DAILY- HOMILY

MAY 23, 2010
PENTECOST SUNDAY
8TH SUNDAY OF EASTER – C

ACTS 2:1-11
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met together, when
suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a violent wind which
filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and there appeared
to them tongues as of fire; these separated and came to rest on the
head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and
began to speak different languages as the Spirit gave them power to
express themselves. Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from
every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, and
each one was bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language.
They were amazed and astonished. 'Surely,' they said, 'all these men
speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them
in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from
Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; residents of
Rome- Jews and proselytes alike -- Cretans and Arabs, we hear them
preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.'

FIRST CORINTHIANS 12:3-7, 12-13
Because of that, I want to make it quite clear to you that no one who
says 'A curse on Jesus' can be speaking in the Spirit of God, and
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;
there are many different ways of serving, but it is always the same
Lord. There are many different forms of activity, but in everybody it
is the same God who is at work in them all. The particular
manifestation of the Spirit granted to each one is to be used for the
general good. For as with the human body which is a unity although it
has many parts -- all the parts of the body, though many, still making
up one single body -- so it is with Christ. We were baptised into one
body in a single Spirit, Jews as well as Greeks, slaves as well as
free men, and we were all given the same Spirit to drink.

JOHN 20:19-23
In the evening of that same day, the first day of the week, the doors
were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the
Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, 'Peace be with
you,' and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord, and he said to
them again, 'Peace be with you. 'As the Father sent me, so am I
sending you.' After saying this he breathed on them and said: Receive
the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven; if
you retain anyone's sins, they are retained.

REFLECTION
We are celebrating today the feast of Pentecost. On that first
Pentecost over 2,000 years ago, the Holy Spirit descended upon the
disciples and transformed them in the most remarkable way imaginable.
They were filled with a Spirit that radiated from them and swept
across the world like a tidal wave. On that first Pentecost the Holy
Spirit transformed the disciples into the Body of Christ. On that
first Pentecost the Church was born.

Something else happened that first Pentecost. The Holy Spirit not only
changed the disciples into the Body of Christ but also breathed into
them the mind of Christ. A story illustrates how remarkable their new
understanding was.

A newspaper reporter once asked a biblical expert: if a film crew got
into a time machine, flew back into history, and recorded on film the
complete life of Jesus would he exchange the Gospels for that film?
Without a moment's hesitation, the biblical expert said "No," Then he
explained that even the disciples did not always understand everything
that Jesus said and did. It was only after Jesus rose from the dead
and sent the Holy Spirit that they understood everything fully.

For example, Jesus said to them; "The Son of Man is to be handed over
to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will
rise." St. Mark then adds, "But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him." Likewise, after describing how
Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, St. John says, "His
disciples did not understand this at first, but when Jesus had been
glorified, they remembered that these things were written about him."
And finally, once Jesus told Jewish authorities in Jerusalem: "Destroy
this temple and in three days I will raise it up." John then adds,
"But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore when he
was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said
this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had
spoken."

What happened to the disciples of Jesus to help them understand these
things? Exactly what Jesus said would happen: "The Holy Spirit that
the Father will send in my name - he will teach you everything and
remind you of all that I told you." In other words what makes the
Gospel so valuable is that they were written in the light of the Holy
Spirit's coming on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit gave Jesus' followers a
new understanding of the teaching of Jesus. It is this understanding
that is recorded in the Gospels. And so, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
not only formed Jesus' disciples into the Body of Christ but also
breathed into them the mind of Christ. They became the Church, the
body and mind of Christ extended into space and time. They became a
whole new creation. And that is what we celebrate today.

We celebrate the birthday of the Church; we celebrate the birthday of
the Body of Christ. It was into this body that we were baptized and
confirmed. Through baptism and confirmation we received the Holy
Spirit just as fully as did the disciples on Pentecost. Like them, we
received from the Holy Spirit the mission to continue the work that
Jesus began. We received the mission to complete God's kingdom on
earth. This is our mission; this is our calling; this is what we
celebrate today.

PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray …
… for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
… for the healing and strength:
- Ely Lara
- Rita P. Cuerva
- Alfonso Purugganan
… for the personal intentions of
- Camille
- Titong V.
- Mariano Montemayor
- Maricar
… for the eternal repose of the soul of
- Ely Aquino
Eternal rest grant unto him and may perpetual light shine upon him.
May he and all the dearly departed rest in peace.
… for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary.
- Birthday: Cynthia C. Salud
- Birthday: Cynthia Carol Tee
- Birthday: Marinela K. Fabella
- Birthday: Betty Ng
- Wedding Anniversary: David & Lilian Abadco
… for world peace and reconciliation.

Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers
and for those who need our prayers the most.

Have a good day!

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