Pentecost Homily

​Homily
By Theoloscience
 
Thus said the Lord: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (Jn 14:15). Jesus knows when and who loves him. Then he promises us this: "I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete so that he may always be with you" (Jn 14:16). The Paraclete is the Advocate, the Intercessor, and the sanctifying Spirit. The love for Jesus is in keeping in mind and in the heart, the Holy Spirit. When you love Jesus, the Spirit of God lives in you. As simple as that. Loving Jesus has two components: First, listening to Jesus and believing in Him. Second, obeying Jesus. The Lord says: "He who loves me will be faithful to my word, and my Father will love him; we will go to him and live in him "(Jn 14:23). Obedience to Jesus includes the Ten Commandments of the Law of God. Read them every day before leaving your house, so that you will not forget living every day in obedience to God. Find the Ten Commandments in the book of Exodus chapter 20. Practice the virtues, good habits, good manners. Those who love Jesus practice the Law of God; they develop a lifestyle that is shaped by the model of Jesus.
Those who do not love Jesus do not believe in Him nor obey Him. The Lord said: "He who does not love me is not faithful to my words" (Jn 14:24). Bad manners can become vices, and when bad manners reach the level of vice, the acts of a person becomes reproachable.
 
Jesus is calling us to listen to Him to start forming and acquiring good habits, good manners. To live and act in ways that are irreproachable. When we are consistent and persistent in practicing and developing good habits and good manners, they will become virtues. Jesus himself told us: "The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of what I have told you" (Jn 14:26). So we are not alone in this fight. God himself encourages us, inspires us, strengthens us and gives us the ability - the power - to do the things that He likes us to do.
Remember that the opposite of virtue is vice. In simple words, the opposite of a good habit is a bad habit. Two questions for reflection: How many good habits have I developed since I heard the Gospel and I come to Mass on Sundays? What are some bad habits that I need to eradicate? Always remember, read the Ten Commandments every day.
Let us speak for a moment of good manners that fall within the virtue of compassion or charity — for example, attending to the person in front of us. Remember that if we love Jesus, He lives within each one of us. How difficult it is for us, but how important to be present for each other. When we are looking at the computer screen or the smartphone, when a brother or sister is with us is a bad habit and a serious fault to the virtue of charity. The one who loves Jesus attends to Jesus. He looks him in the eyes, hears him, and gives him undivided attention.
 
We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the promise that Jesus made has been fulfilled: "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all gathered in the same place" (He 2: 1).
What happened?
 
1. "Suddenly a noise came from heaven, like a strong gust of wind" (He 2: 2). One of the four elements: Water, fire, wind, and earth. The noise came from the sky. Imagine this: A strong gust of wind.
 
2. "Then they saw appear tongues like fire" (He 2: 3). Why fire? Another of the four elements ... Fire consumes everything, burns, changes - it is a clear sign of a radical transformation. The fire of Pentecost burned sadness, fear, insecurity, paralysis, indifference, apathy, lack of commitment, mediocrity, coldness.
 
3 "All were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit allowed them to express themselves" (He 2: 4). Different languages, however, all were understood. Of what did they speak? Look at what those who heard them said: "We heard them proclaim in our tongues the wonders of God" (He 2:11). Of the wonders of God. Of the wonderful works that God does amid his people: The blind see, the deaf hears, the dead are raised to new life, the sea breaks in two so that their people pass through dry land, the lepers are cleansed, the chains of the Prisoners and the poor are announced the Good News.
 
And God, who is one, lives in each one of us. Unity is realized in God. We are many. Nevertheless, we form a single body. God has distributed his gifts for the edification of his Church: "There are diversities of gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit" (I Cor 12: 4). This is an active call to grow in awareness that we are part of the Body of Christ. "Just as the body has many members, and yet it is one, and these members, although they are many, form, one body, so it is with Christ" (I Cor 12:12). Also, Paul concludes: "For we have all been baptized into one Spirit to form one Body - Jews and Greeks, slaves and free men - and we have all drunk from the same Spirit" (I Cor 12:13).