Tag Archives: National Catholic Reporter

by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

There are very many things that we could reflect on when it comes to this feast of Pentecost. I think, in a certain way, we overlook how important this feast really is in our own spirit life and what it has meant in the history of the church. Saint Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, describes for us, in a very symbolic way, what happened on that first Pentecost. He’s not recording history. The history probably was closer to what’s in the Gospel of John — that Jesus came on Easter Sunday night and gave the disciples the Spirit.

But Luke wants us to appreciate the full depth of the meaning of this feast, so he goes back to other Scripture passages. He wants us to see what happened here on that Pentecost or Easter Sunday night as like what happened at the beginning of creation. He wants us to see this is a new creation. In the book of Genesis, it’s described as, “Before the worlds were made there was chaos and a terrible wind blowing through that chaos.”

“That’s the wind that comes down upon the house,” as Luke describes it, “Shaking the walls, this wind.” The word “spirit” in Hebrew is wind. Luke is trying to get us to remember what happened. Now we know, not in seven days, day by day, but with a big bang out of nothing, God brings forth the beginnings of the universe. Now we know that this was billions of years ago. God’s creation has been going on now, these billions of years.

The more we learn about it, the more soundly we understand that it is what God has done. We look up at the sky and we see the Milky Way and we think, “What an extraordinary event that Milky Way is.” It’s only one; there are thousands. God is continuing to create. The universe is expanding, going on. There could well be other places in this huge universe where there is human life like our own. It’s a wondrous, extraordinary thing what God began — that creation from nothing...

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by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

As we try to listen deeply now to the Scripture lessons and draw from them guidance for our everyday life, I think it’s important, especially from the Gospel, to hear Jesus telling us, “I’ve told you all this while I was still with you.” Remember again, he’s in conversation with his disciples the night before he dies. But then he says, “From now on, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom God will send in my name, will continue to teach you all things and remind you of what I have told you.”

We’ve heard that before, and I think probably we don’t really give enough attention to this promise of Jesus, that he’s going to send his Holy Spirit to be with us, to guide us. But when you think about it, it’s really important that he do that because if you notice in the Scriptures, Jesus doesn’t give the disciples any blueprint about how to follow up on his teachings. He doesn’t tell them how to establish a church, what they are to do.

All he says is, “You’ve received the Holy Spirit. Go and proclaim the good news to all the nations.” He’s telling them, “Go out and preach the good news that I’ve been teaching you.” But there will be times when they will need special guidance. Of course, one of those times came very early in the church. It’s what we heard about in the first lesson today. The apostle Paul and Barnabas had made a missionary journey into Asia Minor, where would be Turkey, Syria — those countries, and they had great success.

In town after town they went into the synagogues, they preached about Jesus, and people wanted to be baptized, wanted to become followers of Jesus. These were Gentiles. Back in Jerusalem where the church first began to function, all the disciples of Jesus who became his followers — the Christian church, were Jews, and they still followed the Jewish practices. Now Paul and Barnabas were going out and saying, “That’s not necessary any longer. You don’t have to be circumcised. You don’t have to follow the 613 laws of the Jewish covenant. You’re free of that. You’re followers of Jesus.”...

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by Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

Before we proceed with the confirmation, it’s important, of course, to reflect on the Scriptures of today’s liturgy. And even though we didn’t choose these Scriptures specifically for this confirmation ceremony, as we listen to them, I know for myself and I think all of us probably got a sense that these Scriptures fit very well for what we’re celebrating today in the sacrament of confirmation. What’s one of the most important things about being confirmed?

What do you accept when you’re confirmed? It’s a responsibility. A responsibility for what? As we said in the opening prayer, we asked God, “Send your Holy Spirit upon us to make us witnesses before the world to the good news proclaimed by Jesus.” “Make us witnesses before the world to the good news proclaimed by Jesus.” That’s what we are called to do when we become confirmed disciples of Jesus Christ. We’re to be like Paul and Barnabas who went out into those other lands and other areas of the world and proclaimed that good news.

They spoke about Jesus. They witnessed to Jesus, to what he had taught, what he meant, how he lived, what he asked people to do to bring about the reign of God, the fullness of God’s life and love and kingdom. Paul and Barnabas were among the first witnesses to Jesus, but all down through the centuries now, people have been witnesses to Jesus. Every part of the world now has heard the Gospel of Jesus. Today you’re being asked to be witnesses also.

How do you witness? Paul and Barnabas went around and they preached. Neither one of them had known Jesus during their life, but they knew Jesus from the other disciples who told them about Jesus. They had witnessed Jesus through the resurrection, especially Paul. He had that extraordinary conversion experience where Jesus appeared to him and said, “Why are you persecuting me?” Paul said, “Who?” Jesus, because Paul had been persecuting the church, God’s people, and Paul was converted...

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