Vigil of Pentecost Year C
First Reading: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Second Reading: Romans 8:22-27
Gospel: John 7:37-39
Our first reading at this Pentecost vigil from the prophecy of Ezekiel is a remarkable vision of dry dead bones coming to life and becoming a vast army. The prophet Ezekiel was led by the hand of God to a valley filled with dead bones. He was led to walk through it and to see the array of dead bones scattered in every direction. The Lord asked him, “son of man, can these bones come to life?” Ezekiel responded, “Lord GOD you alone know that.” The Lord commanded him to prophesy over those bones and say to them, “dry bones, hear the word of the Lord….” As he spoke the word, there was a noise, it was a rattling as the bones came together, sinews began to grow and flesh covered the bones, but there was no life in them. Again, the Lord said to Ezekiel, prophesy the Spirit upon these bones from the four corners to breathe into them and as the spirit came into them, they came alive and there stood upright, a vast army.
The context of this vision is the captivity in Babylon. This vision sets the scene for the climax of the resurrection of Israel and addresses the exile’s profound concern about their future; they had said, “our bones are dried up and our hope is lost.” The Church understand this vision not only as a reference to the resurrection of the dead and the gift of immortality but also as the vision of the Holy Spirit who gives new life to those who are dead in sin, who gives new life to the believer and without whom we are not even alive. He said, “I will put my Spirit in you that you may live….” In the Book of Joel, He said, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days, I will pour out my spirit.” This promise of God found its complete fulfilment at Pentecost when the Spirit descends on the Apostles.
In the second reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, Paul sets the longing of believers for salvation within the context of a longing that encompasses all creation. The longing of the believers is the longing for salvation stimulated by the Spirit. Paul refers the gifts of the Spirit as firstfruits. Paul is here using a metaphor derived from the harvest ritual of Israel which Pentecost originally celebrated (Deut. 26: 1-15). The first fruits of harvest are brought to the temple as a sign of thanksgiving to God for the harvest and an acknowledgement that the entire yield of the land is a gift of God and belongs to God. By offering that small portion, the whole is consecrated. So, Paul tells us that God has given His Spirit to believers as a pledge of the full harvest, that is, the salvation that will follow.
This pledge of salvation by the Spirit is the object of our longing to be freed from attachments for the perfection of our divine filiation. This pledge of salvation by the Spirit is also the object of our hope which in the midst of our present suffering situation, holds on to the faithfulness of God to make good the final installment of our salvation.
Another ground of our hope is the groaning of the Spirit Himself. While creation and ourselves groan out of a longing to be set free from present restrictions, the groaning of the Spirit is “coming to the aid of our weakness.” Our weakness here stems from our inability to see or visualize the goal to which we are being led; not even with our imagination. That is why we do not know what to pray for or the appropriate prayer to make. In the face of this incapacity, ignorance and confusion, the Spirit offers appropriate intercession for us in the shape of groans too deep for utterance. And because He offers the appropriate intercession, His prayer never fails.
In the Gospel, Jesus reveals Himself as the living water. The context is the Feast of Tabernacles. On each of the eight days of the feast, the High priest went to the pool of Siloam and used a golden cup to bring water to the temple and sprinkle it on the altar in remembrance of the water which sprang up miraculously in the wilderness refreshing and restoring vitality to the people of God; and asking God to send abundance of rain (Exodus 17: 1-7). In this context, Jesus stood up and proclaims to the crowd, that He is the living water. “Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. As scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.”
Jesus shows that He is the one who fulfils Ezekiel 36: 25ff which says that in the messianic times, people will be sprinkled with clean water and will be given a new Spirit and their heart of stone will be changed for a heart of flesh. Jesus is declaring that He is the one who fulfils the groaning of man and all creation. It is He who gives us the Holy Spirit that makes those who are dead in sin and those who do not have the life of God to come to life, stand firm like an army and share in the life of God.
Happy Feast of Pentecost
Rev Fr Chidi Onwuka M,Ss.Cc