Acts 2:1-11 / 1 Cor 12:3-7 / John 20:19-23
It is said that everything happens for a reason. But it also leaves the statement rather open-ended. Is it for a good reason?
If only we can know how good the reason is, then maybe we will be able to accept what is happening around us and what is happening to us.
But more often than not, the reason is discovered only much later, and it is only on hindsight that we might be able to see the good reason.
So, when we look at what is happening around us and what is happening to us, just how do we feel about it?
Some see the good reason in all this, but most of us just end up sighing and grumbling and hoping that what is happening will end soon.
But with faith, we must believe that everything that happens has a good reason for it. It is with faith and hope that we can continue to live on with love.
For example, when Jesus told His disciples at the Last Supper that He was going away, they were sad. But He also told them that if He does not go, the Holy Spirit will not come.
So His going away is for a good reason but His disciples could not understand it then.
In the gospel, Jesus appeared to His disciples for the first time after His Resurrection. Then He said to them, “As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.”
Then He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
It was probably then that the disciples understood that all that had happened, the suffering and death of Jesus, happened for a good reason.
And with the Holy Spirit upon them, they began to understand how good the Spirit was, and as we heard in the 1st reading, the disciples went forth to proclaim the marvels of God.
As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, and as the Holy Spirit descends into our hearts, the Holy Spirit will lead us to discover the good in what is happening around us and what is happening to us.
And more so, as the 2nd reading puts it, “The particular way in which the Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.”
Over this period of time, we have discovered many areas of growth and we are learning new things to cope with and accept a fast-changing situation.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to turn trials into triumphs, and obstacles into opportunities.
But we must pray to the Holy Spirit and be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, as He guides us to learn and to grow and to see the good in every situation, so that we will be able to experience the marvels of God.