Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
THE FEAST OF PENTECOST (Cycles ABC)
Vigil:
Genesis 11:1-9 or Exodus 19:3-8a, 16-20b or Ezekiel 37:1-14 or Joel 3:1-5
Psalm 104:1-2, 24-25, 27-28, 29-30
Romans 8:22-27
John 7:37-39
Extended Vigil:
Genesis 11:1-9
Psalm 33:10-15
Exodus 19:3-8a, 16-20b
Daniel 3:52-53, 55-56 or Psalm 19:8-11
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 107:2-9
Joel 3:1-5
Psalm 104:1-2, 24-25, 27-30
Romans 8:22-27
John 7:37-39
Mass during the Day
Acts 2:1-11 (Cycles ABC)
Psalms 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34 (Cycles ABC)
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 (Cycles ABC) or
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 (Cycle A), or Galatians 5:16-25 (Cycle B)
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Romans 9:8-17 (Cycle C)
John 20:19-23 (Cycle A)
John 20:19-23 or 15:26-27; 16:12-15 (Cycle B)
John 20:19-23 or 16:12-15, 23b-26 or 14:15-16, 23b-26 (Cycle C)
Abbreviations: NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The word LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name, YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, which is why we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Catechism teaches that the Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
"On the day of Pentecost when the seven weeks of Easter had come to an end, Christ's Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, manifested, given, and communicated as a divine person: of his fullness, Christ, the Lord, pours out the Spirit in abundance" (CCC 731).
The Theme of the Readings for the Day Mass: The Gift of
the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son
The Old Covenant holy day of obligation (pilgrim feast), known
as the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot in Hebrew, was established by
Yahweh in the covenant formation at Mount Sinai. The Jews in Jesus's time
called it the Feast of Pentecost from the Greek he pentekoste hermea
meaning "the fiftieth day" since God ordained its celebration to fall fifty
days from the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:9-20). At the beginning of the great
adventure at the crossroads of salvation history known as the Sinai Covenant,
God ordained that the Israelites must commemorate seven annual feasts as His
covenant people. During those festivals, the covenant people would relive the
themes of mercy and redemption played out in the Exodus liberation. Three of
the yearly feasts were designated "pilgrim feasts," in which every man of the
covenant must present himself before Yahweh's holy altar of sacrifice.
Scripture identifies the three "pilgrim feasts" as Unleavened Bread,
Weeks/Pentecost, and Shelters, also called Booths or Tabernacles
(Ex 23:14-17, 34:18-23;
Dt 16:16 and 2 Chron 8:13).
According to Leviticus 23, of the seven annual God-ordained feasts, only Firstfruits and Weeks/Pentecost did not have specific dates. The covenant people were to celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits on the day after the Saturday Sabbath of the holy week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:11). It was a perpetual feast always to fall on the first day of the week, our Sunday (Lev 23:9-14). The covenant people were to count seven full weeks from the Feast of Firstfruits. On the fiftieth day after Firstfruits, they were commanded to celebrate the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, as the ancients counted with no zero place-value by counting the Sunday of Firstfruits as day #1 (Lev 23:15-16). Therefore, the Feast of Pentecost also fell on the first day of the week, our Sunday (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 13.8.4 [252]). The Feast of Firstfruits in AD 30 was the day Jesus rose from the dead. Christians continue to celebrate that day as Easter Sunday, and fifty days later (as the ancients counted without the concept of a zero place-value) was the first Christian Pentecost.
After His Resurrection, Jesus taught the Church for forty days until His ascension to His Father's heavenly Kingdom (Acts 1:3). At that event, Jesus instructed the Apostles and disciples to return to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, telling them: John baptized with water but, not many days from now, you are going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). The Apostles and the disciples were obedient to Jesus's command. They prayed together as one community with the Virgin Mary and with one petition for nine days for God to send His Spirit until the tenth day, fifty days after Christ's Resurrection. The fiftieth day was the first day of the week (our Sunday) and the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which commemorated the birth of the Old Covenant Church at Mount Sinai and became the birth of the New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ.
On the Feast of Pentecost in AD 30, God the Holy Spirit baptized and indwelled the 120 New Covenant people of God, praying with the Virgin Mary in the Upper Room in Jerusalem (Acts 1:15). He gave them the gift of the one language, the Gospel of salvation, to unite all the world's peoples. His gift removed the curse of the confusion of tongues and separation of the peoples of the earth in God's judgment at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). The Spirit of God brought humanity back into one family, what was torn asunder at the judgment on Babel (Acts 1:13-15; 2:1-11; Gen 11:1-9). He infused Jesus's disciples with new life as He sealed the new Law of a New Covenant brought by Jesus the Redeemer-Messiah and Son of God. Jesus's new Law of love is written not on stone tablets like the old Law at Mount Sinai, but on the hearts of New Covenant believers, as promised by the prophets, Jesus, and St. Paul (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Jn 16:22b; Rom 8:2-11; 2 Cor 3:2-8).
Our Easter season ends by being crowned with three feasts celebrating God's love for us: Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Corpus Christi. These feasts are intimate reminders of how God chose us as His own from before the foundation of the world to be children in His holy covenant family (Eph 1:4-5).
The First Reading Acts 2:1-11 ~ The Holy Spirit Gives
Birth to the Church at Pentecost
1 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were
all in one place together. 2 And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like
a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. 3
Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest
on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. 5 Now
there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. 6
At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because
each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 They were astounded, and in
amazement, they asked, "Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?" 8
Then how does each of us hear them in his own native language? 9 We are
Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt, and the districts
of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, 11 both Jews and converts
to Judaism, Cretans, and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of
the mighty acts of God."
The miracle of the Christian Pentecost took place on the Jewish Feast of Weeks, also known by its Greek name, penetkoste, in Jesus's time. The Greek designation for the Feast of Weeks also occurs in the Greek versions of Tobit 2:1, and 2 Maccabees 12:32. Each God-ordained seven annual feasts celebrated the liberation of the Exodus experience and the creation of the nation of Israel. Weeks/Pentecost was the second harvest festival. It was preceded by the Feast of Firstfruits when the covenant people offered the first of the spring barley harvest and celebrated the Israelites crossing the Red Sea as a free people who were the "Firstfruits" of God's covenant people in the Promised Land. The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost came fifty days after Firstfruits (counting Firstfruits as day #1), as the people offered the first of their wheat harvest.
