SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST YEAR C ~ JUNE 8, 2025
HOLY SPIRIT- OUR ENCOURAGEMENT
Once in a village, lived a merchant who worked very hard. One day, he called his accountant and said, “Find out how much money I have and for how long it will be enough?”
After a few days, accountant came with calculations and said to merchant, “According to your expenditures, if they stay the same and if there is no income from today on, then your next two generations can eat.”
The merchant was shocked. He said, “Then what will happen to third or fourth generation?”
From that day onward, the merchant started thinking about them and got sick. He took many treatments but still there was no relief.
One day a friend of the merchant came to meet him and saw that he was not well and seemed worried. So, his friend asked him why he was so worried. The merchant said, “Even after earning so much, there is nothing for my third or fourth generation.”
His friend understood his problem and said, “A monk lives at a distance and if you bring him food in morning then your disease will be cured.”
The very next day the merchant reached the monk’s place with food. The monk welcomed him with respect and called his disciple saying, “The merchant has brought food for us.”
The disciple replied, “But for today, someone has already given us food.”
Listening to this, the monk said to merchant, “Sorry, but someone has already given us today’s food, so we can’t accept your food. Our rule is to accept only one meal, which is given early in the morning, we accept it and can’t take anymore. I apologize.”
The merchant said, “Can I bring it tomorrow?”
To this the monk replied, “We do not think of tomorrow today. When tomorrow comes, God will provide.”
The merchant left for his home. Throughout way he kept wondering about what the monk said and thought that the monk doesn’t even worry about tomorrow and here I am worrying about the third and fourth generation.
The merchant understood got it and left all his worries and started living happily.
As Christians we’re privileged to have the Holy Spirit available to us to guide us and strengthen us. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom so that we can stay on the path that God has for us. If we ever feel confused or alone, remember that Jesus gave us this Holy Comforter, the wise Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity; “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:4-15).
St. Bernard rightly says, “The Holy Spirit is the Kiss of God”. Isn’t that an amazing reflection by St. Bernard? If we study the New Testament, we will come to know that the Holy Spirit is the center of our lives, and he helps us to connect with the Father and his Son. Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost: descending of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. It’s a celebration of the birth of the Universal Church as well. This is the new beginning for disciples and for us as well because this is the day when disciples received the Holy Spirit and became fearless witnesses to Jesus’s love.
The catechetical instructions by St. Cyril of Jerusalem highlight the importance of the Holy Spirit in our life: “… In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each man as he wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul bears the fruit of holiness when repentance has made it worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, the effects of this action, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are both many and marvelous. The Spirit makes one man a teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power of casting out devils, enables another to interpret holy Scripture. The Spirit strengthens one man’s self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to fast and lead a life of asceticism, makes another oblivious to the needs of the body, trains another for martyrdom. His action is different in different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same. In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good”.
He adds more “The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through him, the minds of others as well. As light strikes the eyes of a man who comes out of darkness into the sunshine and enables him to see clearly things he could not discern before, so light floods the soul of the man counted worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables him to see things beyond the range of human vision, things hitherto undreamt of”.
The Holy Spirit being a helper invites us to create the circle of love and care for one another because doing that we create a just society where everyone is loved and accepted. I believe the following story will help you understand the importance of the Fire of the Holy Spirit by which our hearts and minds must burn to help other.
A man was driving his car, when he saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road. He saw that she needed help. So, he stopped his Pontiac near her Mercedes and got out. He smiled, while he was approaching her, still she was worried, as nobody had stopped for hours. Moreover, he did not look safe, as his appearance was so poor and shabby. He could see, how frightened she was, so he tried to calm her, “I‘m here to help you, don’t worry. My name is Bryan Anderson”. The tire was flat, so he had to crawl under the car. While changing the tire, he got dirty, and his hands were hurt.
When the job was done, she asked how much she owed him for his help. Bryan smiled. He said, “If you really want to pay me back, the next time you see someone, who needs help, give that person the needed assistance, and think of me”. That same evening, the lady stopped by a small cafe. That place looked dingy. Then she saw a waitress, nearly eight months pregnant, wiping her wet hands with a towel. The waitress had a sweet friendly smile, although she had spent on her feet the whole day.
The lady wondered, how someone, who has so little, can be so kind and giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan. The lady had finished her meal and paid with a hundred-dollar bill. The waitress went to get change and when she came back, the lady was gone. She left a note on the napkin, “You don’t owe me anything. Somebody once helped me, just like now I’m helping you. If you really want to pay me back, do not let this chain of love end with you”. The waitress found four more one-hundred-dollar bills under the napkin. That night the waitress went home early. She was thinking about the lady and the money she left. She was wondering, how the lady could know, how much she and her husband needed it? Especially now when the baby will soon arrive. She knew that her husband worried about that, so she was glad to tell him good news. Then she kissed him and whispered; “Now everything will be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson”.
St. Paul in writing to Romans opens our heart and mind to understand the role of The Holy Spirit: “For those who live according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (8:5-17).
St. Irenaeus writing against the heresies of his time, explains the mystery of the Pentecost: When the Lord told his disciples to go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, he conferred on them the power of giving men new life in God. He had promised through the prophets that in these last days he would pour out his Spirit on his servants and handmaids, and that they would prophesize. So, when the Son of God became the Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with humans, to living in men and to inhabiting God’s creation. The Spirit accomplished the Father’s will in men who had grown old in sin and gave them new life in Christ. Luke says that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost, after the Lord’s ascension, with power to open the gates of life to all nations and to make known to them the new covenant. So it was that men of every language joined in singing one song of praise to God, and scattered tribes, restored to unity by the Spirit, were offered to the Father as the first fruits of all the nations.
