Pentecost: Remember, Remember, Remember

Pentecost Sunday is the moment of the Church’s birth in a special way, the Spirit descends on Mary, some of the other women, and the Apostles who are gathered in prayer.  The Holy Spirit endows them with gifts to go forth and take up Jesus’ call to spread the Gospel to all nations.  And yet, in some ways the Church has always existed, since Adam and Eve, for if we believe that anyone who is saved is saved by God’s grace then they belong to the Church, which is the Kingdom of God.  Anyway, the more important point is that Pentecost is not a onetime isolated event that happened long ago in the past and is forever lost to us; rather it is an event that is always present, especially when we celebrate mass, and today specifically remembering it in our celebration of Pentecost.

As Catholics we receive much of the foundation of our faith from our Jewish brothers and sisters.  There can be no denying this; the two though different have foundational characteristics that are very similar, i.e. circumcision – baptism, Passover – Eucharist, Ten Commandments – Beatitudes, etc.  One theological aspect we have taken from the Jewish faith is anamnesis, meaning to remember.  Jewish people do this when they celebrate Passover; they “remember” their history of enslavement in Egypt, the plagues, especially when the angel passes them over, their exodus from Egypt, and up until they reach the Promised land.  In a spiritual or supernatural sense when they celebrate Passover, those events are not only remembered but present and very much alive in their own celebration.  As Catholics we believe this especially for our Eucharistic celebration, but we also remember the entire passion right up until the Spirit descends upon all of those gathered in the Upper Room.

Just as our Jewish brothers and sisters we not only remember but the events are present, we are now living the Pentecost experience.  Do we not believe that the Spirit descends upon us when we celebrate this feast as well as every mass?  You bet we do, the event is right here – right now. 

Two weeks from now we will be celebrating “The Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ,” so please keep in mind that part of this reflection will repeat but with two other added concepts, one) epiclesis and two) why the Eucharist in the first place.  Stay tuned, same bat channel, same bat time.