This Sunday we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost, we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles gathered full of fear in the upper room in Jerusalem. This marks the beginning of the Church.  Like the disciples on that first Pentecost, this last year with the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic and the fears that come with it, this has been a time of waiting for the Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth.
   
We welcome the Holy Spirit into our hearts and lives to give hope to the hearts that are frightened. Today’s Gospel tells of how Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into the disciples and by doing so he re-creates them. Jesus’ life-giving breath mirrors the breath of God given to human beings at the beginning of creation when God breathes life into the clay and made humans a living creation. It is because of this divine indwelling that we have the power to forgive and thus continue Jesus' saving mission. We are the incarnation of the risen Lord in our world today. We are re-created by the Holy Spirit. The sign of this re-creation is forgiveness.

The Feast of Pentecost reminds us that there is an important connection between the gifts of peace and forgiveness and the action of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded that the Church is called to be God’s reconciling presence in the world. This reconciling presence is also to be a way of life for Christians. In situations of conflict, we are to be agents of peace and harmony among all people.

Jesus greets his disciples with the gift of peace. “Peace be with you,” he says. Jesus then commissions his disciples to continue the work that he has begun: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” He breathes the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and sends them to continue his work of reconciliation through the forgiveness of sins. Both the Greek and Hebrew words for “spirit” can also be translated as “breath.”

As we celebrate this great feast of the Church’s fifty days after the resurrection of Jesus, how have we been a sign of reconciliation in our families, in our world, and among people of faith everywhere? Have we been an instrument of God’s peace to everyone we meet?