Bishop Paul Speaks to the Faithful on Pentecost Sunday 2021

Abu Dhabi.

Readings of the Day: 
Acts 2:1-11; Gal 5:16-25; John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

Below is the full text of the homily delivered by Bishop Paul Hinder at the Cathedral, Abu Dhabi.

“Send forth your Spirit, o Lord, and renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30).

There are many people who think that religion has mainly to do with old stuff. For them the Church is outdated and being a Catholic faithful is something strange. Christians seem to be people from yesterday not from today.

While listening to the Bible, however, we hear the opposite. In the book of Revelation, we read: “ I saw a new heaven and a new earth … And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God” (Rev 21:1-2). And in the same vision, the seer hears the voice of God: “ See, I am making all things new” (Rev 21:5). Everything but old and outdated!

In the responsorial Psalm, we just prayed: “ Send forth your Spirit, o Lord, and renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30). In fact, it is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit who makes everything new. In the Nicene Creed, we profess that we believe in “ God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth” and in Jesus Christ as the redeemer who “ for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man.” In the third part of the Creed, we say: “ I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life.” He is sent by the Son from the Father to give life to the dead, to make new what is old, and to reanimate what has lost its soul. Pentecost is therefore the feast not of something antiquated and half-dead. No, it is the feast of the new creation. The vitality of the Church is due to the “ giver of life”. Keep that in mind during times of crises, pandemics and wars.

The book of Revelation speaks about the company surrounding the Lamb, i.e., Jesus Christ: “ They were singing a new song before the throne, ... No one could learn this song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth” (Rev 14:3). The air was composed in heaven but is already sung on earth. It can be learned only by those “ransomed from the earth”. It does not only mean a new and pleasant melody for the ears; it means a new way of life. As we heard in the first reading, Pentecost puts a new air into the heart and on the lips of the disciples. And this air goes around the world like a hit song. With one important difference: The new song of the Lamb will last forever!

Jesus Christ, the composer of the new air, wants us to “ sing a new song” (Ps 33:3) and to conduct a new life as Saint Paul reminds us: “ If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see everything has become new!” (2 Co 5:17). On the eve of his passion, Jesus teaches his disciples the new song when he says: “ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35). This is the air that has to go around the world. This is the witness Jesus wants his disciples to give to the world. For this purpose, he sends us the Spirit of truth, the advocate, who reminds us again and again, what Jesus taught us. Let him enter and do his work!

The “ new commandment” (John 13:34), the “ new covenant” (2 Co 11:25), the “new name” given by the Lord (Rev 2:17), “ the new humanity” (Ep 2:15) created in Christ – all this is possible and done by the Holy Spirit. Saint Paul explains the new life to the Ephesians as follows: “ You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:22-24).

Sisters and Brothers, sometimes we are like unmusical people who say: I cannot learn the new song. We prefer the “old melodies” and struggle to patiently learn the new song of a life in Christ according to the Gospel. Like a choir that learns a new hymn, we too need assistance and practice. By following the new commandment of love, we learn the way how to be Church.

For that, we pray: “Come Holy Spirit, come!”