The WORD in other words (2017) by Father Magdaleno Fabiosa SVD – Cebu City
Solemnity of the Descent of the Holy Spirit – Pentecost Sunday / A
Before His Ascension, Jesus spoke of His departure not as a loss but as a gift: “I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. If I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). His leaving was not abandonment, but the opening of a new chapter in salvation history. The Father, pleased with the sacrifice of His Son, now fulfills His promise through the Spirit.
The prophet Ezekiel had long captured God’s dream: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean… I will take away your stony hearts and give you a new heart. I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws” (Ezekiel 36:25–27). Through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection, this promise is fulfilled. The Spirit enables us to live the mentality, lifestyle, and values of Jesus in the world.
The Preface of the Second Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation has this to say about the Spirit:
Your Spirit changes our hearts: enemies begin to speak to one another, those who were estranged join hands in friendship, and nations seek the way of peace together. Your Spirit is at work when understanding puts an end to strife, when hatred is quenched by mercy and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.
This same Spirit makes possible the extraordinary in ordinary lives:
- A wife forgiving a philandering husband.
- A government employee refusing bribes.
- A student resisting cheating or rejecting distorted views of morality.
- The poor sharing their little with neighbors in need.
Humanly speaking, these choices seem impossible. Yet they are signs of the Spirit’s presence, the Advocate Jesus promised.
Pentecost celebrates this gift. The Spirit has already come, and we commemorate His descent today. As Ezekiel proclaims: “I will put my Spirit in you to help you live” (Ezekiel 36:27) your christian vocation. The Spirit multiplies the presence of Jesus in the world, dwelling in those who allow Him to shape their lives.
God could not have chosen a better helper for our journey to holiness. The Spirit is our Advocate, our guide, our strength. Let us thank the Father for this unmerited gift, and let us open our hearts to the Spirit who makes Christ alive in us and through us.
“Come, Holy Spirit, fill our hearts, renew our lives, and make us eager to live as true disciples of Jesus.”
