This weekend we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church. In our Gospel we hear that the disciples were in a room with closed doors hiding in fear. It was the same fear that had led Peter to deny Jesus and the other disciples to scatter, leaving him to face the cross alone. They really did love Jesus, but they allowed fear to paralyze them.
While they were huddled together, hiding, unsure of how to move forward and how to make sense of all that they had experienced, Jesus appeared in their midst, offering peace. Not a word of condemnation or disappointment was spoken. Jesus simply offered his love and understanding with the words, “Peace be with you.”
Jesus then breathed on them, just as the creating God breathed life into humanity at the dawn of creation and into each one of us at our birth. Jesus gave new life to the disciples, inviting them to live in the creative love of the Holy Spirit, the love that energizes and gives purpose to our lives. Only then did their paralyzing fear give way to hope and together they became “Church” the living Body of Christ on earth.
As the Church was born, the world was forever changed. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit that brings us new life in Jesus. God lives in and among us, empowering us to see with eyes of love, to hear with ears of love, and to speak words of love and forgiveness, being Christ to one another. The Holy Spirit is the creative energy that frees us from fear and gives us the hope and courage to believe in something more, to reach a little higher, and to love a little harder.
When Jesus said, “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” Jesus is telling us that to the extent that we forgive, we share with Jesus in the mission of the Church, the mission to set the world free from sin and hostility. As Jesus sent out the disciples, we too are sent forth to help heal the world around us one person at a time, helping to end the cycle of violence, injustice, and greed that wounds and creates fear. As we celebrate Pentecost, let us open our hearts to the creative energy of the Holy Spirt so that we can be empowered to be Church to the world around us, being the hands and feet of Christ to a world that hungers for forgiveness and love.
May God bless you and your loved ones today, tomorrow, and forevermore.