I
highly recommend reading the commentary below on the Readings for the Vigil in
preparation for the Mass of Pentecost Day.
The Readings for the Mass of the Pentecost pick up, as it were, where
the Readings for the Vigil left off.
The
First Reading is, finally, the account of Pentecost itself, from Acts
2:1-11. We have already remarked on the
intimate relationship between this event and Babel (Pentecost is the Un-Babel)
and Sinai (Pentecost is the giving of the New Law of the New Covenant). It is important to note that the congregation
gathered around the apostles comes not only from a wide variety of nations of
the earth, but also consists of “Jews and converts to Judaism.” In other words, there are both ethnic Jews
and ethnic Gentiles here: those who hear the apostles are truly a
representative cross-section of humanity.
It
is unfortunate, though understandable, the rest of Acts 2 is not read for this
Mass. A reading of the rest of the
chapter should be obligatory for every homilist or teacher and would allow the following points to be made:
(1)
The close association of the giving of the Spirit with the ministry of Peter,
the spokesman to and for the Body of Christ.
One of the goals of the Church is the reunification of the human
family. Denominationalism and
nationalism among non-Catholic Christians defeats this goal. Like him or not, the successor of Peter
remains the central figure of world Christianity. All Catholics are united in their fidelity to
him, and the only thing that unites all non-Catholics is their opposition to
him. Thus he is the great unifier. See this
article by the Protestant Graham Clover.
(2)
The close association of the giving of the Spirit with baptism, and by
extension the sacramental ministry of the Church: “Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”
(Acts 2:38).
(3) The correlation of the worship of the early Church and Mass:
“And they devoted themselves to
(a) the apostles’
teaching and
(b) fellowship, to
the
(c) breaking of
bread and the
(d) prayers (Acts
2:42).” This is a perennial description
of the life of the Church. We see all these same elements in the Mass,
respectively, in (a) the readings and homily, the (b) passing of the peace, (c)
the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and (d) the Collect and the Eucharistic
Prayer. St. Luke records the life of the
early Church in such a way that we can recognize our continuity with them,
because we are the same Body extended in time.
The Responsorial Psalm is the same as that for the Vigil. See below.
The Second Reading (1 Cor 12:3-13) raises several interesting
points. St. Paul says, “No one can say
Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”
What does it mean to say “Jesus is Lord?” Remember that Jews like Paul did not
pronounce the divine name (YHWH) but substituted adonai in Hebrew and kurios,
“Lord,” in Greek. The fullest sense of
proclaiming “Jesus is Lord” is to identify him with the God of Israel who
revealed himself to Moses.
Further, Paul’s statement that “No one can say Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit,” reminds us that Pentecost, while a extraordinary
event, is not the first bestowal of the Spirit on mankind. The Spirit has been active since
Creation. Particularly, a careful
reading of the infancy narratives of Luke 1-2, to mention just one example,
shows how active the Spirit was even before the earthly ministry of
Christ. St. Paul’s statement implies
that the Spirit was already active in some way upon certain individuals who
confessed Jesus as Lord in the Gospel narratives (e.g. Matt 15:22, John
20:18,28).
This is an important point to make in relation to the Gospel
Reading (John 20:19-23), which is John’s record of the initial bestowal of the
Spirit on the Apostles. Sometimes this
is called the “Johannine Pentecost,” but it would be incorrect to pit these two
events against one another, as if John was of the opinion that the Spirit was
given at one time, and Luke of the opinion that it was dispensed at
another. In the Christian life, there
are certainly definitive giftings of the Spirit (for example, in Baptism and
Confirmation), but the Spirit comes to us continually, not just once.
In fact, Luke does record the same event we find detailed in
today’s Gospel Reading, although the fact is frequently missed. In Luke 24:49 Jesus says, “Behold, I send the
promise of my Father upon you.” The Greek
is present tense: Jesus is giving the
Spirit as he speaks, which is the event recorded in John 20. The rest of Luke 24:49 says, “But stay in the
city until you are clothed with power from high.” So Pentecost is not the first time the
Apostles receive the Spirit. Rather, it
is a special dispensation, it is a “clothing with power from on high.” We should understand it as an extraordinary
empowerment with authority, gifts and charisms that they will need for their
apostolic ministry. As the Second Reading
emphasized, there are many gifts and forms of ministry inspired by the same
Spirit.
Finally, the Gospel Reading emphasizes the coordination of the
ministry of the Spirit with the Apostles.
John makes the same point as Luke, a point we have remarked on in
previous posts. Highlighted here is the
essence of what we know as the Sacrament of Reconciliation: “Whose sins you
forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained.” This emphasizes the purpose for which the
Spirit is given: that our sins may be forgiven.
Calvin struggled with this verse and ended up arguing that the
“forgiveness of sins” referred to the apostles’ preaching. Through preaching sins were forgiven or
retained. One can see that
interpretation is certainly not the obvious meaning of the text. Perhaps if the entire Church had always
understood the verse that way, one could accept it as its meaning, but of
course, that’s not the Church’s tradition either. Like many other passages of Scripture, this
was one in which Calvin could not actually live by the principle of “sola
scriptura.” When talking with other
Christians, Catholics should remember that it is most certainly not a question of “them” taking the
Bible “literally,” and “us” taking the Bible “figuratively.” The differences between Catholics and other
Christians revolve around which passages
are to be taken one way or the other.
As a Protestant pastor I never even noticed John 20:23. Now, I love this verse as an assurance that
those vested with the leadership of the Church have been granted by Jesus
himself the authority to remit sins. I’m
not left to battle with my own subjective judgments on my own behavior, which
are invariably self-justifying and biased, but I can state reality before the
man on whom hands have been laid, and objectively, tangibly hear the voice of
the Spirit: “Absolvo te …”
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