Jesus' Gift of Holy Spirit and the Power to Forgive



εὐαγγελίζω (euaggelizo)
“to announce the Good News of victory in battle”

“And when he had said this,
He breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive (ἀφῆτε, aphete) are forgiven (ἀφέωνται, apheontai) them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”


θεωρέω (theoreo)
(“to perceive, discover, ponder a deeper meaning”)

Reminiscent of the Father’s creative Breath that fashioned humanity in His image and likeness (Genesis 2), the Risen Jesus breathes that same creative Breath, the Person of the Holy Spirit, to continue His saving and renewing work through the forgiveness of sins.

Because the experience of forgiveness is at the core of Jesus’ teaching and way of living, it is well worth pondering its meaning in the Word of God this Pentecost Sunday. Throughout His Public ministry, Jesus freely imparted the Father’s forgiveness in response to sorrow for sin. He taught His disciples to forgive one another and included it as a petition in the prayer that defines all Christian Prayer, the Lord’s Prayer. He even pronounced a prayer of forgiveness from His broken Body engulfed in a pain that words cannot even begin to express as He was dying on the Cross. And just in case none of this has moved us, Jesus concluded a parable with one of the Gospels’ most stinging challenge: “So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother (ἀφῆτε, aphete) from his heart (Matthew 18:35).”

Jesus’ Words certainly cut deep into our minds and hearts. Every time we hear Him say a word about forgiveness our minds vividly present us with the many faces of strained and broken relationships that are still oozing with pain. The pain and hurt often prompt thoughts, if not action, of revenge because ‘he or she is not going to get away with hurting me.’ Other times the hurts generate anger as we realize we cannot do anything to ‘feel better.’ We have experienced hurts so deep that ‘forgiveness’ (whatever that might be) seems impossible to us at that moment.

ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) is the Greek verb that is generally rendered “to forgive” in the majority of English Bible translations. In antiquity, ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) meant “to release” suggesting a prior action that has somehow bound or even imprisoned a person or object. Closely related to the meaning of “to release,” is “to leave” and “to leave to another.” While there are a number of other English words that also translate ἀφίημι (aphíēmi), all of the translations suggest some type of movement. This further suggests that ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) ‘permits’ movement since, implicitly, motion has been halted. Secular usage of ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) conveyed a sense of “lifting or releasing a debt owed;” a meaning that is often woven into biblical texts such as the Lord’s Prayer.
So what does this all have to say to us when it comes to the very difficult action of forgiving another or others? Sin (sin in Hebrew hatta means “to miss the mark”) by its very nature is not only evil or disorder, but also an evil or disorder that is chosen. When I sin, I choose to introduce a level of chaos and disorder into life that retards and may even stop any growth or movement in life towards the other, others and Other (God). The greater ‘the sin’ the harder the brakes are applied to life and relationship living. Some offenses may even bring all movement to a screeching stop similar to putting a car ‘in park’ and blocking the wheels, not to mention the possibility of lifting the car on jack stands and removing the wheels. Nobody is going anywhere then.

The act of forgiving (ἀφίημι (aphíēmi)) is a power breathed into life that has been stopped dead in its tracks. ἀφίημι (aphíēmi) is an act of creation – a mighty act of creation – enabled by the Divine Life of the Holy Trinity within that jump-starts life once again. It does not whitewash or pretend that the hurt or damage has not occurred. Forgiveness is not about forgetting or having the memory of the hurt obliterated. That is impossible; after all what has occurred is an event in history. The damage occurred in a particular time and particular place and is real. To ‘pretend’ otherwise is foolish. What forgiveness does, however, is release one from the crippling affect and effect that the memories of painful events have over our life in the present. In the end, forgiveness is Divine Love that calls forth life into existence much the same way reality first came into existence: the response to the Word, Jesus, breathing the Holy Spirit of Love by the almighty and loving Father.






Pentecost Sunday — Mass during the Day



“And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit.” (John 20:22.)

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:

“This was the second time he breathed on human beings — his first breath having been stifled through willful sins. But though he bestowed his grace then, he was to lavish it yet more bountifully. And he says to them, I am ready to give it even now, but the vessel cannot yet hold it. For awhile therefore receive as much grace as you can bear. And look forward for yet more. “But stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high.” Receive it in part now. Then, you shall wear it in its fullness. For the one who receives often possesses only a part of the gift. But the one who is clothed is completely enfolded by his robe.” (Catechetical Lectures, 17.)



