Today we mark the end of the Christmas season. This is unique to the United States. For most Catholics throughout the world, Christmas ended last Wednesday, 6 January, the traditional observance of Epiphany. Roman Catholics in the U.S. observe Epiphany on the second Sunday after Christmas. But rather than shorten the season, Christmas in our country extends until today’s feast.
An “epiphany” is a sudden revelation. On Epiphany, we celebrate the revelation of Jesus’s Lordship to the nations, that is, to the Gentiles. Not being Jewish, the magi represent the nations. Our reading from Acts connects today’s feast with Epiphany. What we heard proclaimed is a section from Acts 10 known as “the Pentecost of the Gentiles.”
The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary and the apostles, as described in the second chapter of Acts, occurred on Pentecost. Pentecost is a major Jewish feast. In the Second Temple period- the period during which Jesus lived, along with Pesach (Passover) and Sukkot (the Festival of Booths), Pentecost (in Hebrew Shavuot) was one of the major pilgrimage festivals.
During the Three Pilgrimage Festivals, Jews came from all over the known world to Jerusalem to celebrate. Pentecost means “Fifty Days.” Shavuot is also called “Pentecost” because it occurs fifty days after Passover. During this festival, Jews celebrate God’s giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Christians call our celebration of the descent of the Holy Spirit, which we revere as the birth of the Church, “Pentecost” because we observe it fifty days after Easter, our Passover.
In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus’s frightened followers as “tongues of fire while they were in hiding during this festival for fear of their lives.1 Their response was to be so emboldened as to leave their hiding place and start proclaiming the Good News that is Jesus Christ, crucified, risen, ascended, and now present in this new and powerful way.
Jews from many nations, who spoke many different languages, were able to understand what these Spirit-filled Christians preached in their own language.2 The Holy Spirit is how the risen Lord remains present among us, in us, and through us. Being present to us through the Holy Spirit is more a powerful and intimate presence than if Jesus had not ascended. One way Christ is really present in the Eucharist is in the gathering of the baptized.
In response to Peter’s preaching, the inspired author relays that all “who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand persons were added that day.”3 And so, from the Church’s beginning, the way a person becomes a Christian is by being baptized.
The scene of our second reading is the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Along with members of his household, Cornelius had come to faith in Christ. Peter went there to catechize these Gentiles. Our reading is Peter’s teaching the group, a primitive version of RCIA. It bears more than a passing resemblance to his preaching at the Pentecost in Jerusalem.
Where Peter’s preaching in this passage differs from what he said in Jerusalem is the recognition that they are Gentiles: “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.”4 In his message, Peter alludes to John’s baptismal ministry in the River Jordan and Christ’s anointing with the Holy Spirit.5
If we follow the story a little farther, in response to Peter’s preaching, the Holy Spirit “fell upon” Cornelius and his household.6 As a result, they were baptized. Hence, this is the Pentecost of the Gentiles, the beginning of the preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, expanding God’s one covenant with humanity to all people everywhere.
What is God’s covenant? It is captured well by the prophet Jeremiah, to whom God said: “Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people.”7 What does God say? In today’s Gospel, he says to and about Jesus: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”8
Later in Mark’s Gospel, at the Transfiguration when Jesus appears with Moses and Elijah, indicating that he is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, God says, again, “This is my beloved Son” before telling the awe-struck disciples, “Listen to him.”9
What does Jesus say that we should listen to? Quoting the Law, he says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength’” and “‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”10
As Paul forcefully reminded the Christians of ancient Galatia, it is baptism, not circumcision, that is the mark of God’s new and everlasting covenant. Unlike circumcision, everyone can be baptized, which is why the apostle insists:
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus11Christianity is universal or it is nothing.
Apart from your birth, your baptism is the most important thing that has ever happened to you. It is wonderful that our Catechumens, who are preparing for baptism at Easter are with us this morning. It bears reminding ourselves that baptism, not holy orders, or any other sacrament, is the fundamental sacrament of Christian life.
Through the waters of baptism, you are reborn as God’s child. In baptism, you die, are buried and rise with Christ to new life. This means eternal life is not the life that begins after mortal death but starts now.
Just as Jesus’s identity as God’s only begotten Son was confirmed by the Spirit descending like a dove and the voice of the Father calling him his “beloved Son,” your identity as God’s beloved son/daughter is confirmed when you receive the sacrament of confirmation.12
After being baptized by John and spending forty days and nights in the desert fasting, praying, and being tempted by the devil, Jesus began his proclamation of God’s Kingdom: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”13 When translated literally from Greek, Jesus's exhortation is “Be repenting and be believing,” it is continuous. For Christians, now is always the time of fulfillment. One of the statements made on Ash Wednesday as you receive ashes is “Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”14
In light of our collective loss with Father Rene's passing, it is important to note that the Mass of Christian Burial begins with the rite of reception of the body. As the casket is brought into the church, a white pall is placed over it. The pall is a baptismal garment. Between this ritual act and the sprinkling with holy water, these words are said: “In the waters of baptism [our brother/sister] died with Christ and rose with him to new life. May he/she now share with him eternal glory.”15
As God’s beloved child, eternal glory with Christ is your destiny. Live in light of your destiny: “Be repenting and be believing.”
1 Acts 2:3.↩
2 Acts 2:5-6.↩
3 Acts 2:41.↩
4 Acts 10:34-35.↩
5 Acts 10:37-38.↩
6 Acts 10:44.↩
7 Jeremiah 7:23.↩
8 Mark 1:11.↩
9 Mark 9:7.↩
10 Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.↩
11 Galatians 3:27-28.↩
12 Mark 1:11.↩
13 Mark 1:15.↩
14 Roman Missal, Ash Wednesday, Blessing and Distribution of Ashes.↩
15 Order of Christian Funerals, The Funeral Mass, Introductory Rites, sec. 160.↩
Thank you-beautiful read. -Kathleen
ReplyDelete