God's Word for Pentecost Sunday

 He breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them"

Pentecost Sunday A

Acts 2:1-11. Psalm 103:1.24. 29-31. 34. Rv. 30. 1 Cor. 12:3-7. 13-13. John 20: 19-23

 Send forth your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.

In the one Spirit we were all baptized.

As the Father sent me so I am sending you.

Jn 20:19-23

Gospel

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.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

God’s power is in you.

When Jesus died the disciples were shattered. Their lives had collapsed. They sat there dazed and despondent in the upper room. They had forgotten that Jesus had said, “It is better for you that I go away…. if I go away I will send another Helper to you.” Jesus came among us and offered his life so that when raised to the right hand of the Father he could send the Holy Spirit. On his Resurrection day his first act was to breathe on his disciples and give them the Spirit.

Each of us has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. But it is not enough just to know this. We must experience it. The Holy Spirit is God’s Love and the Source of God’s power. He is in you and in me. This fact should become a dynamic reality. As he changed disciples from being fearful and despondent into being people of great wisdom, knowledge and courage, so he must change us. How is this to come about?

            After the Ascension the disciples with Mary the Mother of Jesus spent their time in earnest prayer. If we want to have the experience of the Spirit in our lives we need to pray for him daily. Each day we need to be anointed by him. Daily we need to grow in our capacity to receive him. We are the disciples of this generation and we need to be filled again and again as were the first disciples. (Cf. Acts 4:23 ff). It is the longing to receive the Spirit and the desire for the Spirit to recreate us that will bring about miracles in our lives. The Father longs for the Spirit to come into our lives with power - ”how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him” (Luke 11: 13).

            When the Holy Spirit comes into a person and into a family, great things happen. First they experience the fruits of the Spirit’s coming: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, humility, gentleness, self-control. There will be other fruits too: compassion for one another, meekness, bearing with one another and forgiving one another and harmonious living together. They will have a great love for the Word of God and will pray with gratitude. Through the Holy Spirit we can overcome every kind of sin and addiction. This is not by our own efforts, but because the Holy Spirit is within us. The difference between a person with the Spirit and one without is the difference between mid-day and mid-night.

Where do you stand? Why not surrender to the Spirit now and invite him earnestly into your life? Spend time in prayer for him daily. Then you will experience the new life. Do you believe that your happiness is in your hands? 

Father, grant that I may experience the baptism in the Spirit and witness with power.