EXERCISE 31: On-going Presence – Pentecost
The feast of Pentecost is usually celebrated as the birth of the Church. Traditionally, it is seen as the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles in the locked Upper Room where they had hidden from danger. It is usually seen as the event which transforms the frightened disciples into missionaries who took Jesus’ message throughout the Mediterranean basin within the next one hundred years.
Pentecost can also be seen as the last act of Jesus – a re-descent of the now fully divine Jesus into the lives of those who were ready to receive him. Could this be a prefiguration of our eventual destiny – to continue God’s work of “inspiring,” “alluring” humanity towards a world of peace, compassion and justice?
These are of course reflections of pure speculation… They are nonetheless strictly in line with our understanding of Jesus’ life, which did not end with his death.
Read, Acts 2: 1-8 on the incident of Pentecost. Can you imagine yourself in that locked room, cowering with fear… At any moment, the Roman soldiers could break in to drag you to the same fate as Jesus’… How can your life possibly continue? Can you return to your nets on the Sea of Galilee? Can you leave this dream-turned-nightmare behind? What happens when you are suddenly filled with insight?
Record your experience in your journal.