HOMILY FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY YEAR C (5)

HOMILY FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY YEAR C

THEME: “COME HOLY SPIRIT COME! FILL THE HEARTS OF THY FAITHFUL…”

BY: Rev Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY JUNE 5 2022

Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 104
Romans 8:8-17
John 14:15-16.23b-26
 
Today we celebrate Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. It is the Feast of the Holy Spirit

HOMILY FOR PENTECOST SUNDAY YEAR C

THEME: “COME HOLY SPIRIT COME! FILL THE HEARTS OF THY FAITHFUL…”

BY: Rev Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY JUNE 5 2022

 

Acts 2:1-11
Psalm 104
Romans 8:8-17
John 14:15-16.23b-26

Today we celebrate Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus. It is the Feast of the Holy Spirit and the Birth of the Church, since Jesus sent His Spirit over the disciples to empower them to live by His word.

The feast of Pentecost coincided with the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which occurs 50 days after the Passover (Deuteronomy 16:10). According to Jewish tradition, the Ten Commandments were given to Moses 50 days after the first Passover, which freed the Hebrews from their bondage in Egypt. As the Hebrews settled into Canaan, the feast became a time to honor the Lord for blessing the fruits of their labors. Since this Jewish holiday took place at the same time of the Pentecost, many Jewish Christians appropriated its celebration into their Christian commemoration of the coming of the Spirit.

Beloved in Christ, as we begin the Ordinary Time of the Church’s calendar, the celebration of Pentecost becomes even more significant for us as Christians, in that, just as the early Church was officially presented to the world after receiving the Holy Spirit, we too are reminded once again today of our duty and responsibility to live the “ordinary days” – our daily lives in bearing witness to Christ and his kingdom in our world today.

“For you did not receive the Spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship” (Rom 8:15). 2nd Tim 1:7 tells us: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, instead, his Spirit fills us with power…” This power, this boldness was what the disciples received, and they that were locked up in a room became fearless and bore witness to Christ before the whole world. Hence, we see the impact of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. Without the Holy Spirit the mission of proclaiming the good news would have been impossible for us.

In the gospel reading of today, it appears there is a requirement for the reception of the Holy Spirit. This requirement is “The love of Christ” and the keeping of his Commandments. And these Commandments are:
1.     Love one another as I have loved you. (cf. Jn. 13:34-35)
2.     Go into the world and proclaim the good news to every creature. (cf. Mk. 16:15)

Those who keep these Commandments are promised the Holy Spirit, the counselor. (cf. Jn. 14:15-16) Because, the spirit of God is a Spirit of unity and a spirit of love.

This is the Spirit that speaks one language and everybody understands, as presented in the first reading. The disciples spoke and everybody heard them in his own language. If there’s any language that could be spoken and everyone would understand, the language is the language of LOVE.

At our Baptism and Confirmation we received the Holy Spirit. The question is why does he not change our lives as He changed that of the apostles? Why do we behave in many ways like pagans as if we have never received the Holy Spirit? I guess because the Holy Spirit inspires us to do good things but in the long run it’s up to us to accept, ignore and reject His promptings.

For us Christians today, the mission of bearing witness to Christ in our world is one that calls for the witness of our lives. Being filled with the Holy Spirit involves transformation of our lives to the life of Christ. “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Rom 8:8) Only those who are in the Spirit can please God, because the Holy Spirit guides the actions of believers. So if after our baptism, confirmation and the many Pentecost Sunday we have celebrated in life, our life remains unchanged, it is because we have refused to surrender ourselves to the prompting and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit works in our lives like fire: illuminating our minds to understand the truth; warming the coldness of our hearts and revitalizing our energy. The Holy Spirit is the breath of Christ on the apostles so that His Spirit may work in them to continue His work through the Church. Thus the Holy Spirit is the energy poured out by Christ upon the apostles so that with renewed vigor they become powerful witness of the message of Christ.

Beloved in Christ, as we begin the Ordinary Time of the Church’s life, not ordinary in terms of “the usual or average,” but how to live out our Christian faith in our daily lives. During this period, we are invited now to live out more, in a concrete manner, our experience of the risen Christ, bearing witness to him in our ordinary day to day activities with the aid of the Holy Spirit, who has come to teach us and assist us in understanding more clearly the demands of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the Spirit of God, the Spirit of life, the advocate fill us, strengthen us and grant us the boldness to bear authentic witness to Christ in our world.

*Rev Fr Stephen ‘Dayo Osinkoya*

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