"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from Heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they where sitting. Divided tongues, as a fire, appeared among them. And a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability" (Acts 2:1-4 NRSV).
The Feast of Pentecost reminds us that there is a new dispensation of the Grace of God, renewing the Old Covenant. This new law is also granted through a marvellous experience, an impressive rush of wind and fire, which is granted not just for one people in particular but for all people in all times so that all tongues can speak of the wonders of God.The Feast of Pentecost thus reminds us of the emergence of the Church as a community of faith called to live out a new covenant in Jesus Christ, through the power of the Spirit. Pentecost marks the fulfilment of the promise made in the Old Testament and by Jesus. The Spirit calls, empowers, shapes and forms the confession, life and hope of the individual Christian and the Christian community so that they give witness to all nations in the world.
Pentecost confirms that the Spirit of God never stops moving, from the beginning to the end, it is the Spirit's dynamics that drives the history of the universe, of this world, of every community of believers everywhere in the world.
This feast of Pentecost is called in some traditions Trinity Day, because the appearance of the Holy Spirit reveals to us something profound about the mystery of the Holy Trinity. The Church in its prayers and hymns for this day honours and praises all the three persons of the Holy Trinity who participated in the descent of the Holy Spirit - God the Father, who sent the Holy Spirit; God the Son Jesus Christ, who, in communion with the Father, promised to his people the gift of the Holy Spirit; and God the Holy Spirit, who descended on that first Pentecost in tongues of fiery flame.
