Pentecost Sunday

Pentecost Sunday


Good morning/evening everyone. I welcome you all to celebrate the feast of Pentecost Sunday today and our special welcome to all our visitors, cottagers and everyone here today. And I would also like to thank you all for coming out today because every time we come to church, we will be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit; every time we come to church we will be blessed with the gifts of the Spirit and every time we come to church we all come new in the Spirit. Today our Holy Catholic Church celebrates her birthday. Today is the day the apostles and all the believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to go everywhere to continue the mission of Christ our Lord.

Today is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost means fiftieth day. Fifty days after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit like tongues of fire came upon the apostles and on all believers. Pentecost is always celebrated on Sunday because Sunday is the first day on which God began His creation.

One day St. Thomas Aquinas the famous theologian who wrote the summa theological, stopped writing. The all his students and assistants came to him and said, ‘O Master, you are given a special gift to write about God and His wonders. People who read your writings always change their lives and come back to church. You inspired many people with your powerful and spiritual writings and how come you stopped writing now? Please tell us. Then St. Thomas Aquinas said, ‘ some months ago, I personally experienced something about the Almighty. I had a vision of God. After that vision, all I have ever written about God seems nothing. God cannot be explained in writing and He can only be experienced’.

Yes, God cannot be explained but only be experienced. That is what happened to all the apostles, believers and others today, on the day of Pentecost. They began to experience the power of the Holy Spirit that came on them as tongues of fire. Once the Holy Spirit came upon them, they all began to speak in different language. And everyone who heard them understood them perfectly well. Thus they broke the barriers of language and culture; slave and free; male and female. They all become one in Christ our Lord. One day some people came to Mother Theresa and asked, ‘Mother, we know you are doing a wonderful job for the poor and the rejected. But by the way, in the beginning how did you manage no knowing the language or culture? Mother Theresa said to them, ‘it was not hard at all. We understood each other well. We communicate with our heart, with our smile and with our prayers.

Once people began to experience the love of God and His mercy through Mother Theresa, they did not expect for any explanation. Those who enter into spiritual life will never expect any explanation of anything because only worldly things need explanation and material things need explanation not spiritual things. Spiritual power that explodes in a person takes him away from material and worldly things and that is why St. Thomas Aquinas refused to continue his writings. And that is why Mother Theresa could connect with others without language and culture and that is why we who come to church and practice our faith begin to look at the world and people,  our family members and friends in a different way. While every one is struggling to forgive and accept their opponents, we with loving hearts forgive and pray for their well-being, we celebrate our life every day. Yes, everything is possible because of the spiritual experience that goes beyond any explanation. So as we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, let us ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill our hearts again and again with His gifts of wisdom and knowledge; understanding and right judgement and with Christ's love. Amen.