Pentecost Sunday: Mass of the Day – June 8, 2024
Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7; 12-13; John
20:19-23
Theme:
New Life in a New Creation and Oneness in the Spirit with God and One Another
A. A Brief Exegetical Analysis of John 20:19-23
- Historical
and Literary Contexts
Our
Gospel passage, taken from the section about Jesus’ Resurrection (chap. 20),
presents Jesus’ appearance to his disciples as a testament to his Resurrection
and signifies the end of Jesus’ earthly life and the beginning of the Church
age. The stories of the Empty Tomb (20:1-10) and Jesus’ appearance to Mary of
Magdala (20:11-18) precede our passage, while the accounts of Jesus’ second
appearance to his disciples (20:24-29) and the first conclusion of the Book
(20:30-31) follow it.
This
Gospel text is a narrative account divided into two parts. The first part (vv.
19-20) describes Jesus’s appearance to his disciples, while the second part
(vv. 21-23) details Jesus sending his disciples on a mission.
- Detailed
Analysis
Vv.
19-20. Jesus appears to ten disciples, minus Thomas, who is absent, and Judas,
who had already died. “On the evening of that first day of the week” refers to
the evening of the Sabbath (Sunday for Christians), the day of Jesus’
Resurrection. The ten disciples were in a locked room, presumably in Jerusalem,
out of fear of the Jews. They believe that at this moment, those who crucified
their Master, Jesus, are also planning to crucify them. Amid this confusion and
anxiety, Jesus appears and stands in their midst. Jesus’s resurrected
body enters the locked room without opening the doors. Jesus’s first word
is “Peace be with you,” as he realizes how frightened they are. This peace is
different from the ordinary peace the Jews use to greet each other. It echoes
Jn 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world
gives do I give it to you.” (NABRE). Jesus fills the hearts and minds of his
disciples with the peace of the resurrection, which revitalizes their hope,
courage, confidence, and faith in him. Then, Jesus shows them his hands and
sides as evidence that he is alive. Luke speaks of “hands and feet” based on Ps
22:17 (see Lk 24:39-40). The fearful disciples now rejoice because the living
Lord is among them.
Vv.
21-23. Jesus commissions his disciples by extending to them the same mission he
received from God the Father. In their mission, they will be assisted by the
Holy Spirit, which Jesus grants to them by breathing on them. Jesus’ breath
recalls the story of creation in the book of Genesis when God created Adam. The
sacred author of this Book reports that Adam was not a living being until God
blew into his nostrils the breath of life (see Gn 2:7). Then, through sin, Adam
lost this “spiritual life.” Therefore, using his breath to give the Holy Spirit
to his disciples suggests that Jesus has re-created them. He empowers them with
the authority to forgive or return people’s sins so that those whose sins are
forgiven regain the “breath of life” they lost through their sins.
- Synthesis
Jesus
appears to his disciples on the evening of the day he was resurrected, entering
the Upper Room without opening the locked doors. Knowing their fears well, he
starts by wishing them peace before showing them the marks on his hands and
side as proof that he is alive. They rejoice at the sight of him. Then, he
commissions them with the same mission that God gave to him. The Holy Spirit,
which they receive through Jesus’ breath, will assist them on their mission.
Jesus’ breathing on the disciples evokes God’s breathing on Adam in the
creation story. Thus, Jesus’ breath re-creates the disciples and empowers them
to forgive or retain people’s sins so that those who are forgiven may regain
the “spiritual life” they lost through sin and be re-created.
B. Pastoral Implications
- Liturgical
Context
Today,
we commemorate the Solemnity of Pentecost, which marks the end of the Easter
season. In last Sunday’s liturgy, the Ascension of the Lord, we learned that
Jesus’ Ascension did not signify a farewell, the conclusion of everything, or
the moment we needed to claim our reward as the disciples mistakenly believed.
Instead, the Ascension of our Lord signifies a time to work. Our mission is to
help our fellow humans become his disciples. Before he was lifted up to heaven,
Jesus enjoined us not to depart from our “Jerusalem” but to wait for the coming
of the Holy Spirit, who would strengthen us to carry out his mission (Acts 1:4;
Lk 24:49). That is why today, we are gathered here in this Church, our local
“Jerusalem,” to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. The message that the
Scripture readings of this Pentecost Sunday teach us is that in Pentecost, we
begin breathing the breath of the Resurrection as we start a new life in a new
creation. Sin causes us to lose this new life in a new creation. To restore it,
we are encouraged to use the sacrament of Confession, which our Risen Lord has
instituted in today’s Gospel. New life in a new creation means we are called to
avoid division among us and live in oneness with God and our brothers and
sisters (First and Second Readings).
- What
the Church Teaches Us Today
The first part of our Gospel (vv. 19-20)
teaches us three lessons. (1) Jesus’ disciples locked themselves in the Upper
Room out of extreme fear, believing that the Jews who crucified their Master,
Jesus, were also seeking to execute them. Today, many of us grapple with
various fears and anxieties concerning unemployment, health issues, natural
disasters, paying bills, raising our children, and many other concerns. These
fears and anxieties compel us to “lock ourselves in our minds,” which means not
allowing ourselves to open to God’s grace. Amid this confusion, Jesus appears
and stands before his disciples and us. Jesus’s resurrected body enters
the locked Upper Room and our “locked minds and hearts” without opening the
“doors.”
