The First Fruits
Pentecost means fiftieth and we celebrate Pentecost fifty days after the Feast of Easter. We do this in memory of the extraordinary events that mark the beginning of the Church. Pentecost is the day when the Holy Spirit came to rest on the Apostles and early Christian community.
They were afraid, hiding in the upper room of a small house in Jerusalem, when the Holy Spirit arrived as wind and fire and rested upon them. They ran out of the house preaching the Gospel, and everyone who heard them, heard them in their own native tongue. This led to thousands of Baptisms, and the mission of the Church began.
In fact, Jerusalem was full of people from all over the world because Pentecost occurred during the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which takes place fifty days after Passover.
Shavuot was an agricultural festival where the first summer fruits of barley and wheat were presented at the temple. For this reason, it is sometimes called the Festival of First Fruits. Shavuot is also the date traditionally associated with the giving of the Torah, the law, after the Exodus. It is therefore a day of covenant and new growth. Back in the ancient world, Shavuot was a pilgrimage holiday during which many Jewish people made their way to Jerusalem.
Pentecost celebrates the first fruits of the coming of the Holy Spirit. As Moses received the law from God and passed it on to the Hebrews, so Mary, Peter and the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and passed it on to everyone they could.
With the Holy Spirit come the fruits of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.
Numbers carry a significance within the Bible, and the Sabbath, being the seventh day of creation when God rested from his work, is especially important. This is true whether it is the seventh day or the seventh year. The number seven is often associated with creation or completion. One cycle of seven sevens is 49 and so the next year, the start of the new cycle, is the fiftieth. This is the number of the Jubilee, the special year where things are made new again; traditionally captives are freed, debts are forgiven, and land redistributed.
Pentecost is the new day following the weeks of Easter. The Fruits of the Holy Spirit mirror the justice of the Jubilee. Through Baptism, our sins are forgiven like debts, and we are freed from death, like liberation from slavery.
Today's readings: Acts 2:1-11 Psalm 103 Galatians 5:16-25 John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
Picture: Pio Si Adobe stock
Source: Pentecost
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