LINZ — 50 days after Easter, the Feast of Pentecost closes the cycle of Easter Feasts. At the heart of the festival, which falls on May 28 of this year, is the sending of the Holy Spirit, an invigorating and dynamic power from God that is given to help people.
According to biblical tradition, the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, who encouraged and empowered them to preach the good news of Jesus – even in foreign languages. At Pentecost, Christians therefore celebrate the beginning of the proclamation of the faith by the apostles, the “birthday” of the Church, so to speak.
“Pentecost” means fifty in Greek (Greek pentekoste). First, the feast of Pentecost in Judaism was a harvest feast that was only later historicized: it commemorated the conclusion of the covenant on Mount Sinai, where Israel received the Ten Commandments from God. To commemorate this, people made a pilgrimage to the Temple in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Pentecost became a pilgrimage festival. From the 4th century on, Pentecost was celebrated as an independent festival and not just at the conclusion of Easter.
more than a pigeon
Christians understand that the Holy Spirit is the divine life force that upholds and sustains. He is the love of God that came upon man. The Holy Spirit is thus the event of a loving encounter. In Christian Trinity theology, he is one of the three divine persons and makes clear the nature of God as a relationship. In ancient Greek, spirit means “pneuma”, which means it is neutral. In Hebrew, the Holy Spirit is called “ruach” and is feminine. In some representations of the Trinity of God, the Holy Spirit is therefore represented as a woman and therefore also embodies the feminine side of God.
The Spirit of God is given to all believers through baptism as a permanent support and effect in proclamation.
Pentecost is also closely linked to the idea of leaving and crossing borders, as the biblical texts show: people who do not understand each other, who are at odds because of language, ethnicity, class and gender, discover what they have in common, which they call “sons of God” (cf. Acts 2:1-13).
free of bitterness
The figures in the Bible correspond to representations of the Holy Spirit. God’s spiritual power is represented as fire, storm, and gust of wind, and often as a dove. Even in ancient times, the dove was a symbol of love, peace and kindness. That is, people assumed that the dove does not have a gallbladder and is therefore free from bitterness and meanness. In the biblical account of Jesus’ baptism, Jesus is said to have seen the Holy Spirit descend from heaven “like a dove”.