The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost celebrated the Theophany of God at Mount Sinai. At that momentous event, for the first time in salvation history, God made a corporate covenant with a united people and established an ordained priesthood with a prescribed liturgy of worship. He ratified the covenant treaty in the giving of the Law (Ex 20:1-23:33). And He sealed the covenant in a three-part ceremony that included blood sacrifice, an oath swearing ceremony, and a sacred meal in the Divine Presence (Ex 24:1-11). The non-canonical 2nd century BC Book of Jubilees confirms the focus of the Feast of Pentecost as a covenant renewal ceremony (Jubilees 6:17-21), and the Babylonian Talmud (c. AD 250) identified the feast as the "day the Torah was given" to Israel (Babylonian Talmud: Pes., 68b).
After Jesus's ascension to Heaven (Acts 1:6-11), the 120 members of Jesus's disciples that comprised the New Covenant Church gathered as one family, praying with the Virgin Mary in the Upper Room in Jerusalem as Jesus commanded (Acts 4-5, 12-15). They prayed for nine days until the tenth day, the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. It was fifty days since the Feast of Firstfruits and Jesus's Resurrection. For this reason, a novena (a continuing prayer with one intention) lasts for nine days. On the tenth day, fifty days from the Resurrection, Jesus sent the gift that He promised in His discourse at the Last Supper (Acts 1:4-5; Lk 24:49; Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-8, 23): And suddenly there came from the sky a noise [sound] like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were (Acts 2:2). Notice that the sound filled the house, not the wind, and it was "like" the sound of a driving wind. This description of its loudness recalls the Theophany at Mount Sinai: On the morning of the third day, there were peals of thunder and lightning and a heavy cloud over the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that the people in the camp trembled (Ex 19:16-19). The comparison between the sound and a driving wind also recalls the Creation event when a mighty "wind" hovered over the waters of Creation (Gen 1:1-2).
3 Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which
parted and came to rest on each one of them.
This event fulfilled the prophecy of St. John the Baptist in
Matthew 3:11 when he told the people: I am baptizing you with water for
repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not
worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
It was also the fulfillment of the prophecy in the 6th century
BC when Yahweh told the prophet Ezekiel: "I will give you a new heart
and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts
and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you
live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees" (Ezek 36:26-27). And it
is the fulfillment of Jesus's promise to Nicodemus when He said, "Amen,
amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of
water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh, and what is born of Spirit is
spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above'" (Jn 3:5-7).
Tongues of fire hovered upon each of the disciples. Fire is a repeated symbol of Theophany in Scripture. For example:
Also, see Ex 14:24; Dt 4:24, 33, 36; 5:4; 10:4; 2 Kng 2:10-12; Ps 7:9/13 LXX and Ps 28/29:7 LXX, which reads, The voice of the Lord flashes forth in flames of fire.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began
to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
The Holy Spirit manifests Himself by indwelling each member
of the assembled community in the Upper Room and giving them the gift of speech
to preach the Gospel message of salvation (see Mk 16:17; Acts 10:45; 19:6;
1 Cor chapters 12-14).
Acts 2:5-11 ~ Now there were devout Jews from every
nation under Heaven staying in Jerusalem. 6 At this sound, they gathered in a
large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his
own language. 7 They were astounded, and in amazement, they asked, "Are not all
these people who are speaking Galileans?" 8 Then how does each of us hear them
in his own native language? 9 We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites,
inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia
and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as
travelers from Rome, 11 both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs,
yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God."
Since Pentecost was a pilgrim feast, devout Jews traveled to
God's Temple in Jerusalem from across the Roman Empire. It was the only place
on earth where the covenant people could offer sacrifices and worship the God
of Israel (Dt 12:2-11). The Jews could only offer prayer, praise, and Scripture
teaching in the Synagogues. The Mass incorporates both the Jewish Synagogue's
reading and study of Scripture in the Liturgy of the Word and the Temple's
offering of sacrifice and worship in the Toda/Todah ("thanksgiving")
communion sacrifice (Lev 7:1-3/11-13) in the Liturgy of the Eucharist (Eucharistia
= "thanksgiving in Greek).
In the crowd, there were not only Jewish members of the covenant but also Gentile converts. The historian/Jewish priest Flavius Josephus (AD 37-100) testified that large groups of the faithful from across the Roman Empire came to Jerusalem at Pentecost (Antiquities of the Jews, 14.13.4 [337-8]; 17.10.2 [254]; Jewish Wars, 1.13.3 [253]; 2.3.1 [42-43]). The covenant people who came to Jerusalem from the different provinces and cities represented the Gentile lands of the scattered covenant people. They included those displaced and scattered ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, exiled by the Assyrians in the 8th century BC, and those who did not return to the Southern Kingdom of Judah at the end of the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. The Jews attending the feast from the diaspora were covenant people living in Gentile lands, all governed by Rome. These scattered "sheep" of God's flock that were "lost" will be gathered together into the New Covenant of the Good Shepherd as prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel: For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will look after and tend my sheep. As a shepherd tends his flock when he finds himself among his scattered sheep, so will I tend my sheep. I will rescue them from every place where they were scattered ... I will make a covenant of peace with them (Ezek 34:11-25).
According to Acts 2:15, the miracle in the Upper Room occurred at the third-hour Jewish time (9 AM) when the Temple gates opened for the morning liturgical worship service of the Tamid sacrifice (Ex 29:38-42; see the book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice"). Large groups of people would have been on their way to the Temple to begin the required sacred assembly of the morning liturgical service. In addition to the sacrifice of the morning Tamid lamb for the atonement and sanctification of the covenant people, communal and personal sacrifices were required for the feast day of Pentecost (Num 28:26-31). The people saw that the men proclaiming Jesus the Messiah were Galileans (Acts 2:7). Perhaps they were recognized by their clothes or their accents. The crowds were amazed that they heard the one language of the Gospel message preached in each of their many different dialects by the Galilean Christians.
