The solemnity of the Pentecost

Today is the Solemnity of the Holy Spirit, which is also known as Pentecost Sunday. We have spent nearly a month getting a teaching from our Lord Jesus Christ as written in the Holy Scriptures of his relationship with God the Father, that he and the Father are one. Today, as our Lord promised his disciples, he sent the Advocate or the Holy Spirit because he said, “I will not leave you orphans… I will send the Holy Spirit to guide you and be with you.” This is today’s gospel… about our Lord Jesus Christ breathing the Holy Spirit to his disciples. You can read it in John 20:19-23.

“19 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.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 [Jesus] said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

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Pentecost Sunday is also considered as the birth of the Catholic Church because it is very clear in today’s gospel as our Lord Jesus Christ breathed the Holy Spirit to his disciples he said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

So ask yourselves, who has the power to forgive sin? Of course only God can forgive sins. But then, our Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and all power has been handed to him by the Father and therefore in breathing the Holy Spirit to his disciples he authorized or delegated this power to forgive sin to them. This is why I always remind people who tell me that they don’t need to go to priests anymore because they can go straight to God.

If that were the salvific plan of our Lord Jesus Christ he wouldn’t have told this to his disciples, which is in the Holy Scriptures. In fact during the confession of Simon Peter, which you can read in Matt.16:13-20, “Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.

I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.” In this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ specifically told Simon Peter and gave him the keys of the Kingdom, as he was to lead the church that he established. Of course you already know that our Lord Jesus Christ created the Catholic Church. While today, there are over 33,000 Christian churches of various names; there is only one Catholic Church.

The Holy Spirit of God lives within us, who will guide us to the proper path and to the road of salvation. It is the Spirit within us that allows us to seek God himself and teaches us to love God. It is that inner voice that teaches us the difference between right and wrong. Indeed, when our Lord breathed the Holy Spirit to his disciples and told them to forgive sins or retain them, this act continues on today when the priest inside the confessional forgives your sins. But he is doing this in Persona Christi… in the person of Christ. It is really Christ himself forgiving us through the priests.

Today is also the first anniversary of the consecration of the Philippines to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Because of this consecration to IHM the Holy Spirit is playing an active role in exposing the pork scam before the eyes of the Filipino people because he is the Spirit of Truth and somehow, no matter how they distort the truth, it is coming out causing a massive indignation and angst amongst Filipinos because of the magnitude of this crime perpetrated by our political establishment.

What this country today needs is social transformation and a return to a moral life. To end this piece, allow me to write the Prayer of the Holy Spirit. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts ofTthy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.” Indeed, we must renew the face of the earth.

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