Reflection for Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday Year C 2022

Pentecost celebrates the fulfillment of the promise of Jesus to send an Advocate- the Holy Spirit- on the infant Church assembled in the Upper Room. The disciples were filled with fear that they, too, might be arrested and executed like Jesus. The the Spirit of God came upon them in the strong, driving wind and the tongues of fire. The result of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples was that their fear abated and they began to proclaim the message of the Gospel -thus, the Church was born.
     The disciples, who had been living under the pall of fear, now begin to speak the Good News of the Gospel, even to those who could not understand their language. The presence of the Holy Spirit enabled people to master their fear of others and to come together. When we let the Spirit of God into our lives, then we can be at one with our neighbors. We can look beyond those things which separate us. When the Spirit of God comes, then people can reach out to one another because their lives are not ruled by fear.
     Evangelization, reaching out to our neighbors, is on of the signs that the Holy Spirit is alive and active in our lives. However, we have a natural reticence about speaking on the topic of our religion. Nobody wants someone pestering them about religion.
     Jesus told his disciples that they are to preach the Good News to the entire world. We cannot do that by our silence. We must reach out and bring the saving News of our religion to others by the way we live  and by the conversations we have with them. We must not shy away from talking about the wonders of our faith. We can affect their entire lives by our sharing with them the faith we have received from God.
      The Holy Spirit has been poured out on The Church at Pentecost and has been given to us in our Baptism and Confirmation. The Holy Spirit will remind us of all that Jesus said and taught and will empowered us to step forth and share the Good News we have received. The Holy Spirit can do none of this unless we open our hearts and cooperate with that wonderful life- giving gift. It is one thing to liturgically celebrate  this historical event in the life of the Church. It is quite another to take this celebration from this building and be willing to courageously step forward and share the Good News we have received.

May God bless you all.
Fr. Dominic
Your brother in Christ