At the first Pentecost, Jesus chooses the very ones who abandoned and betrayed Him -- to be the wounded forgiven healers who are to preach the Good News of God's gracious mercy and love.

Pentecost is the third great Christian feast.  On Christmas we celebrated the birth of Christ, our Savior.  On Easter we celebrated his victorious resurrection from death.  Today we remember Christ’s giving of the Holy Spirit.

Our Gospel today takes place on Easter evening, after the disciples had discovered that the tomb was empty and Jesus had appeared to Mary Magdalene.  Jesus told her to tell the disciples that He was risen, which she did, but they did not understand.  So on that first evening they were gathered in a house with the doors locked, because they were afraid – afraid of being killed, just as Jesus had been killed three days before.  But Jesus was among them and He said:  “Peace be with you.”

"Peace be with you." A greeting, yes, but not just, "Hi, how are you?" "Peace" is a huge biblical word. It refers to a wholeness, a completeness, a divine healing that envelopes people.  To this scared group of followers, the Risen Christ begins by bringing the peace of God.

Jesus said it twice.  "Peace be with you." We are not to miss it. And in between his speaking, he showed them the marks in his hands and sides which he had suffered on the cross. Then it began to dawn on them. This was really Jesus, who had been crucified, who had died on the cross, but now he was alive. And it says that the disciples "rejoiced" when they saw "the Lord." Their lives were changed from disabling fear into joy by the presence of the risen Lord.

"Peace be with you" is just the first sentence. Then Jesus continues, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." God the Father sent the only Son from heaven to save the world and now that Son says, "That's how I'm now sending you." Can you imagine those disciples? Here they were, huddled in fear, hiding in a house with locked doors, just trying to save their own skins. And Jesus comes and says he is sending them to save the world. What a turn of events. The disciples were on the defensive; now Jesus sends them out on offense.

Defensive Christianity is not a biblical idea. The posture of Christian disciples is not hiding in fear trying to protect themselves. No, disciples are sent.  To be a follower of Jesus after his resurrection is to be sent. In fact, our word "apostle" means "one who is sent."

Defensive Christianity is not a biblical idea.  For me as a priest when I  worry about our school is doing, worry about parish finances, or worry if I’m doing a good enough job at pastoring, it’s so easy to be defensive.  But as disciples and apostles of the Lord, we are sent forth proactively to proclaim the Lord’s hope and joy in our midst.

After Jesus had told them that he was sending them, it says that he "breathed on them."  Jesus breathed on those disciples and if that was not plain enough, his words told them what it means: "Receive the Holy Spirit." "Receive the breath of God." In that moment, the risen Christ raised those fearful, faithless followers to newness of life.

This is what Pentecost is: the giving of the Spirit, the giving of new life, from the Father through the Son. The Holy Spirit is what makes it possible for people to go when they are sent. The Spirit is God's active, personal presence that accompanies those who are sent. And the Spirit brings the content and the power for the task for which Christ's followers are sent. Jesus says, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Go and forgive sins." That's what being gathered is all about: that the followers may be forgiven and renewed, sent and equipped, in order that all people may be reconciled to God by having their sins forgiven.

What would it like for you to possess the gift of forgiveness – the gift to forgive even those people in your life right now who don’t deserve it, even people who act unlovably.  This is the Gospel the Spirit impels the disciples to preach.  They can preach forgiveness because they have experienced it.

The Spirit-filled gift of forgiveness leads us to possess the gift of welcome – so much so that in our faith community there are no strangers or enemies.  Even more in our world, there are no strangers or enemies.

The Pentecost grace leads us to experience the gift of joy – all of life is a gift of God for which we are to be thankful.

Now it may seem that the gifts of forgiveness, welcome, and joy seem too good to be true.   For all of us have been a little battle-scarred by the realities and fears of life.  Yet,  we seek to experience Pentecost as the feast of locked doors.  Where are the locked doors in our lives?  Where do I find myself isolated in fear, living behind emotionally doors, hanging on to anger and refusing to come out of hiding?

With the grace of Pentecost, locked doors are blown open.  At the first Pentecost, Jesus chooses the very ones who abandoned and betrayed him – to be the wounded, forgiven healers that are to preach the Good News of God’s gracious love and mercy.  The strategy of Jesus is that the disciples were forgiven forgivers.

Jesus hasn’t changed his strategy with us.  Who are we as the faith community of St. Joseph’s?  We are God’s forgiven sons and daughters.  In the feast of Pentecost, we receive the gift of forgiveness so that we will be sent forth to share the forgiveness and mercy of God with one another and with all.  Pentecost promises that the Holy Spirit can be released in each one of us that ushers us into an inner peace of forgiveness and love.

On this day of Pentecost, as we now come to the Table of the Lord, may we reflect and claim our God-given giftedness.  Further, may we all commit ourselves to using our God-given giftedness in the service of one another.

Have a Blessed Day.