On the day of the second great Pentecost (the first great Pentecost was the Theophany of God at Mount Sinai and God's covenant formation with Israel), God reversed the sin that caused the scattering of the family of humanity across the face of the earth in the event of the Tower of Babel:
| Tower of Babel | 2nd Great Pentecost |
| The people used language to promote a human agenda (Gen 11:3-4). | The Holy Spirit used language to announce the mighty works of God (Acts 2:14-41). |
| God confused tongues into many different languages (Gen 11:7). | The Holy Spirit caused people speaking many different languages to understand one Gospel message (Acts 2:5-11). |
| The result was disunity (Gen 11:6-7). | The result was unity (Acts 2:41). |
| At the Tower of Babel, God scattered the human family across the face of the earth in judgment (Gen 11:9). | Pentecost was the beginning of the reunification of the human family as God sent men and women to gather into the New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ redeemed people from across the face of the earth (Acts 1:8; 2:37-41). |
| Michal E. Hunt Copyright © 2013 | |
In the great miracle of the Holy Spirit taking possession of the New Covenant Kingdom of Jesus Christ at Pentecost, God restored the family of Adam and transformed it into adopted sons and daughters in the family of God. However, that divine filling and indwelling did not end on that day. Pentecost is an ongoing miracle in the Church as men, women, and children are continually reborn into God's holy covenant family through the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism.
In God's divine plan for humanity's salvation, Jesus and the birth of the New Covenant Kingdom of the Church fulfilled the Old Covenant annual feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost. The first three feasts came within eight days: Passover was on the 14th of Nisan, Unleavened Bread from the 15th to the 21st, and Firstfruits on the day after the Saturday Sabbath of the holy week of Unleavened Bread (Lev 23:4-14). The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost celebration was celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev 23:15-16). In Jesus's crucifixion and death during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, in His Resurrection on the Feast of Firstfruits, and in the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, God fulfilled all four of the Old Covenant springtime, God-ordained sacred annual feasts:
| Old Covenant Annual Feast | New Covenant Fulfillment |
| 1. Passover | Prefigured Christ as humanity's Passover sacrifice |
| 2. Unleavened Bread | New Covenant sacrifice of the Last Supper and the crucifixion of Jesus, the unblemished Lamb of God |
| 3. Firstfruits | The Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the day after the Old Covenant Saturday Sabbath |
| 4. Weeks/Pentecost | Descent of God the Holy Spirit and the birth of Christ's Kingdom of the New Covenant Church |
| The season of the gathering the harvest | |
| 5. Trumpets | Not yet fulfilled |
| 6. Atonement | Not yet fulfilled |
| 7. Tabernacles/Shelters | Not yet fulfilled |
These seven feasts are the only annual sacred remembrance feasts commanded by God in the Old Testament (Lev 23). Other festivals like Hanukkah and Purim are not God-ordained feasts but national feasts declared by the people. The celebration of the last three God-ordained feasts (5, 6, and 7) takes place in the fall and has yet to find fulfillment historically in Christ.
The miracle of the coming of the Holy Spirit, on the Feast of Pentecost in AD 30, is the beginning of the Messianic Age of the New Covenant Kingdom of the Church, the Final Age of humankind, and the beginning of the great harvest of souls into God's heavenly storehouse. The work of Christ the Redeemer "tore open" the gates of Heaven that were closed since Adam's fall from grace (Mk 1:10, CCC 536, 1026) to begin the great harvest of righteous human souls into God's storehouse in Heaven.
In the liturgical calendar of the Old Covenant feasts, the break between the first four annual feasts and the last three feasts was the season of the long summer harvest. In Salvation History terminology, the "long harvest" is the present "season" or "age." The great harvest of souls into Heaven will continue until the Son of God returns to claim His Church and ends time as we know it. At that time, it is reasonable to assume that God will fulfill the last three of the seven annual Jewish remembrance feasts in Christ's glorious Second Advent.
St. Paul described the event of Christ's return for the Christians of Thessalonica: For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from Heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord (1 Thess 4:16-17). The Final Judgment and the creation of the new Heaven and Earth will immediately follow Christ's return in glory (Mt 25:31-46; Rev 20:11-15; 21:14).
Will God fulfill the Feast of Trumpets in the Second Advent of the Christ (1 Thess 4:16)? The Bible records the use of trumpets in civic, military, and liturgical events. Trumpets announced the beginning of the Liturgy of worship in the Temple (1 Chron 15:28; 16:6, 42; 2 Chron 29:28), the start of the Jubilee year (Lev 25:9), and the accession of a newly anointed king (1 Kng 1:34). In times of war, trumpets sounded to both begin and call off an attack (Josh 6:20; Judg 7:20; 2 Sam 2:28; 18:16). Most significantly, trumpets signaled the anticipated interventions of God in human history; for example, the coming of God's divine judgment (Zeph 1:15-16; Zec 9:14), the gathering of the elect (Mt 24:31), the bodily resurrection of the dead (1 Thess 4:16), and the ultimate coming of the Kingdom of God (Rev 8:1-9:21; 11:16-18).
Will God fulfill the Feast of Atonement in the Final Judgment? Will He fulfill the Feast of Tabernacles that celebrated the building of the desert Sanctuary as the place of communion with God when He creates the new Heaven and new earth and tabernacles/dwells with His resurrected human children?
The possible fulfillment of the last three feasts when Christ returns as Divine Judge:
| The Feast of Trumpets | The return of Christ in glory |
| The Feast of Atonement | The Final Judgment |
| The Feast of Tabernacles | The creation of the new Heaven and earth |
We must remain vigilant in preparation for the climax of salvation history and the fulfillment of these last three feasts because we do not know the day or the hour of Christ's Parousia, the Second Coming, and the glorious visitation of the King of kings (Mt 24:36-39).
Christ and the ministry of the Holy Spirit: "Because the Holy Spirit is the anointing of Christ, it is Christ who, as the head of the Body, pours out the Spirit among his members to nourish, heal, and organize them in their mutual functions, to give them life, send them to bear witness and associate them to his self-offering to the Father and to his intercession for the whole world. Through the Church's sacraments, Christ communicates his Holy and sanctifying Spirit to the members of his Body" (CCC 739).
Responsorial Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34 ~ Renewal by the
Spirit
Response: "Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of
the earth" or "Alleluia."
1 Bless the LORD [Yahweh], O my soul! O LORD [Yahweh], my
God, you are great indeed! 24 How varied are your works, LORD [Yahweh]! In
wisdom, you have wrought them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
Response:
29 When you hide your face, they are lost. When you take
away their breath [ruah], they perish and return to the dust from which they
came. 30 When you send forth your breath [ruah], they are created, and you
renew the face of the earth. 31 May the glory of the LORD [Yahweh] endure
forever; may the LORD [Yahweh] be glad in these works!
