said many things to the disciples, pointing out their lack of loyalty and refusal to believe. Yet, he did not. Instead, Jesus says to them, “Peace be with you.” Coming from the Greek, the word for peace is Eirene. The word describes more than the desire for harmony or goodwill. It is descriptive of the fullness of goodness, perfection, and completeness, devoid of adversity.

The Hebrew equivalent of Eirene is Shalom. It is a wish for the other person to experience unconditional blessings and prosperity for a full and complete life. To greet another with the salutation, “Shalom Aleichem” means the following: “I wish you completeness and wholeness, health, prosperity, harmony of mind, body, and spirit, devoid of all conflict, adversity, and fear. I wish you every good thing that any one individual can possibly experience in the world in a spirit of love and deep-rooted peace, which begins and ends at your spiritual center; at the level of soul.” Wholeness and completeness at the level of man’s spiritual core was the kind of “peace” that Jesus bestowed on his disciples. This bestowal of such incredible blessings served not only to waylay their fears but to accomplish so much more. I picture the disciples as being initially startled and incredulous with fear as Jesus suddenly appeared in the small room despite the locked doors. Moments later, however, all their preoccupations, appearing redundant and unsubstantiated, would vanish, as did their uncertainties, their anger, and even their guilt for having abandoned Jesus in his hour of need.

Suddenly, the non-threatening, all-loving, merciful, and compassionate Jesus raised their human spirits, enabling them to re-discover joy, a joy that they once knew and experienced with their friend and mentor. What a powerful message for those who despair, for those who doubt, and for those who lack hope in tomorrow! Only when men and women of faith learn to bring personal turmoil, crises, and tribulations to Jesus will they find peace and joy, which the world can neither bestow nor destroy.

2 Commissioning of the Disciples:

After Jesus offers the disciples “peace,” John says that Jesus then sends them forth into the world in the same way that the Father had sent Jesus: “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you” (20:21). Jesus’ commissioning of the eleven disciples (Judas had not been replaced) to leave the locked room and go into the world as witnesses of his ministry and of his triumph over sin and death was not intended merely for the disciples, nor was it meant for just bishops and priests. By nature of our Baptism and Confirmation, each one of us is called forth and entrusted to bring the message of Jesus Christ into the marketplace as witnesses to the Truth.

Jesus sends his disciples into a troubled and confused world in the same way that he sends 21st-century men and women of faith into a troubled and confused world. Each is called to cultivate and nurture his/her faith without compromise in and to a world that is waiting to be healed. Faith in God’s Word, Jesus Christ, and the Logos of God must drive one’s choices on a daily basis, cultivating positive and wholesome behaviors that lead to the living out of the Gospel. the gospel account for last weekend referred to as the Priestly Prayer of Jesus, Jesus prays for his disciples. It is through the ministry of his disciples that the message of God’s Word, the Logos, would and continues to be made known. In other words, by nature of Baptism and Confirmation, men and women of faith are responsible for keeping the fame of faith alive and burning brightly in their lives for all to see. “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.” “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love.”

3 The Conferral of the Holy Spirit

Immediately after Jesus commissions the disciples as witnesses and heralds of the Good News, John indicates that Jesus imparts upon them the Holy Spirit by breathing on them. God sends forth his Spirit by breathing into man after he creates him from dust. The Greek verb emphysao, means to breathe in. God “breaths in” His spirit, permitting His Spirit to be infused into the souls of the first man and woman. The new life about which John speaks of in this passage (20:22) is not the predicted decent of the Holy Spirit who is yet to come. It is Jesus’ breath of life that will become the creating force, the energy that will be responsible for the new messianic community. In other words, the church of the New Covenant is conceived among the disciples who are the first witnesses of the Good News. The official descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, which marks the birth of the church would only take place following Jesus’ glorification as it is described in Luke’s Acts of the Apostles. Everything changed on the day of Pentecost just as Jesus had predicted. Once the Spirit of Truth, the Advocate entered into the lives of the disciples, their fears vanished. Not only did all their worries and preoccupations disappear, they began to understand everything Jesus had told them and all that he had predicted. For the first time, they understood what Jesus meant.

Pentecost for Today

What significance does Pentecost have for men and women of faith in the 21st century? How has the sending of the Holy Spirit into the disciples' lives changed the way we live (or should live)? Pentecost is a reminder, a visual aid, that the Spirit of Jesus lives as an enduring, vibrant presence in our lives and in our souls. We have already received the Spirit of Jesus in Baptism and Confirmation; thus, we have access to and participate in the same unity that exists between the Father and the Son. Pentecost is a reminder that Jesus is always with us. The Pentecost Event: the descent of the Holy Spirit gives testimony to the fact that we are not alone in our journey through the desert of life’s trials and tribulations.