May
11, 2008
Feast of Pentecost
Acts 2:
1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13;
John 20:19-23
Reflection by Stella Potvin, OP
Seven weeks had gone by since Jesus’ resurrection. Rather than giving up and going home, his friends stayed together and prayed. Suddenly the Spirit “came to rest on each one of them” (Acts 2:3) and they went out and preached to another group of people who had come together to pray – “”devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem” (Acts 2:5). When God’s people pray together, God’s power is released in the world.
Have we truly believed that God’s power, released in the world today, is effectively inspiring all people who pray together? Jesus has said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.” What do you suppose Jesus is doing “in their midst”? I submit to you that he is concentrating his power on those who are praying. If we read further in Acts, we hear Peter exhorting those who were willing to listen that they should repent of their sins, and be baptized in order to be saved from a corrupt generation. As a result of Peter’s inspirational discourse, 3,000 people were baptized and added to their number that day. And, further, the newly baptized devoted themselves to the “breaking of the bread and the prayers,” thereby continuing to add to the growing number of believers every day thereafter.
So when we pray, especially together, we urgently invite the power of God’s spirit to be released as vibrantly as on the first Pentecost. The power of prayer is certainly evident in so many ways that it behooves us to channel it wisely, willingly and often toward healing our troubled world today.