Response:
34 May my theme be pleasing to God; I will rejoice in the
LORD [Yahweh].
Response:
In most Old Testament translations, the word "LORD" or "GOD" in all capital letters replaces God's divine name, YHWH (Yahweh), in the text. The substitution is a false piety not required in Scripture and contrary to God's command to Moses in Exodus ~ This is my name for all time, and thus I am to be invoked for all generations to come" (Ex 3:15b NJB).
In today's psalms, we sing in praise of God the Creator and His continual renewal of the earth and all life on it. The very breath of God's life-giving Spirit animates the renewal. In Hebrew, the word "breath" is ruah, which can mean wind, breath, air, or soul/spirit. It is the same word in Genesis 1:2, where God's Spirit/wind/breath hovered over the waters at the beginning of the Creation event (the NAB translates the word ruah as "mighty wind" in this passage). Christians reinterpreted this psalm and applied it to the renewal of life through God's gift of the Holy Spirit.
Second Reading:
1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 (Cycle A)
Galatians 5:16-25 (Cycle B)
Romans 8:8-17 (Cycle C)
Second Reading Cycle A: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 ~ One Lord, One Spirit
3b And no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the
Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts by the same Spirit;
5 there are different forms of service but the same Lord; 7 there are different
workings by the same God who produces all of them in everyone. 7 To each
individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit ... 12 As a
body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though
many are one body, so also Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized
into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all
given to drink of one Spirit.
St. Paul counseled the faith community in Corinth (Greece) that while there are many spiritual gifts, only one Spirit generates those gifts. He also wrote that there are many kinds of service, and all forms of service are an offering to the same Lord. The legitimacy of works and service is grounded in building up the unity of the Church, the one Body of Christ formed from the individual lives of each believer. St. Paul defined spiritual work and service as a phenomenon that is the action of the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Any work or service that does not give glory to Jesus and unity to the Church is not of God.
Second Reading Cycle B: Galatians 5:16-25 ~ The Fruits of
the Spirit
(Brothers and sisters) 16 ... live by the Spirit,
and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh
has desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; these are
opposed to each other, so that you may not do what you want. 18 But if you are
guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh
are obvious: immorality, impurity, lust, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds,
rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions,
factions, 21 occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn
you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the
kingdom of God. 22 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. 24
Against such, there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the
Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.
In this passage, St. Paul continues his discourse on the freedom of the Gospel (Gal 5:13) by elaborating on how Jesus calls Christians to fulfill the Law of the Gospel by showing their love for God and neighbor (5:14-15) and by "living by the Spirit "(5:16-26). Paul contrasts "works of the flesh" in verses 19-21 with "fruits of the Spirit" (not "works" of the Spirit) in verses 22-23. The Holy Spirit and not the old Law of the Sinai Covenant leads one to this kind of positive living.
Lists of vices and virtues were common in philosophical works of the ancient world, and Paul also offered them in Romans 1:29-31 and 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. He writes that the "flesh," or human desire, is at war with the call of the Holy Spirit for the Christian to live in righteousness that produces the positive "fruit" of the attributes in verses 22-23. His dire warning is that those who submit to the sins of the flesh "will not inherit the Kingdom of God." However, those who "have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires" and belong to Christ live "in the Spirit," and He will lead them into eternal beatitude.
Second Reading Cycle C: Romans 8:8-17 ~ Living in the
Spirit as Sons and Daughters of God
8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But
you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the
Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does
not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead
because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit
of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised
Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his
Spirit that dwells in you. 12 Consequently, brothers, we are not debtors to the
flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the
flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the
body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children
of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear,
but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba, "Father!" 16
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17
and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if only
we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
In the previous chapter in Romans 7:24, St. Paul asked the rhetorical question, "Who will deliver me from this mortal body?" His simple answer in verse 25 was that Jesus Christ is our rescuer. Then, in chapter 8, Paul provides a more in-depth response. The two opening verses introduce the central theme of this chapter: the Christian has been set free from the condemnation of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Life is what the Holy Spirit guarantees! In today's passage, St. Paul presents this theme in two parts:
Adam and Eve's fall from divine grace resulted in the condition of the absence of grace that became inherited from our first parents by all humanity who became infected with their "original sin" (CCC 215, 389, 390, 397-8, 404, 409). This condition set two directions or two choices before those of us who were born into the state of life without divine grace:
In essence, this is the choice between supernatural life through the Holy Spirit or the animal life of the flesh, the natural condition "in the flesh" that Paul mentioned in verse 8.
The New Law of the Gospel that we receive through Jesus Christ is a law of love, grace, and freedom. These three aspects that are present in the New Law were absent in the Old:
This freedom directly results from God the Son's saving work (also see Romans 6:18, 20, 22; 2 Cor 3:17; Gal 5:1, 13; and CCC 1972).
The source of a life of freedom lived "according to the Spirit" is sanctifying grace. The Christian receives this gift when becoming infused with the life of the Trinity through the power of the Holy Spirit to heal sin and sanctify souls. It is a grace that permanently adheres to the soul in Baptism, the Sacrament of faith, so Jesus required it as a condition of eternal life (Mk 16:16, CCC 1257). However, the sanctifying grace that liberated us from the domination of the flesh and placed us under the Law of the Spirit does not prevent sin from continuing to threaten our freedom. St. John Chrysostom warned the Christian: "We need to submit to the Spirit, to wholeheartedly commit ourselves and strive to keep the flesh in its place. By so doing, our flesh will become spiritual again. Otherwise, if we give in to the easy life, this will lower our soul to the level of the flesh and make it carnal again" (St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, #13; also, see CCC# 1266 & 1999).
In Romans 8:9, St. Paul made the powerful statement: But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Paul declared that only those reborn in the Spirit can belong to God and have the right to call themselves children in His family. It is a concept he expanded in Romans 8:14-17.
In verses 10-11, Paul wrote that the body of flesh is dead. The reality is that every day we are alive in our physical bodies, we are another step closer to death. No matter what we "invest" in our earthly bodies, it is a short-term investment. Because of the effects of sin, the body is doomed to physical death and is an instrument of spiritual death. Through the regenerative waters of Christian Baptism, we become alive in the Spirit of Christ. He has justified (made righteous in the sight of God) the believer, and we look forward to a final resurrection at the end of time when we will receive new, imperishable bodies. Living in the Spirit of Christ, Christians look forward to being alive in a way that makes the present reality of life in the flesh a pale counterfeit kind of living. Investing in life in the Spirit is a long-term investment that will reap enormous benefits because God stands behind that investment.
