The One Thing We Usually Get Wrong About Pentecost

The Apostles at Pentecost as they are praying for the Holy Spirit. — Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

For years I went to Mass on Pentecost Sunday, but one thing always bugged me. I got the part about the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles and those gathered with them. I also understood that this event was considered to be the birth of the Church. What I didn’t get was why we were praying for the Holy Spirit to show up. Didn’t this already happen two thousand years ago? Furthermore, isn’t the Holy Spirit living inside of me? It seemed like a wasted prayer. After many years, I finally got my answer. The one thing we usually get wrong about Pentecost is thinking that it was a “one and done” event. Nothing could be further from the truth!

The Apostles Received The Holy Spirit AGAIN!

Here’s something many people don’t realize. When the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles at Pentecost, it wasn’t the first time that they received this gift. In the gospel used for Pentecost Sunday (John 20:19-23), we learn of an incident that took place on the day the Lord rose from the dead. Appearing to his followers as they hid behind closed doors, Jesus breathed on them and spoke the following words:

“Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” (John 20:22-23)

Here’s something else to consider. After receiving the Holy Spirit on the day of the Lord’s resurrection and again at Pentecost, Peter and John prayed for the grace to speak God’s word with boldness (Acts 4:29) and guess what happened?

As they prayed, the place where they were gathered shook, and they were all filled with the holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

Once again, they were filled with the Holy Spirit!

Praying for the Holy Spirit

In his homily at Mass today, Pope Francis stressed that we cannot know Jesus without the help of the Holy Spirit:

“Without the Spirit, Jesus remains a personage from the past; with the Spirit, he is a person alive in our own time. Without the Spirit, Scripture is a dead letter; with the Spirit it is a word of life,” he continued. “A Christianity without the Spirit is joyless moralism; with the Spirit, it is life.”

The Holy Father also reminded us that we should continue to pray DAILY for a new coming of the Holy Spirit:

“Let us daily implore the gift of the Spirit,” he said: “Holy Spirit, harmony of God, you who turn fear into trust and self-centeredness into self-gift, come to us.”

You can read a more detailed report of the Pope’s message HERE. In the meantime, let’s keep praying daily to be filled with more of the Holy Spirit. You can be sure that if you ask, you WILL receive!