(2)
Jesus’ first words to his frightened disciples and to each of us are, “Peace be
with you.” Jesus knows how we experience fears and anxieties. That is why he
first fills our hearts and minds with peace. This is the peace of the
resurrection, which restores our hope, courage, confidence, and faith in him
that we lost because of fears and anxieties.
(3)
Then, Jesus shows his hands and sides to his disciples and to us as evidence
that he is alive. At Mass, we listen to, see, and touch Jesus in the Scriptures
and the Eucharist. Our Lord is truly risen; he is alive. There is no reason to
be sad or afraid. Let us rejoice as the disciples did when they saw the Lord.
We
also learn three lessons from the second part of our Gospel (vv. 21-23). (1)
Jesus commissions his disciples and each of us today. “As the Father has sent
me, so I send you.” This phrase means that Jesus extended the same mission he
received from his Father God to his disciples and each of us. God sent Jesus to
establish the kingdom of God on earth. Jesus accomplished his mission. He sent
his disciples, and today, he sends us to implement this kingdom of God wherever
we live. The disciples did their part. Now, it is our time. The Church calls
each of us (clerics and lay members) to implement God’s kingdom by proclaiming
the Word of God and living out our Christian faith in our families, Churches,
neighborhoods, and societies.
(2)
Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to his disciples and us by breathing on us.
“Breathing” recalls the story of creation in the book of Genesis. When God
created Adam, he, Adam, was not a living being until God blew into his nostrils
the breath of life (see Gn 2:7). Therefore, by using his breath to give the
Holy Spirit to his disciples and us, Jesus recreates us. Although the disciples
followed Jesus for three years and were well-trained to carry out the mission
of the Church, they needed the Holy Spirit to become a new creation and start a
new age of the Church. Likewise, although we have experienced the presence of
the Resurrected Lord during this Easter season, we also need the Holy Spirit to
begin a new life in a new creation. With Adam, we lost the Spirit God blew into
us at the first creation, and now, with Jesus’ breathing on us today, we are
re-created, and the Spirit of God in us is restored. From now on, we are
breathing the breath of Resurrection. Please let us feel it; the Spirit of the
Risen Jesus is in us! This is what Pentecost is about. It is the celebration of
the New Life in a New Creation that we start with the Holy Spirit. Therefore,
let us leave our “locked Upper Room” and go out without fear to begin
consolidating the kingdom of God by implementing the Word of God and living out
our Christian faith openly everywhere we go.
(3)
Jesus institutes the Sacrament of Penance (also called Confession or the
sacrament of Reconciliation) and empowers his disciples and their successors,
the ordained ministers, to forgive and retain people’s sins. Whose sins you
forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained. Here, Jesus
confers the faculty to forgive and retain people’s sins to his Church through
the ordained ministers. We know that sin damages our relationships with God and
our brothers and sisters and makes us lose the breath of resurrection with
which Jesus has re-created us. To breathe the breath of resurrection again and
restore our oneness with God and our fellow humans, our Holy Mother Church
encourages us to use this wonderful Sacrament of Penance frequently. We seek
three things in the sacrament of confession: forgiveness of our sins,
reconciliation with God and our fellow humans whom we have offended, and the
healing of the spiritual, emotional, or psychological wounds that sin causes
(for the details of these three things, see my homily for the 2nd Sunday of
Easter & Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12, 2026).
As
the sacrament of Confession restores our oneness with God and our brothers and
sisters, we are called to maintain and embody this unity with God and our
fellow humans. This is what Luke teaches us in our first reading. In his
Pentecost account, he states that the disciples were filled with the Holy
Spirit and began speaking in tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
Many people from diverse cultures and languages witnessed that first Christian
Pentecost. They were astounded because each could hear the disciples speaking
in their native language. The Holy Spirit we receive today is the Spirit not of
division but of unity. It empowers us to communicate and understand the
Christian language of love, justice, peace, compassion, and forgiveness. God created
us to be “one” with him and “one” with each other. However, given the realities
of our world today, we can see how we are losing this gift of “oneness.” People
are divided, families are separated, and even Church members lack the unity of
spirit that we should have, as is evident in the community of Corinth, which
our second reading discusses.
In
our second reading, Saint Paul addressed an issue of division that arose in his
community of Corinth. A charismatic group emerged among the Corinthians,
leading the people to speak in tongues (glossolalia). This gave rise to
dissension, as those who had the gift of speaking in tongues viewed others
without this gift as second-class Christians. Paul was called to resolve the
situation. He does not condemn the charismatic movement; rather, he recognizes
the Spirit's presence in this glossolalia. However, he emphasizes that the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit must unify the community, not divide it. Using
the analogy of the human body, which is one despite having many parts, Saint
Paul teaches us that we all possess different talents and gifts of the Holy Spirit;
we do not share the same skin colors, cultures, languages, or opinions; we have
different jobs and varying incomes. Therefore, these differences should
strengthen our families, Church community, and societies, rather than tear them
apart. We were all baptized into one body in one Spirit. We are one in the
Spirit; we are one in the Lord.
As
we celebrate our new life in a new creation and our oneness in the Spirit with
God and our fellow humans, let us pray for all families and communities still
divided, that their unity with God and their brothers and sisters may one day
be restored. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church, Jackson, MS
&
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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