This was why the Lord had promised to send the Advocate: he was to prepare us as an offering to God. Like dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven. And like parched ground, which yields no harvest unless it receives moisture, we who were once like a waterless tree could never have lived and borne fruit without this abundant rainfall from above. Through the baptism that liberates us from change and decay we have become one in body; through the Spirit we have become one in soul.
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of God came down upon the Lord, and the Lord in turn gave this Spirit to his Church, sending the Advocate from heaven into all the world into which, according to his own words, the devil too had been cast down like lightning. If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the dew of God. Since we have our accuser, we need an advocate as well. And so, the Lord in his pity for man, who had fallen into the hands of brigands, having himself bound up his wounds and left for his care two coins bearing the royal image, entrusted him to the Holy Spirit. Now, through the Spirit, the
image and inscription of the Father and the Son have been given to us, and it is our duty to use the coin committed to our charge and make it yield a rich profit for the Lord.
The Holy Spirit being our Helper fills our hearts with the love of God and Jesus so that we may spread the message of love to other. As we could see in the following story.
The parking lot filled rapidly on Sunday morning as members of the large church congregation filed into church. As usually happens in a church that size, each member had developed a certain comfort zone – a block of space within those four church walls that became theirs after the second or third sitting.
It was as much a part of their church experience as the recliner was to the television at home. Some of the older members had been sitting in the same row on the same side for several decades. A team of oxen could not have moved them to the opposite side of the church.
One morning a stranger stood at the edge of the parking lot near a dumpster. As families parked cars and piled out, they noticed him rummaging through the trash. “Oh no! I don’t believe it,” whispered a lady to her husband. “That’s all we need — a bunch of homeless people milling around here.”
One worried little girl tugged on her dad’s sleeve. “But Daddy…”
Daddy was busy sizing up the bearded stranger, whose baggy, outdated trousers and faded flannel shirt had dusted too many park benches.
“Don’t stare at him, honey,” he whispered, and hurried her inside.
Soft music filled the high-ceiling sanctuary as churchgoers settled into their usual spots. The choir sang an opening chorus, “In His presence there is comfort … in His presence there is peace…”.
Sunlight suddenly flooded the center aisle. The double doors swung open and the homeless man, sloppy and stooped, headed toward the front.
“Oh no, it’s him!” somebody muttered.
“What does he think he’s doing, anyway?” snapped an incredulous usher.
The stranger set his bagful of dumpster treasures on the very first pew which had been upholstered in an expensive soft teal fabric just three months ago. The music stopped. And before anyone had a chance to react, he ambled up the stairs and stood behind the fine, handcrafted oak podium, where he faced a wide-eyed congregation.
The disheveled stranger spoke haltingly at first, in a low, clear voice. Unbuttoning and removing his top layer of clothing, he described Jesus, and the love He has for all people.
“Jesus possesses a sensitivity and love that far surpasses what any of us deserves.”
Stepping out of the baggy old trousers, the stranger went on to describe a forgiveness that is available to every one of us…without strings attached.
“Unconditionally He loves us. Unconditionally He gave His very life for us. Unconditionally and forever, we can have the peace and assurance that no matter who we are, where we’ve come from, or how badly we may have mistreated others or ourselves, there is hope.”
“In Jesus, there is always hope.”
“You see, my friends, it is never too late to change,” the man continued.
“He is the Author of change, and the Provider of forgiveness. He came to bring new meaning to ‘life’.”
Men and women squirmed as reality hit them like an electrical current. The stranger tugged at his knotted gray beard and removed it.
“I’m here to tell you that we are loved with a love far beyond human understanding, a love that enables us to accept and love others in return.” Then tenderly he added, “Let’s pray together.”
That wise pastor – under the guise of a homeless “nobody” – did not preach a sermon that day, but every person left with plenty to think about.
The Solemnity of Pentecost encourages us to leave our old ways of life and strive to be help to other people. In the First Reading we see the descending of the Holy Spirit and purifying of souls of the apostles. Just imagine if disciples would have stayed behind the closed doors of the room, then what would have happened: no more Christian faith neither the mention of Jesus’ name? Though there was fear, but Holy Spirit made the disciples to open the door from inside to go out but not someone came to open the door for them from outside. In similar way, the Holy Spirit invites us to open the closed doors of our hearts from inside to let Jesus come in as St. Paul says, “even we don’t know how to pray but the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and teaches us to call God; Abba, the Father”.
Holy Spirit renews the face of earth and helps us to recognize our relationship with the Lord. We must listen to Holy Spirit who intercedes for us to fill us with his love who died on the Cross for us to give eternal life.
St. Augustine says “O Holy Spirit, descend plentifully into my heart. Enlighten the dark corners of this neglected dwelling and scatter there Thy cheerful beams”.
St. Paul says, “Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God, who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us”.
Let us renew our faith and begin anew with commitment to serve the Lord faithfully. “Come Holy Spirit and fill our hearts with the fire of God’s Love”.
Do we find encouragement in the Holy Spirit?
Other Sermons In This Series
22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C ~ August 28, 2022
August 26, 2022
Divine Mercy Sunday Year C – April 24, 2022
April 22, 2022