In verses 12-13, Paul concluded this chapter by stating that Christians can claim victory since fallen human nature no longer dominates them. If Christians choose to put the "flesh" to death by continuing to live in the Spirit, they will have eternal life. Then, Paul began a discussion of the consequences of Christian life through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:14-17 ~ The Christian as a child of God
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are
children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back
into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, Abba,
"Father!" 16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs
with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with
him.
The reality of God the Holy Spirit's presence, brings new
life and a new relationship with God. It is a relationship of spiritual
adoption when we become partakers of the divine nature and eternal life. Jesus's
prayer at Gethsemane in Mark 14:36 is placed on our lips because the Spirit
makes us children of God: "Abba, Father!" he said, "For you everything is
possible. Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you, not I, would have
it." In this prayer, we unite ourselves to Christ's sufferings and His glory
(Rom 8:17).
Paul wrote about spiritual adoption in Galatians 4:3-7 ~ So too with us, as long as we were still underage, we were enslaved to the elemental principles of this world; but when the completion of the time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons. As you are sons, God has sent into our hearts the Spirit of his Son crying, "Abba, Father"; and so you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir, by God's own act. In the Romans and Galatians passages, Paul expressed the two aspects of redemption: freedom from slavery to sin and adoption as children of God. Adoption through the Spirit makes us the joint heirs of what Christ has won for us and guarantees our eternal life inheritance (CCC# 2782; 2784).
What is the implication of Christian adoption into the family of God? In Greek, the word huiothesia, [hwee-oth-es-ee'-ah] "adoption," was a technical term expressing the legal assumption of a person into the status of sonship in a natural family. Paul took this word, used in 1st-century AD legal language in the Roman world, and applied it to both Gentile Christians and Jewish Christians who became members of God's covenant family through the Sacrament of Baptism. However, it is interesting to note that it is not the adoptee who "adopts" but the family. Therefore, Paul's term expressed the prerogative of election in being chosen by the "family" of the Most Holy Trinity to become sons and daughters of the New and everlasting Covenant in Christ. Using this word is also reminiscent of the election of the "children" of Israel as Yahweh's chosen people. God Himself chose the children of Israel out of all the peoples of the earth (Dt 4:37-38; 14:1-2).
The Christian who comes to justification by faith is also elected. However, there is a difference in the adoption of the New Covenant because nowhere in the Old Testament were the people ever invited to call God by the intimate form of address, "Abba." Abba is an Aramaic word meaning "father" in the sense that an American child might use the word "daddy." The use of such an intimate address for God does not appear in the Old Testament, not even in such passages as Deuteronomy 14:1; Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1; Isaiah 1:2; Jeremiah 3:22; and Wisdom 18:13.
Looking at Deuteronomy 14:1-3 and comparing it to Romans 8:15-16, there is a suggested difference in the relationship. Deuteronomy 14:1 expresses a corporate relationship with Israel as a covenant people who are children of Yahweh (previous covenants were with individuals like Adam, Noah, and Abraham and their families). However, Romans 8:15 (and Gal 4:3-7) express a child's personal relationship with a father. In this sense, the Father is God, and the child is each Christian believer justified by faith through the Sacrament of Baptism. Our covenant relationship is both corporate (the Church as the Body of Christ) and personal (for each son and daughter of God). The only exception appeared in Psalm 89:27 when David spoke prophetically of the Messiah: He will cry to me, "You are my father, my God, the rock of my salvation!" So I shall make him my first-born, the highest of earthly kings. The gift of divine son/daughter-ship is only an inheritance through Christ Jesus (CCC# 257-60).
The concept of a son/daughter relationship through the ministry of the Holy Spirit was not a gift the children of Israel received in the Old Testament. It was, however, promised by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 43:1-7 in a prophecy of future salvation: Bring back my sons from far away and my daughters from the remotest part of the earth, everyone who bears my name, whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made (Is 43:6c-7 NJB). St. Peter proclaimed: There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved (Acts 4:12). Through our baptism by the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ and becoming His heirs, we become sons and daughters of the Most High God.
Another deeply theological link is the Christian position as heirs in Christ Jesus. In Romans 8:17, Paul places this "inheritance" on a Christological standard. The Christian becomes an heir of God the Father and a co-heir of Christ. However, a condition is placed on our inheritance in union with the Father's first-born Son, Jesus Christ. Through our baptismal union with the Son, we have inherited a dynamic insertion into the life of the Trinity. Since the Trinity is a union that cannot be divided, even though it is a union of three, we are fully united to Christ in His mission as Savior. This union is not static; it is active, productive, and complete.
Paul stated that we must share in Christ's redemptive suffering as Christians to share in His glory. Paul's point forms a surprising connection between Jesus's Passion and Resurrection and the Christian inheritance of eternal blessings. As Jesus told His disciples, in our earthly lives, we must take up our crosses and follow Him (Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mk 8:34; 10:21; Lk 9:23; 14:27). The way to our glorification is through living in the imitation of Christ by offering up our sufferings in this life as He did in His. Paul wrote, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:17). Paul will revisit this same mysterious connection between suffering and the hope of glory at the end of Romans Chapter 8.
While the gift of our divine son/daughter-ship is individual, our sufferings are not to be only our own. When we unite our human sufferings to His human sufferings, we do not suffer alone. We can offer up our pain in union with the suffering He offered for our salvation and the world's salvation. Affliction and pain are part of our fallen human condition; therefore, on the cross, Jesus assumed our afflictions to bring about our redemption. He did not come to do away with suffering, but to unite our suffering to His. Jesus has shown us that human suffering can have value: Christian suffering united with His redemptive suffering also becomes redemptive! Our suffering is not only the overflow of His suffering but as Paul wrote, by joining our suffering with Christ's, our participation in His glorification is assured (Rom 8:17.
