“the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true”

Fifty days ago we celebrated the Easter and commemorated the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today we remember the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the believers who were waiting in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, in obidience to the instructions the Lord had given just before He ascended. This momentous event fell on a Jewish festival of Pentecost (the Feast of Weeks). It was the first of the two agrarian festivals of Israel and signified the completion of the barley-harvest. The day was observed as a Sabbath day, all labor was suspended, and the people appeared before Yahweh to express their gratitude. Later Jews celebrated on this day the Giving of the Law at Sinai.

A new meaning is given to Pentecost by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Jerome writes: “There is Sinai, here Sion; there the trembling mountain, here the trembling house; there the flaming mountain, here the flaming tongues; there the noisy thunderings, here the sounds of many tongues; there the clangor of the ramshorn, here the notes of the gospel-trumpet.” The new meaning upon the day was a result of the divine enlightenment that the Holy Spirit brought: Now the disciples could speak in tongues, gentiles and foreigners could hear the good news,

Christ will shine on you.