VARIETY OF GIFTS AND DIFFERENT SERVICES


PENTECOST SUNDAY

Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke, OP

Acts 2:1-11; Ps 104:1,24,29-31,34; Gal 5:16-25; Jn 15:26-27,16:12-15

Theme: I'mVariety of Gifts and different Services

We celebrate the solemn feast of the Pentecost, which we consider the formal inauguration of the Church as the Body of Christ. It is true that Christ has died and risen from the dead and introduced his disciples into the new life of resurrection. But the official and public launching of the Church as the new people of God took place on this day of Pentecost when the Father showcased the Church to the world by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus Christ. The fullness of the gift of the Holy Spirit inaugurates the Church as the Body of Christ for the continuation of the work Jesus Christ did in his human nature. From the beginning, the gifts the Holy Spirit showcases through the disciples point to the nature of the Church. The Church of Christ is universal and open to all peoples and nations. She is to admit every race, people, and nation without segregation. God reveals the Church, from the very beginning, as the Sacrament of human salvation, just as the humanity of Jesus was on earth. She is made to be the Temple of the Holy Spirit forever as promised by Jesus Christ. We see this in the first reading. “Something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.” Christ baptised them with Holy Spirit and fire as prophesied.

The gifts belong to the Holy Spirit, who gives them to the members of Jesus Christ for the service of God’s people. According to St. Paul’s explanation, the variety of gifts are from the same Spirit and the different services to be carried out, but the same Lord Jesus Christ apportions them to his members. The Spirit gives the gifts to the disciples to enable them to carry out the services that the Lord has assigned to them. Hence, the gifts are not randomly given, but according to the need of the Body of Christ at each time. So, the services to be performed determine the gifts the Spirit gives. Because the services belong to the Lord, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for the extension of the services our Lord Jesus performs for the salvation of man. On the day of Pentecost, there was a need to proclaim the Gospel message to the people gathered from different parts of the world. The Spirit gave them the gift of speaking in foreign languages so that they may successfully carry out the service of preaching to all the people. Our Lord pointed to this synergy with the Holy Spirit for the proclamation of the Gospel when he said: “When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father, he will be my witness. And you too will be witnesses, because you have been with me from the outset.”

While the gifts are ordered for the carrying out of different services of our Lord Jesus Christ, the services achieve the work of God, which is the mission of our Lord on earth. It is the Father that inspires the work which the Son comes to carry out in his humanity. In other words, the variety of gifts from the Holy Spirit and different works apportioned by the Lord are directed toward fulfilling the will of the Father or doing the work of God. This chain of direction is evident in the life of Jesus Christ. He came to do the will of the Father and not his own will. The Father anointed him with the Holy Spirit and power that he may faithfully carry out his ministry of salvation of man. The same anointed extended to his disciples who have professed faith in him and live no longer their own will or life, but to carry on the saving ministry of Jesus Christ. St. Paul, therefore, explains that the anointing is not for self-indulgence but to carry out the ministry of Christ. “If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing.” One who is not ready for the service of the Gospel is not ready for the gifts of the Spirit. It is dangerous to receive the gifts without a proper understanding of the mysteries of Jesus Christ and a willingness to carry out the work of God. 

Let us pray: O God who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation.

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