Collect
O God,
Who by the mystery of today’s great feast
sanctify Your whole Church
in every people and nation,
pour out, we pray,
the gifts of the Holy Spirit
across the face of the earth
and, with the divine grace that was at work
when the Gospel was first proclaimed,
fill now once more the hearts of believers.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen


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The sending of the Holy Spirit



Saint Irenaeus of Lyons
Bishop, Father of the Church and Martyr

An excerpt from his Against Heresies, Book 1

Pentecost Sunday

When the Lord told his disciples to go and teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, he conferred on them the power of giving men new life in God.

He had promised through the prophets that in these last days he would pour out his Spirit on his servants and handmaids, and that they would prophesy. So when the Son of God became the Son of Man, the Spirit also descended upon him, becoming accustomed in this way to dwelling with the human race, to living in men and to inhabiting God’s creation. The Spirit accomplished the Father’s will in men who had grown old in sin, and gave them new life in Christ. Luke says that the Spirit came down on the disciples at Pentecost, after the Lord’s ascension, with power to open the gates of life to all nations and to make known to them the new covenant. So it was that men of every language joined in singing one song of praise to God, and scattered tribes, restored to unity by the Spirit, were offered to the Father as the first-fruits of all the nations.

This was why the Lord had promised to send the Advocate: he was to prepare us as an offering to God. Like dry flour, which cannot become one lump of dough, one loaf of bread, without moisture, we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water that comes down from heaven. And like parched ground, which yields no harvest unless it receives moisture, we who were once like a waterless tree could never have lived and borne fruit without this abundant rainfall from above. Through the baptism that liberates us from change and decay we have become one in body; through the Spirit we have become one in soul.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of God came down upon the Lord, and the Lord in turn gave this Spirit to his Church, sending the Advocate from heaven into all the world into which, according to his own words, the devil too had been cast down like lightning.

If we are not to be scorched and made unfruitful, we need the dew of God. Since we have our accuser, we need an advocate as well. And so the Lord in his pity for man, who had fallen into the hands of brigands, having himself bound up his wounds and left for his care two coins bearing the royal image, entrusted him to the Holy Spirit. Now, through the Spirit, the image and inscription of the Father and the Son have been given to us, and it is our duty to use the coin committed to our charge and make it yield a rich profit for the Lord.




Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 






Saturday after the Seventh Sunday of Easter



“... and with complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts of the Apostles 28:31)

In commenting on this verse from today’s First Reading, Eusebius of Caesarea writes:

“And Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, brought his history to a close at this point, after stating that Paul spent two whole years at Rome as a prisoner at large and preached the word of God without restraint. Thus after he had made his defense it is said that the apostle was sent again upon the ministry of preaching and that upon coming to the same city a second time he suffered martyrdom. In this imprisonment [Paul] wrote his Second Epistle to Timothy, in which he mentions his first defense and his impending death. But hear his testimony on these matters.

“At my first answer,” he says, “no one stood with me, but all forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” He plainly indicates in these words that on the former occasion, in order that the preaching might be fulfilled by him, he was rescued from the mouth of the lion, referring, in this expression, to Nero, as is probable on account of the latter’s cruelty. He did not therefore afterward add the similar statement, “He will rescue me from the mouth of the lion”; for he saw in the Spirit that his end would not be long delayed. Wherefore he adds to the words “and he delivered me from the mouth of the lion” this sentence, “The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me to his heavenly kingdom,” indicating his speedy martyrdom; which he also foretells still more clearly in the same epistle, when he writes, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.”

In his Second Epistle to Timothy, moreover, he indicates that Luke was with him when he wrote that at his first defense not even Luke was there. So it is probable that Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles at that time, continuing his history down to the period when he was with Paul. But these things have been adduced by us to show that Paul’s martyrdom did not take place at the time of that Roman sojourn that Luke records. It is probable indeed that as Nero was more disposed to mildness in the beginning, Paul’s defense of his doctrine was more easily received; but that when he [Nero] had advanced to the commission of lawless deeds of daring, he made the apostles as well as others the subjects of his attacks.” (Ecclesiastical History, 2)



Collect
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that we, who have celebrated
the paschal festivities,
may by Your gift hold fast to them
in the way that we live our lives.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.



Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 


The Church in its unity speaks in the language of every nation



Anonymous Ancient Christian Author

An excerpt from a Sixth Century Homily

Saturday after the Seventh Sunday of Easter

The disciples spoke in the language of every nation. At Pentecost God chose this means to indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit: whoever had received the Spirit spoke in every kind of tongue. We must realize, dear brothers, that this is the same Holy Spirit by whom love is poured out in our hearts. It was love that was to bring the Church of God together all over the world. And as individual men who received the Holy Spirit in those days could speak in all kinds of tongues, so today the Church, united by the Holy Spirit, speaks in the language of every people.

Therefore if somebody should say to one of us, “You have received the Holy Spirit, why do you not speak in tongues?” his reply should be, “I do indeed speak in the tongues of all men, because I belong to the body of Christ, that is, the Church, and she speaks all languages. What else did the presence of the Holy Spirit indicate at Pentecost, except that God’s Church was to speak in the language of every people?”

This was the way in which the Lord’s promise was fulfilled: No one puts new wine into old wineskins. New wine is put into fresh skins, and so both are preserved. So when the disciples were heard speaking in all kinds of languages, some people were not far wrong in saying: They have been drinking too much new wine. The truth is that the disciples had now become fresh wineskins, renewed and made holy by grace. The new wine of the Holy Spirit filled them, so that their fervor brimmed over and they spoke in manifold tongues. By this spectacular miracle they became a sign of the Catholic Church, which embraces the language of every nation.

Keep this feast, then, as members of the one body of Christ. It will be no empty festival for you if you really live what you are celebrating. For you are the members of that Church which the Lord acknowledges as his own, being himself acknowledged by her, that same Church which he fills with the Holy Spirit as she spreads throughout the world. He is like a bridegroom who never loses sight of his own bride; no one could ever deceive him by substituting some other woman.

To you men of all nations, then, who make up the Church of Christ, you, the members of Christ, you, the body of Christ, you, the bride of Christ, to all of you the Apostle addresses these words: Bear with one another in love; do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Notice that when Paul urges us to bear with one another, he bases his argument on love, and when he speaks of our hope of unity, he emphasizes the bond of peace. This Church is the house of God. It is his delight to dwell here. Take care, then, that he never has the sorrow of seeing it undermined by schism and collapsing in ruins.



Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 







Memorial Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions



“Since they spent several days there, Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man here left in custody by Felix.” (Acts 25:14.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s First Reading, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“See [Paul’s] enemies who unwittingly conspired in creating a large audience. Even Agrippa himself falls into a desire for a hearing—and not only does he listen, but he does so with intensity. And then, look at [his] defense. As Festus presents it, he exposes the cruelty of the Jewish leaders. Because when the governor says these things, he is beyond suspicion, resulting in the Jewish leaders being convicted by him. For, after he has exposed the truth about all these things, then God metes out punishment. Felix condemns them, Festus condemns them and, even though he was favorably inclined, Agrippa condemns them too.” (Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, 51.)



Collect
O God,
Who have made the blood of Martyrs
the seed of Christians, mercifully grant
that the field which is Your Church,
watered by the blood
shed by Saints Charles Lwanga
and his companions, may be fertile and
always yield You an abundant harvest.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen



Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 




The glory of the martyrs — a sign of rebirth



Pope Saint Paul VI
Bishop of Rome

An excerpt from the Canonization Homily of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

The African martyrs add another page to the martyrology —  the Church’s roll of honor — an occasion both of mourning and of joy. This is a page worthy in every way to be added to the annals of that Africa of earlier times which we, living in this era and being men of little faith, never expected to be repeated.

In earlier times, there occurred those famous deeds, so moving to the spirit, of the martyrs of Scilli, of Carthage, and of that “white robed army” of Utica commemorated by Saint Augustine and Prudentius; of the martyrs of Egypt so highly praised by Saint John Chrysostom, and of the martyrs of the Vandal persecution. Who would have thought that in our days we should have witnessed events as heroic and glorious?

Who could have predicted to the famous African confessors and martyrs such as Cyprian, Felicity, Perpetua and — the greatest of all — Augustine, that we would one day add names so dear to us as Charles Lwanga and Matthias Mulumba Kalemba and their twenty companions? Nor must we forget those members of the Anglican Church who also died for the name of Christ.

These African martyrs herald the dawn of a new age. If only the mind of man might be directed not toward persecutions and religious conflicts but toward a rebirth of Christianity and civilization!

Africa has been washed by the blood of these latest martyrs, the first of this new age (and, God willing, let them be the last, although such a holocaust is precious indeed). Africa is reborn free and independent.

