Vigil Mass of Pentecost (OF)

St Philip Neri and the miracle of the catacombs

As we prepare to conclude our Easter festivities, the Church presents to us in her liturgy this Vigil Mass for one of her most important feasts: Pentecost.  This Vigil Mass echoes some of the actions of the Vigil Mass for Easter which we celebrated 50 days prior, in particular the extended readings to prepare our minds and hearts for the feast we shall celebrate tomorrow.  Pentecost is so important an event that the Church has this Vigil Mass to give us an additional opportunity to recollect the events of tomorrow and to celebrate them more joyfully.

Our readings this evening show us how Pentecost is the start of a new age in the life of the world and in the history of the Church.  We begin, of course, at the beginning, with the Tower of Babel. Humanity, continuing in its sinful state after the fall in the Garden, decides to build a tower so as to oppose God, whom they believe will disperse them throughout the world. Yet God desires to bring humanity together in Himself, the opposite of what these people believe. What causes the dispersal of humanity is sin which is completely opposite of the holy God. To demonstrate this, God causes the men at Babel to be dispersed not in place but in language.  By their sinful actions, humanity is separated from each other.

It is only in God that unity can truly be found for humanity, and this is demonstrated on Pentecost.  For on that day, the Apostles who receive the Holy Spirit are able to be understood by all attending.  At Babel, humanity was confused because of the variance of speech; but on Pentecost, humanity is confused at the comprehension by all! Thus does Pentecost begin to unravel the sinful effects of humanity’s beginning so as to prepare us for our ultimate end.

The second reading marks the archetype of Pentecost as concerns the law, for it is the time in the book of Exodus where Moses receives the law engraved by the finger of God upon the stone tablets. On that occasion, the Lord came in a terrifying storm to write out the law needed for humanity to abandon sin and to draw nearer to Himself.  But on Pentecost, God comes more peacefully so as to write out the new law of grace and holiness not on stone or paper, but in the hearts of believers, as the prophet Jeremiah told would happen on this day (Jer 31:31-34). What use is it to have some truth or belief engraved on the outside if we do not engrave it within? But only by the instruction and guidance of the Holy Spirit are we capable of receiving that law and living it out most perfectly.

We then hear Ezekiel recall his vision of the dry and dead bones being brought back to life by the Spirit of God.  These dead bones are given life anew through the words of Ezekiel and the action of the Spirit, rising from death unto new life.  This reading bears witness to the desire of God that none should perish, but that all should live through, with, and in Him.  God sends down His Spirit so as to revive us from our sinful ways, from those actions that cause our spiritual death and our eternal death.  It is by the Spirit that we are able to be freed of our sins and to begin to live out the holiness marked for each one of us, as the prophet Joel proclaims in the next reading.  It is the Spirit who excites us towards not merely avoiding evil and sin, but towards doing the good, persevering in the good, remaining in the good.

The Holy Spirit, as Jesus bears witness in the midst of the Temple, is the living water who pours forth from the pierced side of Christ. The Spirit is the bond of love between the Father and the Son, and the means whereby that love is shared with each one of us.  The Spirit is the one who comes so as to renew the face of the earth with His continual presence in the Church.  Only through the Spirit are we able to worship God, to call Him not merely “God” but “Father”, to become the adopted children of our Heavenly Father.

It is by the Spirit that we are able to become saints, as each of their lives bear witness to, in particular the life of Saint Philip Neri.  On this exact feast day, the Vigil of Pentecost, St Philip was praying in the catacombs, as was his custom in Rome, praying fervently for the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, when a great miracle occurred.  There appeared a ball of fire before the saint, which then entered into his heart. His heart literally grew in size, so much so that the two ribs in front of his heart were cracked from that moment until his death, yet he experienced no pain, only immense joy and longing. For the rest of his life, St Philip’s Pentecostal heart burned with the love of God and love of humanity, striving to pour out that love to those who needed it most.

While the same might not happen to us, each of us is called to be enlivened by the Spirit so as to spread the joy of salvation to all.  It is the Spirit who pushes us to cry out the truths of the faith so that others might share in that joy.  It is the Spirit who sends us out to execute the mission of the Church in our daily lives.  It is the Spirit who offers us comfort and consolation in those times when life seems to grow sour, when the world seems to encircle us and mock us for our beliefs.  And it is the Spirit who promises to remain with us and to aid us as long as we seek to do the same.

Let us pray most fervently this day and tomorrow that the Holy Spirit will renew our parish. Let us pray that we might be receptive to the promptings of the Spirit speaking within the recesses of our hearts, calling us to something greater than anything the world can offer.  Let us be stirred up to live out our faith more radically than ever before, emboldened by the Spirit so as to imitate the Apostles in their own bold proclamation of the Gospel.  Let us ask the Spirit to pray for all of us, knowing better than we do what we need in order to be holy. Let us not be recollected anymore in our Easter joy, but let us spread that joy to every corner of the world, so that the joy of the Gospel may not be fruitless, but that all may come to share in this joy both now and in the life to come.