Unlike most human heirs who greedily horde their inheritance and are unwilling to share their earthly wealth with other children in the family of their earthly fathers, God the Son offers us a share in His inheritance. However, as His co-heirs, we must cooperate in that inheritance. Jesus of Nazareth suffered to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Anyone who is His co-heir and continues His work must share in His suffering while cooperating in faith and love to carry the Gospel message of salvation to the world. The promised inheritance of eternal life is a gift of grace far beyond any amount of temporal suffering. Our short-term earthly afflictions yield a long-term investment in everlasting love and peace with God. Paul understood the nature of personal suffering joined to the redemptive suffering of Christ. He wrote of his afflictions for the sake of the Church: Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church (Col 1:24).
The Gospel Readings for the Feast of Pentecost:
Gospel of John 20:19-23 (Cycle A)
Gospel of John 20:19-23 or 15:26-26; 16:12-15 (Cycle B)
Gospel of John 20:19-23 or 14:15-16, 23b-26 (Cycle C)
John 20:19-23 ~ The Apostles Receive the Holy Spirit
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the
doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had
said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when
they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, so I sent you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on
them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
It is the afternoon of the first day of the week (Sunday). For the Jews whose day ended at sundown, "evening" is in the mid-to-late afternoon. The time is probably about 3 PM, the hour of afternoon prayer and the afternoon liturgical worship service in the Temple (Ex 29:38-42; Num 28:3-8; and the book "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice"). It was the same hour Jesus gave up His life on the altar of the Cross three days earlier (as the ancients counted), and it was Resurrection Sunday. The disciples were fearful because the Sanhedrin might arrest them and try them for blasphemy, just as they condemned Jesus. Suddenly, the resurrected Christ came to them supernaturally. Locked doors could not stop Him. His greeting to the disciples was the customary greeting of the Jews: "Shalom/peace be with you." The greeting should be familiar to us because these are the words the priest uses as he stands in "persona Christi," in the Person of Christ, as he greets the congregation, saying, "Peace be with you."
They were overjoyed to see the Lord (verse 20). They must have been feeling ashamed of their conduct after His arrest. But in His greeting, Jesus reassures them as He lovingly reestablishes the intimacy they had previously enjoyed with Him. He shows them His wounded hands and His pierced side. Showing them His wounds dispels any impression that they were seeing a ghost or imposter. They truly see the risen, glorified Body of Jesus Himself.
21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, so I sent you. 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on
them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are
forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
This remarkable moment in salvation history is the
ordination and mission statement of the Church's Magisterium. Jesus was sending
His disciples out into the world to proclaim His Kingdom with the power and
authority of God the Father.
Jesus said, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (in the Greek text, the article "the" is missing). Some scholars suggest the missing article indicates that, in this case, Jesus's breath was not giving God the Holy Spirit as they would receive Him with the rest of the New Covenant Church at the Feast of Pentecost 50 days later. They suggest it was only an "effusion" of His spirit. However, do not miss the symbolic significance of Jesus breathing on them. In Hebrew and Greek, the word "breath" is the same as the word for "spirit" or "wind." God first breathed His spirit into Adam to give him physical life (Gen 2:7). Now Christ breathes on the disciples to provide them with supernatural spiritual life and tells them to "receive the Holy Spirit," the "Spirit of Truth" He promised to them at the Last Supper Discourse, who will guide them in all truth (Jn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). He is sending them forth as his emissaries in the power of the Holy Spirit, who will make all things "new" again just as He did in the first creation as the divine "wind/breath/spirit" swept over the waters (see Genesis 1:2).
The prophet Ezekiel envisioned this day when he wrote of the Messianic restoration of Israel when God told him, calling Ezekiel "son of man" (human being): He said to me: Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the spirit: Thus says the Lord GOD [Yahweh]: From the four winds come, O spirit, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life. I prophesied as he told me, and the spirit came into them; they came to alive and stood upright, a vast army (Ezek 37:9-10). Humankind, formally dead to sin, is now resurrected in Christ. His disciples, the faithful remnant of the Old Israel, have become the nucleus of the New Israel, the New Covenant Universal [Catholic] Church that will become an immense army of disciples converting the world through the spread of the Gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit.
23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose
sins you retain are retained.
The Sacraments of the Church are visible signs instituted by
Christ to confer grace. In this verse, Jesus instituted the Sacrament of
Penance (Reconciliation). Under the Old Covenant, the sinner placed his hands
on the animal offered in sacrifice, confessed his sins before the priest, and
the animal died in his place. Christ is now the Lamb of sacrifice, but we must still
have confession and repentance before receiving forgiveness of our sins and restoration
of friendship and communion.
In verses 22-23, the New Covenant priests carry the Son of God's authority to forgive or retain sins. The concept of private confession of wrong-doings was never a part of the sacramental system of the Old or New Covenants. Even though it is a healthy spiritual practice to confess our shortcomings to God in our daily prayers, it is necessary to bring those venial sins (unintentional sins) before the Lord in the Penitential Rite of the Mass to receive forgiveness through the Eucharist. However, we must confess any mortal sins to an ordained priest of the New Covenant Church who is a successor of the first ministerial priesthood in Christ, as though we are confessing to Christ Himself (CCC 1393-95, 1414, 1436, 1457, 1846, 2042).
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that Jesus is the physician of our souls and bodies. He healed the sick and forgave their sins, and He has willed His Church, in the power of God the Holy Spirit, to continue His work of healing and salvation. In the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Penance, the sinner places himself before the merciful judgment of God, who heals and purifies hearts and souls. CCC#1422: "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion." Also, see CCC# 1423-1498.
You may ask: "How do we know Jesus meant for us to confess to a human priest and not just to Him?" You will agree that in verse 22, in speaking to the Apostles, Jesus granted the Church the power to forgive or retain individual sins. How can the Church exercise this power to decide about particular sins unless we openly confess those transgressions to Christ through His priesthood?
Gospel Reading Cycle B: John 15:25-27 and 16:12-15 ~ The
Spirit of Truth
(Jesus said to his disciples) 15:26 "When the Advocate [Paracletos]
comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth that proceeds
from the Father, he will testify to me. 27 And you also testify because you
have been with me from the beginning. [...] 16:12 I have much to tell you, but
you cannot bear it now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will
guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he
hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify
me because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything
that the Father has is mine; for this reason, I told you that he will take from
what is mine and declare it to you."
