Pentecost Sunday

My dear friends in Christ, our Gospel is taken from John 20:19-23. From this Gospel, we could learn somehow what charismatic groups or even born again Christians describe as “Baptism of the Holy Spirit” or “the experience of God’s presence”. Surprisingly, even a deacon of the Iglesia ni Kristo shared a similar experience to me within their community. Well, the sharing and testimonies of the different communities in our present generation would only confirm the religious experience of the early apostles as authentic and true as written in the Scripture.

My dear friends allow me to tell you the experience of the early disciples in seriatim. It is said that it happened on one Sunday evening (on the evening of that day, the first day of the week), which means the apostles were in the dark. Not only that they were in the dark but also hiding in the dark, as it is emphasized in the Gospel that the doors being shut where the disciples were because of fear.

This was the sad setting when Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Notice my dear friends, when Jesus said “Peace be with you” to His disciples, He showed His hands and His side. He showed them His wounds. Why He had to do this? This is to tell us that peace is neither the absence of pain, nor the absence of problems, nor the absence of worries. Rather, peace is an experience of the presence of God despite the pain, problems or worries. It is an experience of the love of God in the midst of the cruelty of the world.  

To continue, it is said in the Gospel that the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So we learn from here, that being aware of the presence of Jesus, of the presence of God, the disciples forgot their fear! The presence of Jesus was so overwhelming that one can say, “wala ka nang hahanapin pa” or “forget muna ang problema”.  

Finally, Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit”. Here, we are being made aware that the Holy Spirit is with us as we receive Him when we were baptized and in the sacrament of Confirmation just like the experience of the early disciples. It is somehow improper then to say that God has abandoned anyone because God Himself has come for all of us. God the Father gave us Jesus and then the Holy Spirit. What else do we want? Well, it is time for us to do our mission in this world being sent by Jesus to testify that God is with us.

Let me end with a personal sharing; there is this one good young man in our parish whose parents are working in a rented fishpond. He wanted to become a teacher but he did not pass the board exam. So he tried culinary arts and became a chef but he was not rehired due to management’s prerogative. When he applied for overseas work, everything was ok except for the result of his medical exam given by the company. He told me he was confused and did not know what lies ahead of him. He was depressed. I told him to pray more. His father also was worried about him and his future.

One day, I asked his family to have a life-size image of Jesus on the cross which would be used for the Holy Week procession. I told them God will bless them for their efforts for the good of our parish. Though I know how difficult it was for them to accept my suggestion, they willingly did have such image during our Holy Week celebration this year. It was this young man who assisted his parents in preparing the image for the procession. I saw his dedication for the parish during the Holy Week. I reminded him that God will make His presence felt in his life.

My dear friends, this morning when I was browsing my Facebook account, I saw his name as one of those who pass the licensure exams for teachers this year. His dream now comes true. But for me as a priest, it is a concrete manifestation that God is with us to be at peace in this restless world. Amen.