What did Mary do? She said “yes” to the Holy Spirit. And in
that “yes,” the Holy Spirit 6illed her with new life. The Early
Church called Mary Theotokos, which is Greek for “God-
bearer.” She allowed her Creator to act in her and accomplish
great things through her. In giving birth to God’s son, Mary
gave new life to the whole world. We’re called to follow her
example, each of us in his or her own way. Hearing the Gospel
isn’t enough. Talking about our faith isn’t enough. We have to
do something about it. Each of us, in a personal way, needs to
be a kind of Theotokos, a God-bearer. The seed of faith has to
bear fruit in a life of Christian action.
This is why this Pentecost celebration is so important. Pentecost
is the birthday of the Church. Pentecost is our birthday as
a believing people. The Church, like Mary, is about new life.
The Holy Spirit filled Mary with new life at the Annunciation,
and Mary gave birth to Jesus. The Holy Spirit filled the Apostles
with new life at Pentecost, and they immediately gave
birth to a new era through their preaching and example.
God relentlessly creates new life through each of us - if we
allow Him to. We’re meant to be fertile. We’re meant to bring
others to new life in Jesus Christ. The “Acts of the Apostles”
should continue today in the witness of our own lives.
Pope John Paul II explained Pentecost in the following way in
his 1986 encyclical Lord and Giver of Life: The “new `coming’
of Christ, this continuous coming of [the Lord] in order to be
with His Apostles [and] with the Church, this `I am with you to
the close of the age’ . . . occurs by the power of the Holy Spirit,
who makes it possible for Christ, who has gone away, to come
now and forever in a new way . . . In [the Eucharist and the
other sacraments], Christ, who has gone away in His visible
humanity, comes, is present and acts in the Church in such an
intimate way as to make it His own body. As such, the Church
lives, works and grows `to the close of the age.’ All this happens
through the power of the Holy Spirit” (61).
Pentecost is not just the birthday of the Church. It’s also the
feast day of the Holy Spirit, who set the Apostles on fire with
zeal in the Upper Room and who opened the minds in the
crowd which first heard them preach . . . and who has guided
and renewed the life of the Church for 2,000 years. We can
only celebrate this Great Jubilee because the Holy Spirit first
conceived Jesus in the womb of Mary. We can only celebrate
the Great Jubilee because the Holy Spirit has never stopped
sustaining the mission of the Church. Furthermore, just as He
strengthened and encouraged the 6irst Apostles, so too He will
strengthen and encourage each of us - if we let Him.