For a third time in Jesus's Last Supper Discourse, He mentions the Paraclete, the title He gives God the Holy Spirit (also see Jn 14:16, 26). The word parakletos is peculiar to St. John's writings. In 5 passages in this Gospel (Jn 14:15-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:7-11 and verses 12-14), John identifies the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity by the title ha Parakletos, "the Paraclete" (Advocate). The etymology of the Greek word is para = "beside" + kalein = "to call"; it is a legal term for an advocate who presents one's case in a law court. Jesus was and continues to be the first "Advocate." However, when Jesus left earth in visible form, He promised "another Paraclete/Advocate" (Jn 14:16) so that His followers would not become "orphans" without protection (Jn 14:18). Notice that Jesus always uses the pronouns "He" and "His" to refer to God the Holy Spirit. It is bad Greek grammar since "spirit" (pneuma) in Greek is neuter. However, it is good Christian theology because God the Holy Spirit is the Third Person (masculine) of the Most Holy Trinity, just as masculine pronouns also identify the Father and Son. The Church, the covenant Bride, is feminine.
The Holy Spirit is the Advocate of the Mystical Body of Christ, pleading God's cause for the human family, protecting the Church from error, sanctifying the souls of the faithful through preaching God's word, and the sanctifying power of the Sacraments. His mission is to teach (Jn 14:26), bear witness (Jn 15:26), and convince the world of sin (Jn 16:8-11). He is the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity and the love of God, producing the effects of divine grace on earth (see CCC 244-48). As the "Spirit of Truth" (Jn 14:17; 15:26; 16:13-14), God the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its guilt and sin. The world rejected Jesus, "the Truth," and His words and works, but the Holy Spirit will demonstrate and convict the world of this rejection.
16:12 I have much to tell you, but you cannot bear it
now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears and will declare
to you the things that are coming.
Jesus repeats the title "the Spirit of Truth" a third time (also
see Jn 14:17 and 15:26). These passages help us understand the ministry of God
the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers:
The "things that are coming" (verse 13b) that the Holy Spirit will reveal are the full significance of Jesus's death, burial, and Resurrection and the mysteries of Eucharist and the Most Holy Trinity. He will also reveal to the Magisterium of the New Covenant order the hidden depths of the mystery of Jesus Christ and the gift of grace that is our salvation. In other words, God the Holy Spirit will continue the teaching mission of Jesus to bear witness to the truth (Jn 8:31-32; 18:37; CCC# 687).
From this promise, the Great Councils of Vatican I and II pronounced the doctrine of magisterial infallibility. This doctrine states that the Pope alone or the Bishops united with the Pope (the Magisterium), the successor of St. Peter and the Apostles, are divinely protected from teaching error when they define matters concerning faith and morals (Lumen Gentium, 25). The guidance and intervention of the Paraclete is Jesus's assurance that the ministerial priesthood of His Church, during her earthly pilgrimage, will not distort, corrupt, or misunderstand the teachings of Jesus Christ and His Gospel of salvation (see CCC# 768, 889-892).
Alternate Gospel Reading Cycle C: John 14:15-16, 23b-26 ~
Jesus Promises to Send the Holy Spirit
(Jesus said) 15 "If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate
[Parakletos] to be with you always ... 23b Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with
him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear
is not mine but that of the Father who sent me. 25 I have told you this while I
am with you. 26 The Advocate, 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."
Jesus's commandments include everything He taught. We must demonstrate our love for Him by love in action! St. John the Apostle emphasized this necessity in his First Letter to the Church: Children, our love must be not just words or mere talk, but something active and genuine. This will be the proof that we belong to the truth ... This is what the love of God is, keeping his commandments (1 Jn 3:18 and 5:3).
Jesus is our Advocate, and the "other" Advocate He promises to send is God the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus reveals for the first time as the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity. The people of the Sinai Covenant did not have the revelation of the Trinitarian nature of God. The Greek word for "spirit" is pneuma. In Hebrew, the term is ruah (i.e., Genesis 1:2), meaning wind, breath, air, or soul/spirit, expressed as the "spirit" or "divine wind" of God. The Hebrew word ruah can denote human breath (the air humans breathe and exhale to stay alive, as a sign of life, or the absence of which indicates death). However, the use of this word in association with Yahweh is the very breath that comes forth from the "mouth" of the Living God. The ruah of God represents His living power (see Ps 33:6) and the "breath of God" that inspired the holy prophets. God gave it to anoint the kings of Israel at their coronation as His civil representatives (1 Sam 10:1) and priests and prophets as His spiritual representatives (Ex 28:41; 1 Kng 19:16). Jesus came fulfilling all three offices as God's Supreme Prophet, High Priest of the heavenly Tabernacle, and Davidic King (CCC 436, 1547).
In the Greek translation of the Testaments, the Hebrew word ruah is usually translated as pneuma in Greek when used to identify God's spirit or the Advocate, the Comforter/Paraclete: God the Holy Spirit. "Paraclete" is an Anglicized transliteration of the Greek word parakletos. This word only appears five times in Sacred Scripture and only in John's Gospel and St. John's First Epistle (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7 and 1 Jn 2:1). The Greek word parakletos is a legal term and can have various meanings, including "advocate, intercessor, counselor, protector, or supporter." The Greek entomology is from para = "beside" and kalein = "to call or summon." Therefore, the word can be interpreted to mean "to be called to someone's side to accompany, console, protect and (or) defend that person" (Catholic Dictionary, John A. Hardon, SJ, page 309).
In this passage, Jesus says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Parakletos [Paraclete] to be with you" (verse 16). In John 15:26, Jesus continues telling the Apostles of the coming of the Holy Spirit when He says, When the Advocate [Parakletos] comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. Then, in John 16:7, Jesus reassured the Apostles, saying, "I will send him (the Holy Spirit) to you." Then, after the Resurrection, the glorified Jesus will breathe on the Apostles in the Upper Room and say, "Receive the Holy Spirit" (Jn 20:22).
These verses establish the procession of the Most Holy Trinity. In writing about these passages, St. John Chrysostom (the esteemed 4th century Bishop of Constantinople) contends that there is no contradiction in these statements: "But why said He, 'I will ask the Father'? Because had He said, 'I will send Him,' they would not have so much believed, and now the object is that He should be believed. For afterward He declares that He Himself sends Him saying, 'Receive the Holy Ghost' (c 20:22); but in this place, He tells that He asks the Father so as to render His discourse credible to them" (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, John Chrysostom, Homily LXXV).
