Chosen, Not Frozen!

Pentecost Sunday

Do you know when the Apostles first received the Holy Spirit? Well, it was not at Pentecost!

Actually, if you read Sunday's Gospel of John, you will see that the Apostles first received the Holy Spirit soon after the Resurrection when Jesus appeared in their midst in the upper room and greeted them with "Peace be with you." As He gave them the great commission to spread His Word to the world, Jesus breathed on them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." By these words, you can see right away that receiving the Holy Spirit has a lot to do with being at peace with one another and in forgiving each other.

But notice, that despite receiving the Holy Spirit, the Apostles still remained locked in the upper room. They were still very much afraid of the people who might have persecuted or killed them. They were together but not yet united in mind and heart. Thus, the Holy Spirit could not be activated in them. The Spirit was present but waiting.

Finally, after fifty days of being together in prayer, things suddenly changed. The Acts of the Apostles recounts that as the Apostles prayed together, "there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one." They were filled with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit moved them into action. They left the upper room and went boldly among the people; no longer afraid but preaching the Good News. People from all over the known world heard them speaking in their own languages about the mighty acts of God!

This is what happens when we are united! Unity brings about activity. The Apostles couldn't be contained. This is how the Holy Spirit can enliven every community. Our own also. In the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians, we learn that "to each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit." We all are needed to do God's work in the world.

Where there is disunity, nothing happens. There is no forgiveness, no possibility of the gifts of the Holy Spirit being used. The community remains frozen in time.

We rely on that Holy Spirit as we go about our daily lives. We have been chosen as God's sons and daughters, His heirs. We are those chosen ones who need to be unified so that the gifts of the Spirit can be activated in ourselves and our community. After all, we have been given the same commission as the Apostles to spread the Good News of the mighty acts of God!

So, let us act as the chosen, not the frozen!