The infamous crime by which these young men were put to death was so unspeakable and so expressive of the times. It shows us clearly that a new people needs a moral foundation, needs new spiritual customs firmly planted, and to be handed down to posterity. Symbolically, this crime also reveals that a simple and rough way of life—enriched by many fine human qualities yet enslaved by its own weakness and corruption—must give way to a more civilized life wherein the higher expressions of the mind and better social conditions prevail.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 

 

Thursday after the Seventh Sunday of Easter



“The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage. For just as you have borne witness to my cause in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness in Rome.” (Acts 23:11.)

Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the Reading proclaimed at Mass today.:

“Scripture says, “Fear not to go down into Egypt,” which means, When you come against “the principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world” — those figuratively called Egypt — do not fear or recoil. If you wish to know why you should not fear, listen to my promise: “There, I will make of you a great nation, and I shall go down into Egypt with you, and I shall call you back from there in the end.” He is, therefore, not afraid to go down into Egypt. He fears neither the combats of this world nor the trials of demonic adversaries. Hear, then, what the apostle Paul says: “More than those others have I labored, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” Even in Jerusalem, when a plot had been set in motion against him and he toiled in combat for the word and the preaching of the Lord, beside him the Lord stood and said these same things that are said to Israel: “Fear not, Paul, for just as you have been my witness in Jerusalem, so you must also be my witness in Rome.” (Homiles on Genesis, 15.)



Collect
May Your Spirit, O Lord, we pray,
imbue us powerfully with spiritual gifts,
that He may give us a mind pleasing to You
and graciously conform us to Your will.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen


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If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you



Saint Cyril of Alexandria
Bishop and Father of the Church

An excerpt from Commentary on the Gospel of John

Thursday after the Seventh Sunday of Easter

After Christ had completed his mission on earth, it still remained necessary for us to become sharers in the divine nature of the Word. We had to give up our own life and be so transformed that we would begin to live an entirely new kind of life that would be pleasing to God. This was something we could do only by sharing in the Holy Spirit.

It was most fitting that the sending of the Spirit and his descent upon us should take place after the departure of Christ our Savior. As long as Christ was with them in the flesh, it must have seemed to believers that they possessed every blessing in him; but when the time came for him to ascend to his heavenly Father, it was necessary for him to be united through his Spirit to those who worshiped him, and to dwell in our hearts through faith. Only by his own presence within us in this way could he give us confidence to cry out, Abba, Father, make it easy for us to grow in holiness and, through our possession of the all-powerful Spirit, fortify us invincibly against the wiles of the devil and the assaults of men.

It can easily be shown from examples both in the Old Testament and the New that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell; he so transforms them that they begin to live a completely new kind of life. Saul was told by the prophet Samuel: The Spirit of the Lord will take possession of you, and you shall be changed into another man. Saint Paul writes: As we behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, that glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit, transforms us all into his own likeness, from one degree of glory to another.

Does this not show that the Spirit changes those in whom he comes to dwell and alters the whole pattern of their lives? With the Spirit within them it is quite natural for people who had been absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely other-worldly in outlook, and for cowards to become men of great courage. There can be no doubt that this is what happened to the disciples. The strength they received from the Spirit enabled them to hold firmly to the love of Christ, facing the violence of their persecutors unafraid. Very true, then, was our Savior’s saying that it was to their advantage for him to return to heaven: his return was the time appointed for the descent of the Holy Spirit.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen

 





Saint Justin of Rome, Martyr



“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28.)

In commenting on these verses from today’s First Reading, Saint John Chrysostom writes:

“Do you see how many compelling necessities there are? “You were ordained by the Spirit,” he says, for this is what “the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” means. This is one. Then, “to care for the church of God.” This is another. And the third, “which he obtained with his own blood.” Through his words [Paul] shows that a great deal hinges on this and that matters of no small value are at risk, if, with the master not sparing even his own blood on behalf of his church, we look down upon our brothers’ salvation. For it was to reconcile enemies that he poured out his blood. Look, not only does he mention “wolves” but adds “fierce,” thereby hinting at their excess and recklessness. Even worse, he says that these wolves will arise from among themselves. This is exceedingly difficult to bear, since it is also a civil war. He is right when he says, “Take heed,” thereby showing that the matter is exceedingly serious (for it is the church), the venture great (for he redeemed it with blood) and the battle mighty and twofold.” (Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, 44.)



Collect
O God, Who through the folly of the Cross
wondrously taught Saint Justin the Martyr
the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,
grant us, through his intercession,
that, having rejected deception and error,
we may become steadfast in the faith.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.


Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen


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