Reflection by Mike Hansen
First Reading: Acts of the Apostles 2:1-11;
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13;
Gospel: John 20:19-23
We all know the account of that Pentecost day. The apostles were all seated in the one room… there was the noise of a powerful wind that “filled the entire house”… “something’ that seemed like tongues of fire came to rest on their heads… and they were filled with the Holy Spirit who gifted them with foreign languages. They burst from the house and begin to preach “about the marvels of God” in a language that everyone gathered that day heard in their own tongue.
Reading the account again today in Acts 2:1-11 still leaves me open mouthed and breathless with wonderment. What an extraordinary event! What an extraordinary time for these first disciples and what an emotional rollercoaster they have endured in the previous weeks: Jesus’ final days, his arrest & torment, death on the cross, their fear, His resurrection & appearance through locked doors, His assurances, His ascension and promise to send The Comforter.
It is interesting to focus on some of the Pentecost details and overlay them on our own lives. It appears from the Scriptural account that the apostles were sitting in one room of the house… not lounging around mind you but, I suspect, with a sense of expectation. Jesus had promised The Comforter and the disciples were waiting for the fulfillment of the promise. And when The Comforter comes it is with a power that shakes the whole house and lights a grace filled fire in everyone present.
Is this not similar to some of our own life situations? Do we not have to learn to wait patiently for our prayers to be answered, for promises to be fulfilled, for “something” to come to rest on us to fill our emptiness and need? Oftentimes we find ourselves waiting in expectation for something life giving to occur: the birth of a child, an exam result, illness to pass, a letter to arrive, a word to be said, a plane to land, the sun to break through. It can be a delicious time of waiting… a chance to rehearse the very moment of fulfillment and completion… a time that stretches forward and energises and gives us life and meaning .
And when a few experience the joy of life beyond what could be hoped for is not “the entire house” charged by the life giving experience of hope fulfilled? This is a Pentecost moment!
But Pentecost is not just an event that happened at the birth of the church and has echoes in our own life’s experience. For the descent of the Holy Spirit is an ongoing event activating the motivation and intensions of The People of God, drawing us forward into a future plump with possibilities and rich with the divine presence.
The “something” that broke apart and rested on the heads of the apostles at the first Pentecost continues its whirlwind way into the hearts and minds of the faithful followers of Jesus, transforming our lives.
