GOSPEL, John (20: 19-23)
Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then 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 send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
The Gospel of the Lord
REFLECTION
“Just as the Father sent me, so I send you: Receive the Holy Spirit”
Today is the great day of Pentecost. Fifty days after Easter. The apostles and Our Blessed Mother are persevering in prayer in the same upper room where, Jesus had previously come to them after His Resurrection. (John 20: 21-23) “21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
They remain in prayer, preparing for the coming of the Holy Spirit as the Lord promised them. (Acts 1, 4-5)
4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So, when did the Lord’s disciples receive the Holy Spirit?
(John 20:22) ‘was an initiation into the Holy Spirit, not the fullness they were meant to have. Jesus had them wait for the feast of Pentecost, nine days later for that’.
We are told that it was forty days after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven, that the promise of the Holy Spirit came to be.(Acts 2:1-4)
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.”
Marking the Day of Pentecost, the beginning of the Church’s ministry.
From the day of our Baptism and Confirmation Jesus gave us the Gift of the Holy Spirit; it is not fleeting, it endures and sustains us on our journey through life. We, as the laity of the Church are guided by her and share with her the hope for the coming of the Lord.
Let us ask the Lord for the grace to live our lives instructed and enlightened by the Spirit so that we may live well with others. Today we are going to receive Him, specifically in the way by which the Universal Church celebrates and welcomes the Spirit of God. Let us welcome Him first, in the sacrament of confession, so that we may receive Him worthily in the Eucharist. May God’s love enlighten us through prayer and works, so we are able to do His will.
PRAYER
Invocation to the Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle the fire of Your love in them. Lord, Send Your Spirit, everything will be created and renewed on the face of the earth.
Let us pray:
O God, who instructed the hearts of your faithful with the light of the Holy Spirit make us appreciate all things righteous and to always enjoy his consolation, through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Amen.