Gospel of John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15: Reflection on the Day of Pentecost

May 23, 2021

The Gospel of John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Jesus said to his disciples, ”When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Let us pray:

Mighty God, as we are gathered together, as we are now able to both physically and spiritually, we join in hope and in faith, we ask you to minister to our needs. Send the Holy Spirit to fill the hearts of your faithful people and kindle in them the fire of your love. This we pray in the name of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. 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. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. The love of God surrounds you. The strength of the Spirit is beside you. Beneath the noise of the wind and the brightness of the tongues of fire a silent miracle has taken place. Like the miracle of people of all ages and languages today, like a miracle we are learning to understand each other’s concerns and fears. “Come, Lord Jesus, send us your spirit, Renew the face of the Earth” … The above is from the refrain from a modern song of joy by David Haas about the Holy Spirit. It’s a song of prayer and praise, and a song of unity in rebirth. It is a plea for all of us to experience a Pentecost for ourselves, and that the gift of the Holy Spirit be shared with all. Today as we start to conquer the pandemic, we need to experience our own Pentecost. To be thoughtful of others and realize not everyone has the same feelings of sharing the love of the Lord with others.  Like the Apostles who spent a lot of time trembling and hiding after Christ’s Ascension not knowing what to expect we have spent a lot of time concerned and not knowing what to expect.  As with the Apostles, the Spirit has given us strength to go out into the world. If we believe in the Spirit it will continue to give us the strength to go forward, to continue to face the challenges of today. Even though we have been physically apart the Spirit has continued to join us in hope and faith. The work of the spirit continues, continually helping perform miracles of healing and restoration. You may feel that you are lost as an individual in today’s events. It seems sometimes we have been forgotten in the chaos around us, but God has been with us through this time of uncertainty. The spirit guides us, and God never forgets us, and we will never be overlooked. So, what is our task in this chaotic environment? How do we help in sharing the Good news of the Spirit? We can begin with Jesus’ great commandments: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” With these commandments we can grow into the person we are called to be. The Holy Spirit encourages us, inspires us to live our lives to our full potential. We can live not just for ourselves but for the good of others. So on this day of Pentecost we should rejoice because of the wondrous gift of the Holy Spirit. Today and every day the Holy Spirit continues to be with us as we celebrate life, that divine gift from the One Who loves us without holding back.

Let us pray:

Blessed are you Lord, you come to us in many ways making us aware of your presence in our lives. You come as the spirit who walks with us, who continually guides and protects us. We thank you for our being and we thank you for being close to us so we can continually use the gifts you have given us to glorify you and your Son our Savior. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen and Alleluia!