Jesus speaks of God the Holy Spirit as "another Advocate" in John 14:16 because the Church will receive Him in Christ's place as Advocate, Defender, and Teacher to assist the covenant faithful after Jesus ascends to Heaven. However, the "other Advocate" is not different from Christ; instead, He is another, similar to Himself (see Mt 6:24). He will send the Holy Spirit after His Ascension (Acts Chapter 2) on Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit comes to fill and indwell the New Covenant people of God.
23b Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. 24
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not
mine but that of the Father who sent me. 25 I have told you this while I am
with you. 26 The Advocate, 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.
When Jesus told His disciples, "If you love me, keep my word," He
referred to the entire Gospel message: the "all I have said to you" of verse 26
as distinguished from its separate teachings or commandments. Jesus's reply
seems evasive because He does not explain why He does not reveal Himself to the
world. The form His manifestation takes is God the Father's will, and it is the
Father's will that Jesus makes Himself known only to those who love Him and
keep His commandments.
In the Old Testament, Yahweh revealed Himself to His covenant people:
With the establishment of liturgical worship at Mt. Sinai, Yahweh promised His people He would dwell in their presence: And I shall live with the Israelites and be their God, and they will know that I am Yahweh their God, who brought them out of Egypt to live among them: I, Yahweh their God (Ex 29:45 NJB). The people did not "see" Yahweh, but they witnessed His Divine Presence in those events. Centuries later, in the 6th century BC, Yahweh promised His presence in a future and eternal covenant centered on the Messiah: David my servant is to be their prince forever. I shall make a covenant of peace with them, an eternal covenant with them. I shall resettle them and make them grow; I shall set my Sanctuary among them forever. I shall make my home above them; I shall be their God, and they will be my people. And the nations will know that I am Yahweh the sanctifier of Israel when my Sanctuary is with them forever (Ezek 37:25c-27 NJB). Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled this promise.
But how is God's dwelling with His New Covenant people, which Jesus spoke of in verse 23b, different from the Old Testament presence of Yahweh over the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies of the desert Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem? In verse 23b, Jesus refers to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the tabernacle of the believer's body, the soul of every believer renewed by grace through the power of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Baptism. The New Covenant promise that the Old Sinai Covenant couldn't give is the Divine Presence of God dwelling in the believer's soul, fulfilling the prophecy made to Ezekiel in 37:26c: I shall make my Sanctuary among them forever (NJB).
26 The Advocate, 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 this verse, "he" is a significant pronoun! As mentioned
previously, John makes a grammatical error that may be bad Greek since the
Greek word for wind or spirit, pneuma, is neuter and does not take the
masculine article John gives it. However, Jesus is speaking of the third Person
of the Holy Trinity. It is theologically incorrect to refer to God the Holy
Spirit as an "it." God the Holy Spirit is a person and not merely a force.
Jesus assures every believer that God the Holy Spirit will be "with you" as your
companion in fellowship, "by you" in His position as your Advocate and
Consoler, and "in you" as the indwelling personal God who is your source of
supernatural life.
Notice the promise Jesus made concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He promised that the Holy Spirit would help them remember what Jesus taught and give them a deeper understanding of those teachings. St. John wrote that they did not understand the significance of many events or how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies in Scripture until after His Resurrection. For example:
It wasn't until He visited them on Resurrection Sunday that He explained all the Old Testament passages that He fulfilled in the books of Moses, the Psalms, and the books of the Prophets (see Lk 24:25-27, 44-48).
St. Josemaria Escriva assured us: "This same Spirit guides the successors of the Apostles, your bishops, united with the Bishop of Rome, to whom it was entrusted to preserve the faith and to 'preach the Gospel to the whole creation'" (St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way). The Holy Spirit also guides and teaches you. Always pray for His guidance when you read and study Sacred Scripture. His mission is to be with you and help you understand His ministry in your life, in the Church, and in God's unfolding plan of salvation history.
Catechism references (* indicated Scripture quoted or paraphrased in the
citation):
Acts 2:1-4 (CCC 1287*),
2:1 (CCC 2623),
2:3-4 (CCC 696),
2:11 (CCC 1287)
Psalm 104 (CCC 288*), 104:24 (CCC 295), 104:30 (CCC 292*, 703*)
1 Corinthians 12 (CCC 1988*, 2003*), 12:1-13 (CCC 1454*, 1971*), 12:3 (CCC 152, 449*, 455, 683, 2670, 2681), 12:4-6 (CCC 249*), 12:6 (CCC 308*), 12:7 (CCC 801, 951), 12:9 (CCC 1508*), 12:13 (CCC 694, 790*, 798*, 1227*, 1267, 1396*)
Galatians 5:16-25 (CCC 2744*, 2819*); 5:16 (CCC 2515*); 5:17 (CCC 2515*); 5:19-21 (CCC 1470*, 1852); 5:20 (CCC 2113*); 5:22-23 (CCC 736, 1832); 5:22 (CCC 1108*, 1695, 2345*); 5:24 (CCC 2515*, 2543, 2555); 5:25 (CCC 736, 782, 1695*, 2516, 2842, 2848)
John 20:19 (CCC 575*, 643*, 645*, 659*), 20:20 (CCC 645*), 20:21-23 (CCC 1087*, 1120*, 1441*), 20:21 (CCC 730, 858), 20:22 (CCC 730*, 788*, 1287), 20:23 (CCC 1461*, 2839*)
John 15:26 (CCC 244*, 248, 263, 692, 719*, 729*, 1433*, 2671*); 16:13-15 (CCC 2615*); 16:13 (CCC 91*, 243, 687, 692, 1117, 2466, 2671*); 16:14-15 (CCC 485*); 16:14 (CCC 244*, 690*)
John 14:16 (CCC 692), 14:23-26 (CCC 2615*), 14:23 (CCC 260), 14:26 (CCC 243*, 244*, 263*, 692, 729*, 1099*, 2466*, 2623*)
Pentecost (CCC 696*, 726*, 731*, 732, 737*, 738, 739, 740, 741*, 830*, 1076*, 1287*, 2623*)
The apostolic witness on Pentecost (CCC 597*, 599*, 674*, 715*)
The mystery of Pentecost continues in the Church (CCC 1152, 1226*, 1302, 1556*)
The Church and her communion in the Spirit (CCC 767*, 775*, 796*, 798*, 813, 1097, 1108*, 1109*)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2013; revised 2024 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.