Fifty Days to Pentecost

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Luke tells us in the opening chapter of the book of Acts, that there was a period of forty days from Jesus resurrection to his ascension. During those forty days, he tells us, “He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” These where important days of formation, giving the disciples a new understanding of what the resurrection from the dead really was. At that time, among the Jews, there were two schools of thought about the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees taught that there was no resurrection of the dead. The Pharisees taught that a time was to come when the bones of the dead would take on living flesh once again, and people would leave their graves and resume a life in this world. (Ezekiel ch. 37) Jesus appearances clearly demonstrated that there is a resurrection of the dead, but that there was an entirely new nature to that resurrected existence; no longer subject to the laws of nature as they are presently understood. (They could see, hear, and touch Jesus, yet he would appear and disappear, enter rooms with locked doors.) The real "breath", that gives life to resurrected bodies is the Breath of the Holy Spirit.  (Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: Listen! I will make breath enter you so you may come to life. Ez. 37:5) John's gospel speaks of this new breath promised, now being fulfilled: 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. Jo. 20:21 Pope Francis In the baptism rite of the 1950's as the priest received the child for baptism, he would breath lightly, three times into the face of the child saying:  “Depart from him (her) unclean spirit, and give place to the Holy Spirit, the Consoler.” Today, at the Chrism Mass, as the bishop blesses the Oil of Chrism, the ritual directs that he breath over the opening of the vessel containing the oil of chrism. Fire is the most common symbol associated with Pentecost and the presence of Holy Spirit, but the breath of wind is no less significant. In John Jesus says of the coming of the Spirit: “What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jo. 3:6-8 Acts' account of Pentecost begins:  “When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.” Acts 1:1 Wind or breath are invisible, it is their effects that signal their presence. So it is with the presence of the spirit within the soul of one who claims to be a believer. During these fifty days leading up to the feast of Pentecost, our focus in prayer will be on the evidence of the presence of the Spirit in our personal lives.  In Acts 19: we read: He said to them, “Did you receive the holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered him, “We have never even heard that there is a holy Spirit.” He said, “How were you baptized?” They replied, “With the baptism of John.” “Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” Acts 19:2-6 Many believers site their baptism as evidence of the presence of the Spirit in their lives. Pope John Paul, in his document on Catechesis 1979, points out that some who are baptized are yet to respond to the presence of the Spirit received in baptism. [JOHN PAUL II, ON CATECHESIS IN OUR TIME #19 ] In these next weeks leading up to Pentecost, the question is put to us; "Did you receive the Holy spirit when you became a believer?"

• The 13 part series, "Baptism of the Holy Spirit" 

• The 14 part video series from Franciscan University, Steubenville OH. [... LINK ...]