Please read the passage before the commentary
In the evening of the day of resurrection, Jesus breathed on the disciples, saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” St Luke wrote that on the day of Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection, the disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit.
When did thew disciples receive the Holy Spirit? In the Gospel according to John that, after the resurrection and giving of the Holy Spirit, Peter gave up his position and went fishing. How could he leave the Lord if he had already received the gift of the Holy Spirit?
In the Acts of the Apostles, St Luke wrote that the apostles received the gift of the Holy Spirit fifty days after the resurrection of the Lord. Yet defore Pentecost, Peter was directing the disciples to choose a successor for Judas. Of he had not received the gift if the Holy Spi-rit, how could he be leader of the disciples?
The total glorification of Jesus happened through Easter and Pentecost. Easter and Pentecost are two sides of the same coin. Easter and Pentecost celebrate the victory of Christ over the evil in the world and over death. They celebrate the new life of the Holy Spirit.
Christ has risen! Receive the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sin and proclaim to all the others the remission of all their sins. Christ has risen! It is the day of te resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit.In the dismissal of the people on Easter, we used the two alleluias. To dismiss you today we shall use the same lleluias. The first and the last means the totality. The first and the fiftieth says that the fifty days are one big celebration of rhe glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have received the Holy Spirit and are living the new life of resurrection. Let us celebrate it!
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