Pentecost
Sunday
Second Homily
Acts 2:1-11/Ps 104/ 1Cor 12:3-7.12-13 or Rom
8:8-17/ Jn 20:19-23
For
change to take place, an agent of change is necessary. For example, typhoons,
earthquakes, and pollution can trigger climate change. A death of a loved one
can change our way of living. The joy of passing the BAR exam can also change one’s
lifestyle. Also, an unexpected break-up in relationship can change our
perspectives. But here’s an advice sa mga gibuwagan karon according to a
Facebook post: ”It does not matter what broke you down or hurt you; what
matters is who made you smile again.” Indeed, for every change to happen, there
is always an agent of change.
Today,
our Catholic Faith celebrates the great solemnity of Pentecost. Fifty days
after Easter Sunday, Jesus finally sent to us the Spirit, the Paraclete, the
Advocate.
Reflecting
on our first reading today, we see that the change in the lives of the apostles
after Jesus returned to Heaven was caused by the Spirit: from speaking one
language to speaking many languages; from hiding in the Upper Room to boldly proclaiming
the Gospel to all nations - these happened because of the Spirit.
Now, since
the Spirit is the agent of change, then, we ask ourselves, “who is this Spirit?”
St.
Augustine suggests: “the Holy Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son.” And
his reason to this is, “since there in no greater gift than love, and there is
no greater gift of God than the Holy Spirit, then, the Spirit is love!”
With
this enlightened thought, we can say that if we have love in our lives, the
Spirit must be with us! If we have love in our lives, we can always change for
the better. Lastly, if we have love in our lives, we can also become agents of
change.
Going
back to our first reading, we see that after the apostles received the Spirit,
they went out to the nations, and all of them except John received the crown of
martyrdom.
This is
true in our lives today: Love and Suffering go together. Therefore, if we love,
because we have the Spirit, then, we should be ready to face pain and
suffering. Mothers will notice that their unconditional love for their children
comes with suffering. Students who love their studies suffer the consequence of
extended study hours and extensive research periods. If you are a worker who
love your work, then, expect to suffer a lot from your officemates, nga bati na
gani’g nawong, bati pa gyug batasan! But why do we have to suffer? Well, the
movie Fault in our Stars tells us that “without pain, how could we know joy?”
My dear
friends, as we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, let us allow the Spirit to change
our lives. And this change can only happen if we have love because, as we know
now, the Spirit is the love of the Father and the Son. And after having been
changed by the power of the Spirit, by the power of love, we can proclaim the
Gospel of Jesus in our families and communities despite pain and suffering.
In the
book, “Why Forgive?” we find the story of Steven McDonald who was a young
police officer in 1986. He was shot by a teenager at New York’s Central Park.
That incident left him paralyzed for the rest of his life. With that, McDonald
wrote, “I forgave the shooter because I believe the only thing worse than
receiving a bullet in my spine would have been to nurture revenge in my heart.”
Steven’s life was changed because of the shooting incident and it has changed
for the better because he was able to forgive. And I believe, he was able to
forgive because within him dwells the Spirit of God who is love.
How
about us? How about you? Who is dwelling in your heart? Do you breathe the good
breath of the Spirit? Or are you breathing the bad breath of the evil one?
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