John 20:19-23
Pentecost Sunday
by Rev. Jack Peterson
Reprinted with permission of "The Arlington Catholic Herald"

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John wrote to show that Christ was
the Messiah, the Divine Son of God.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.  The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.  (Jesus) said to them again.  "Peace be with you.  As the Father has sent me, so I send you."  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.  Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Pentecost is the grand finale of Jesus' saving work.  It is not possible to overstate the importance of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He charged his disciples "not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4).  Our Lord had one more over-the-top gift to bestow upon his disciples - the faith-maker, unifier and spirit of truth.  There are so many things to say in reference to the Holy Spirit; I shall limit myself to three things that stand out in our readings for today.

True faith in Jesus Christ is a gift, a grace from above.  Practically speaking, there needs to be some reality that comes into play and makes a connection between a believer and Jesus.  A transition must take place in a person to enable them to go from seeing Jesus as a wonder-worker, social reformer, and a fascinating "new idea" guy to believing that he is the Son of God, the redeemer of the world, the revealer of eternal truths and the one who loves me beyond all comprehension from before the beginning of time.

This connection and transition is made possible by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and his dwelling within us.  St. Paul puts it quite simply for us today, "Brothers and sisters: No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit."  The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son to dwell in my soul and enable me to believe in Jesus as my Lord and my God.

Second, the Holy Spirit is a powerful, driving force for unity in our world.  No one would question that we desperately need this force in our present day.  Sin is the greatest cause of division.  We know from experience that our sins separate us from God.  We also know that our sins damage and even crush important human relationships.  Finally, sin causes a most painful division within ourselves - it deprives us of peace of soul, it causes unrest, and it leads us to blame everyone around us for the sins we commit.

God's spirit, the love that proceeds from the father and the Son, is like a huge river in the springtime.  The Holy Spirit impacts everything in its path.  The unifier brings forgiveness of sins, and through that forgiveness, heals the wounds of our soul, strengthens us to love like Christ, and restores unity to broken and bruised relationships.

To help us better understand the unifying power of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul makes use of the analogy of the human body: "As the body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit."

Third, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church to be a guarantor of truth.  Jesus clearly admits to his disciples at the Last Supper that he has much more to tell them, however, they could not "bear it now."  Then Our Lord goes on to say, "But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth."

Jesus, the way, the truth and the life, had more to reveal to his disciples about the nature and works of God and about how human beings are to live while on our journey to heaven in order to know life in abundance.  Consequently, the Spirit was given to the church and the apostles in order to preserve the deposit of faith and to help the church apply the truths of our faith to new realities and circumstances that arise over time.  It is a wonderful source of comfort to believers to know that we have been blessed with this guarantee.  We do not need to rely simply upon the efforts of human beings to lead us to the truth, but that we can rely upon God, the spirit of truth given to the church instituted by Christ.  Praise the Lord for this precious gift.

We rejoice today as we celebrate the precious gift of the Holy Spirit.  He is our faith-maker - enabling us to say, "Jesus is Lord."  The Holy Spirit is our unifier - enabling us to say, "Jesus is Lord."  The Holy Spirit is our unifier - healing, repairing and strengthening broken relationships through the mercy of the Father. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth - leading Christ's followers to all truth.

 On the evening On            OOn the evening Jesus said to his disciples: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you.  Remain in my love.  If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love.

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.  This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing.  I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.  It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that well remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.  This I command you: love one another."

Pentecost is the grand finale of Jesus' saving work.   It is not possible to overstate the importance of the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He charged his disciples