Pentecost Sunday

In today’s Gospel, we find the disciples hiding in the Upper Room. In this room, they hid in fear. The doors were locked. The windows were covered. No light could be seen and no sound could be heard. There was a strange, almost deafening, silence. These people that boldly proclaimed to follow Jesus to the death now hide out of shame.
 
It is into this very context that Jesus chooses to appear. Jesus chooses to step into this very atmosphere of fear, confusion, and anxiety. How did Jesus get in? Scripture simply tells us He “came and stood in their midst.” Now, this isn’t the context to get into a discussion about the characteristics of the Resurrected and glorified body of Christ, but we can say this: He wanted to be with the disciples. He wanted to be with His friends. And so He was. Poof! He was there. Now, He could’ve gone to the Roman soldiers and proved His power. He could’ve gone and taunted the religious leaders. Instead, He chose to be with His friends.
 
It is this very friendship that is a driving force for Jesus. Because of His closeness to these disciples, He chooses to impart peace on them. Peace in the midst of clattering teeth. Peace to still the trembling legs. Peace to steady the rapid heartbeats. He speaks peace, and it is so. The Lord desires to give us this same Spirit of Peace. Not just on Pentecost, but  every single day and in every single moment.
 
Now, Jesus invites the disciples to see His pierced hands and side. He reveals to them His wounds. Many of our friendships are beautiful, but more often than not, they’re surface-level friendships. This doesn’t mean they’re bad, but they’re not as deep as they can be. How do we deepen our friendships with others? We do as  Jesus did: we make ourselves vulnerable. We share our stories, and we reveal our wounds. In our wounds, God can be glorified — if we allow Him to be.
 
After sharing His peace with them and revealing His wounds, the disciples rejoiced. How could they not? The man they considered to be the Lord did in fact keep His promises. He was who He said He was. He did conquer death, just as He said He would. Their friend, and yes, their Lord, was back and (dare I say) better than ever. Fully God, fully Man, and now glorified through the Resurrection.
 
Jesus doesn’t leave them there to just rejoice, though. In what is a parallel to the very beginning of Scripture in Genesis, Jesus breathes His Holy Spirit onto them and sends them out. Jesus is establishing a New Creation! While we are called to rejoice and be with the Lord, we also need to go out and bring more people into the Kingdom.

Before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Upper Room was a place to hide in fear and cowardice. Now, it is a place of mission and zeal. Those that were afraid were now “awakened,” almost like sleeper agents, and sent forth. Sent forth how? Jesus tells us: in the same way that the Father sent Him.
 
His Father sent Him to us, out of sheer goodness, so that we can participate in their Divine Life. It is our mission to receive this Divine Life, through the Holy Spirit, so that we can live fully as adopted sons and daughters of the King.
 
This way, we can go out into the world and pour out the Holy Spirit in both our words and deeds — preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, He who offers us true peace.