Pentecost
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
Pentecost is the feast that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the Apostles and marks the end of the Easter season. The name comes from the Greek pentēkostē, meaning "fiftieth" because it is celebrated fifty days after Easter. On this occasion the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church are commemorated and remembered. After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, he sends his disciples a power—the Holy Spirit— a force to enable them to be his personal witnesses in the world.
The origins of Pentecost are linked to the Jewish feast of Shavuot which also occurs fifty days after the Jewish Passover. On this feast the Jewish people remember the moment when God gave the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai, an event that seals the Covenant between God and the people of Israel.
Pentecost took place ten days after Jesus’ Ascension, when the Lord had promised his disciples that they would receive a special power: the Holy Spirit. This promise is fulfilled according to the account in the Acts of the Apostles (2:1–4) during the feast of Shavuot:
“When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.”
From that moment on the Apostles received a new mission: to spread the message of Jesus. The tongues of fire enable them to communicate with people of different languages and cultures thus bringing the Gospel to the entire world.
This event represents the fulfillment of Jesus’ promises and also the beginning of a new Covenant between God and humanity as foretold by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Immediately after the descent of the Holy Spirit the Apostles begin to preach and baptize. Therefore, Pentecost, one of the most important events in the liturgical year, marks the birth of the Church, the formation of the first Christian communities and the beginning of the evangelizing mission.