June 8 – Solemnity of Pentecost
There is great rejoicing in the Sanhedrin. The Nazarene has failed! His defeat could not have been more complete! The crowds, witnesses of His miracles, stimulated by sizable sums of money, clamoured for His destruction. The most ignominious death eliminated Him from the living. And two thieves flanked Him, forever stigmatizing His memory…
A little over a month passed in apparent normality: the people continued, indolent and mediocre, to gather for the sacrifices in the Temple, while their consciences were muffled by the clatter of gold coins thrown into the alms coffers. The empty tomb had not intimidated the perfidy of Jesus’ enemies, nor had it succeeded in overcoming the fear of His former followers, hidden away in the Upper Room.
The Gospels make no secret of the Apostles’ failings. On the contrary, they naturally reveal their shortcomings which, going beyond the realm of the human, extend into the supernatural scope. When the supreme hour arrived, one of them had betrayed the Master (cf. Lk 22:4-5; 47-48), all of them had fallen asleep before fleeing (cf. Lk 22:45), and the chief among them had denied Him three times (cf. Lk 22:56-60) despite being previously warned (cf. Lk 22:34).
There was reason for the Sanhedrin to celebrate. There was nothing to fear from those timorous men in the Upper Room, reluctant to believe in the Resurrection, and ready to go back to fishing and their former business…
But then the morning of Pentecost dawns and Jesus’ promise is fulfilled! The Holy Spirit descends and the Twelve are transformed into the greatest heroes in history.
From simple fishermen, they become teachers of the nations, guiding them to faith in the one God and perfect morality. Their doctrine, austere and clear, remains cohesive and free of error everywhere. Without money or weapons, they dissuade entire peoples from practising the vices most deeply rooted in human nature, such as polygamy and idolatry. Where Socrates and Plato had given up, addressing the most intelligent people, they promptly triumph… and even with the uncultured.
What is left of weakness in these lions who defy all the powers of the earth? St. Peter will plant the banner of truth at the palace of the Caesars. With their own martyrdom, all those who had once fled from suffering would open a path of heroism, drawing millions to the same epic.
Two thousand years of battles and glories followed: martyrs, doctors, virgins, anchorites, confessors, monks, crusaders, missionaries… This shows the vitality of the Church, holy and Catholic, whose soul is the Divine Holy Spirit.
What an important lesson for us! Pentecost shines out as the perpetual paradigm of God’s triumph. No one and nothing can defeat Him. The combined forces of the world and the devil are derisory before His omnipotence, and human weakness is the pedestal on which His glory best shines. The failure of what would appear to be His plan “A” is only an opportunity for Him to unveil “A+A” – His true plan – because we would say that, in this area, the divine vocabulary does not know the letter “B”…
But God’s victory has a name: Mary. Only those who are close to her, as were the Apostles at Pentecost, will be flooded with new graces and will be able to sing: “You have sent Your Spirit, Lord, and the face of the earth has been renewed!” ◊
