The Coming of the Holy Spirit

“Pentecost” was originally a Jewish feast that celebrated the giving of the Law at Sinai fifty-days after the liberation from Egypt. It was on this particular feast that — as Luke narrates — the Holy Spirit descended upon the Church. As Jesus was anointed by the Spirit at the beginning of his ministry, so too, the Church begins her life as the Body of Christ, under the power of the Spirit. The gospel reading from John 15:26-27; 16:12-15 focuses on the meaning of the event of the coming of the Spirit for the Christian.

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Reading Guide

The liturgy’s gospel selection is taken from the context of John 15:18 – 16:25. The selection focuses on 15:26-27 and 16:12-15. To understand the reading therefore, one will have to see them within the light of their context.

If you would notice, John 15:26-27 occurs in a context where Jesus speaks to his disciples about the “hatred” of the world for them. The Spirit who is called “Paraclete” comes from the word parakletos, a Greek word which can mean both “Consoler” and “Advocate”. In John 15:26-27, the Holy Spirit becomes, for the disciples, their consolation in a world that rejects them. In John 16:12-15, the role of the Spirit with regards to the Truth is emphasized. The liturgical selection jumps over 16:4-11 which is a text about the Holy Spirit’s role as Vindicator of the disciples. The role of Vindicator will be carried out on Judgment day so the liturgy focuses instead on the work of the Spirit today in helping the Church remember the words of Jesus and deepen it through study, reflection and prayer.

1. Make a sentence flow of the text from 15:18-16:25, after which, divide the text into smaller sections. Try to see why the outline that I give you of the text is as it appears in the illustration above. If you come up with a different division, justify it: what criteria do you have for dividing the text the way you do.

2. Study the other occurences of “Spirit” in the Gospel of John:

• John 1:32-33
• John 3:5.8
• John 3:34
• John 4:23.24
• John 6:63
• John 7:39
• John 14:17.26
• John 15:26
• John 16:13
• John 19:30

Note the following:

John 1:32-33 comes from one of the discourses of the Baptist about what he witnessed during the baptism of Jesus. John 3:5 is from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus about being “born from above”. Jesus is the “original-born-of-the-Spirit”, in the Creed we say that he was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. The description given in John 3:8 explains why the Jews never really knew where he was from (cf. John 7:27). John 3:34 is from the commentary of the evangelist on the contents of John 3.

John 4:23-24 comes from the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. The worship that Jesus refers to here, is the worship given to God from within the Temple which is Jesus’ Body (cf. John 2). In John 6:63, Jesus explains why his discourse about the Bread of Life is not understood. John 7:39 is a text related to talk about the Spirit in John 3 and water in John 4. The line is a commentary on these words

Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’

Among these occurences, those which are found in the Last Supper discourse are to be given attention. References to the Holy Spirit before John 14-16 actually find their meaning here. Finally, in John 19:30, we find a text that when translated literally goes: “When he had accepted the sour wine, Jesus said “It is finished” and, inclining his head, he handed over the Spirit”. Thus, the Spirit is given to the world at the death of Jesus in the sense of Psalm 104:30

When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.

The breathing forth of the Holy Spirit here begins the renewal of all things through the death of Jesus. On the night of the Resurrection, he breathes on the disciples again (John 20:22), in an act of renewing humanity.

Comparing the Readings

The readings for Pentecost Sunday are traditional. Acts 2:1-11 narrates the coming of the Holy Spirit who comes as a strong wind and tongues of fire. The association to wind is philological and biblical. The Hebrew word “ruah”, translated into Greek as “pneuma” means “breath” or “wind”. In the book of Ezekiel 37:1-14 the strong wind is associated with the life-giving power that raises up the bones in the prophet’s vision. This association with life is captured in the Responsorial Psalm from Ps. 104.

The second reading for the English Mass is taken from Galatians 5:16-25 where Paul lists the fruits of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit. Forthe Mass in Tagalog, the reading is from 1 Corinthians 12:3-7.12-13 which emphasizes the gifts given by the Spirit for the building up of the Church.

The gospel reading for the Mass in Tagalog is taken from John 20:19-23. This is discussed here.. I also would recommend that this passage be studied in comparison with the present selection.

These passages traditionally related to the feast of Pentecost describe to us:

(a) the power that gave birth to the Church
(b) the power that enables us to live according to God’s will
(c) the power that Jesus breathes upon the disciples so that they can carry out the proclamation of the gospel of repentance and forgiveness
(d) the Spirit who is both Consoler and Guide to all truth

Suggestions for the Lesson

Since the liturgy is particularly rich, a catechism (or homily) on this day should focus on just a few selected items. Second, since it is not really the historical origins of the feast that we celebrate, our mind-set should be like that of the evangelists: their interest was not so much to narrate what happened to the past (this would be the mindset of present-day historians), but the meaning of past-events to us NOW. The event that Luke narrates in Acts describes the beginning of the Church, a beginning that comes “from above”. The idea that the Church is some form of organization created by the apostles was never entertained by the evangelist. Just as Jesus began his ministry in the power of the Spirit, so too, the Church begins her history in the power of the Spirit. John makes a direct link between the coming of the Spirit to the apostles on the one hand and the Resurrection on the other. The Spirit, after all, is a gift of the Resurrection (cf. John 20:19-23; see also CCC 1287).

Traditional catechism associates the Spirit with the sanctification of the Christian (see CCC 830). “Sanctification” is a word that has been neglected in our days especially because of the idea that the “Holy” has become passe. But “sanctification” is the work of the Holy Spirit: it closely associates the Church with the Holy One, Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the Head of the Church which is His Body, then the soul of the Body would be the Holy Spirit, as Augustine points out. This close association makes the works of the Church the extension of the works of Jesus, as John in His gospel would point out. It is because of the Spirit empowering the Church that she becomes herself a means of salvation (cf. 1 Cor. 12). The works of the Lord include the inclusion of all under the new covenant that makes humanity children of God. This is done through the “application” of the new life won by Christ on the cross to each individual of each generation. The “application” is carried through the word and sacraments which the Church offers to mankind (CCC 1152).

With the “application” of this new life, the Christian then begins to live in the Spirit, not automatically, but by choice, as a free person under grace. St. Paul describes the quality of this Christian life in terms of a life bearing the fruits of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5). The opposite of this life is said to bear fruits of the flesh.

In the Catechism

Read the following texts from the Catechism¹

CCC 1194 ; CCC 2818;
CCC 1287 ; CCC 2623; CCC 731; CCC 767; CCC 696
CCC 1152 ; CCC 1226; CCC 1076; CCC 1302; CCC 1288;

CCC 830 ; CCC 2819;