Pentecost - The Birth of the Church
Pentecost will be celebrated on Sunday, May 11.
Pentecost is rooted in Old Testament history. It was celebrated by the Jews for 50 days — Pentecost means “50” — after the celebration of the Passover. The Passover refers to death’s passing over the Jewish homes which were marked by the blood of the Paschal Lamb (read Exodus 12). Pentecost was a harvest festival held after seven weeks of harvesting crops.
In the New Testament, we find the first Christians gathered “together in one place” in the city of Jerusalem (Acts 2) on the day of Pentecost. “Suddenly,” St. Luke, the author of Acts writes, “a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind.”
Luke goes on to describe in metaphorical language what happened next. He tells of something like an appearance of fire upon the believers. Then “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). Strangely, even though there were persons from as many as 15 or more nations present, everyone seemed to understand the essence of what the Spirit-filled Christians were saying. They knew that the Christians were telling about “the mighty works of God” including the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
The bottom line is that on Pentecost some “three thousand souls” became Christians (see Acts 2:41). Instead of celebrating a harvest of crops, Pentecost for the Christians was a “harvesting” of souls for Christ. That is why Christians often call Pentecost the birthday of the Church. St. Luke says that after Pentecost “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47).
Thankfully that is still true. Today, 2000 years later, the Church still grows worldwide, day by day, hour by hour, even minute by minute. Some places, in Africa for example, the Church is spreading like a fire out of control. The Power that came down at Pentecost is still present and very much at work on Earth.