Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 5, 2022
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”
Over the past two years as a Catholic school teacher trying to lead a school community safely through a pandemic, I have realized how often I confuse peace with the experience of ease.
I have been on my knees praying for an easier week ahead throughout many Sunday Masses. Not surprisingly, those prayers were rarely answered in the way I expected. What was unexpected was finding an answer during the physical exercise of a mindful stretching class.
To be clear, I am anything but flexible. However, through the analogy of a pendulum, I began to understand something new about the discomfort of challenging stretches. Life, like a stretch, might bring us some pain. But life, like a pendulum, keeps moving. We won’t be in one pose, nor this present discomfort, forever. How can we find peace in our temporary pain instead of looking for what brings ease?
In today’s gospel, Jesus invites us to find peace amid discomfort. As Jesus is about to send his disciples out into the world, he knows that spreading the message of radical inclusivity, unconditional love, and authentic forgiveness will bring deeply challenging moments for the disciples. Yet he begins the commissioning of the disciples with the words, “Peace be with you.”
How can it be possible to feel peace in the face of extraordinary challenges? I am still working through that question, but it seems that when my words and actions are rooted in love, strength is present. Challenging conversations and decisions are still uncomfortable. But when I pause, I can feel peace underneath the temporary discomfort.
This week ahead, bringing God’s love to others might require us to move well beyond what is easy or comfortable. How will we respond to these situations? Will we seek the path of temporary ease, or will we go the route of lasting peace?
Prayer
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and we shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructed the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Today is the birthday of the Church!
After Jesus rose, the disciples continued to meet every Sunday morning to pray together and to remember and celebrate the resurrection. Christ was present among them until his ascension. The disciples gathered in the upper room where they shared the Last Supper with Jesus, where he appeared to them after rising, and where Thomas touched his wounds. They were hopeful, but afraid—the factions that had killed Jesus were still in power and posed a threat to them if they were to continue Jesus’ work.
On the seventh Sunday after the Resurrection, after Christ's Ascension into heaven, as the disciples gathered for prayer, a supernatural wind filled the room, and tongues of flame seemed to flicker above their heads. These were signs of a divine reality—the sending of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:1-13).
Pentekoste, the Greek word for “fiftieth day,” was the name of a popular harvest festival in the region (crops in Palestine become ripe in May). Later, Israel adopted the feast to celebrate the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Sinai 50 days after Passover. Pentecost was one of the three festivals during which Jews from all nations were required to travel to Jerusalem.
When this crowd of people from all over the ancient world beheld the rush of wind, or heard about it from others, they gathered around the upper room. The disciples, empowered by the Spirit, went among them and spoke to them, and each heard them speak in their own native language.
It was a radical reorientation for that first community of Christians. They had been huddled around Jesus during his ministry, and were uncertain about what to do after Christ's ascension. Christ promised to be with them "until the end of the age" (Mt 28:20), but he was not with them in the way he had been before. At Pentecost, the young Church was strengthened for their mission. They were sent out into the city to proclaim Jesus’ good news—no matter the consequences—to people of every nation. More than 3,000 people who heard them that day accepted baptism as a sign of their new faith in the Lord, and they, too, received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This outpouring of the Spirit made the Church manifest to the whole world. It marked a new era in salvation history that continues to today—an era in which Jesus works to save the world through the ministry of the Church.
This stained glass window depicting the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the disciples stands in the east transept of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and the woodcut of Pentecost comes from the chapel at Moreau Seminary. Fragments of the upper room and the table that stood in it rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
On this feast of Pentecost, let us pray for the Holy Spirit to continue to direct us outwards to share the good news!