Pentecost, 50 days after easter, corresponds with the actual Jewish feast day of Pentecost. Most of our Christian celebrations in fact, correspond to the Jewish celebrations 2000 years ago plus. And the Jewish celebrations actually corresponded with the harvest or the agricultural celebrations of the middle east at the time.  

So for instance, the first harvest of the year is the barley harvest. The barley comes up right away in early spring. This then was Passover. So Passover took place around the barley harvest, while then, of course, our Passover is easter. 50 days after the barley harvest is the wheat harvest. Kind of again later spring, early summer that corresponds with Pentecost which was the Jewish feast day and then our feast day also is Pentecost. And you have a few more like the one the falls, the grape and the olive harvest which is the Feast of Tabernacles and again our kind of later if you will, like Thanksgiving, early advent type feast. 

So in my imagination, here in Pentecost when Jesus appears to the disciples and breathes on them the holy spirit. Now this is actually not happening 50 days later, our gospel today. This is Easter Sunday evening. But don’t let that confuse you for a second here. But to me this is what it’s going to be like when we die and go to heaven. We’re going to see Jesus just as the disciples in the upper room saw him. Beforehand we’re going to be afraid like the disciples were in this locked room, had all these kind of irrational anxieties, fears going on. But then when they see the risen Lord they’re overjoyed. We hear this specifically in the gospel. They’re elated. This is what it’s going to be like for us when we die and God willing go to heaven. We’re going to have some fears of course as we enter our final moments, our final stages of life. But when we see the risen lord we’re going to be overjoyed. 

This is what heaven’s going to be like. So rejoice because it’s our destination as Christians. This is where we’re meant for. This earth is temporary. We’re meant to get to heaven to be with god. There’s no more wailing or crying or pain or suffering, total bliss. But in the meantime now, how do we navigate this world? Because the world isn’t easy. There’s challenges. 

Well, this is where the holy spirit comes into play. So a couple things. First, the holy spirit allows us to get a taste of heaven while on this earth. So when we do get to heaven we’re going to be swept up 

Into the trinity: father, son, and holy spirit. It’s not just going to be like sitting in a hammock 

On the Hawaiian coast with a corona or something. It’s going to be god. That’s what heaven is going to be. And the fullness of god is going to be love, the loving god. That’s the holy spirit. 

The holy spirit is the love between the father and the son. So anyways, when we’re on this earth kind of working our way to heaven, If we open our hearts to invite the holy spirit into us, we get a taste of eternity. We have a taste of what it’s like to be swept up into this trinitarian love. What the holy spirit does is it grounds us in the truth because you see, while we’re on this earth there’s always misconceptions and lies and like i was saying earlier, fears. 

These things that kind of weigh us down. But when we’re rooted in prayer in the holy spirit, we’re able to put all that stuff aside, The fears, the misconceptions, anxieties, whatnot. And we see the truth. We see that god is with us, god has called us. There’s nothing to be afraid of. But then also what the holy spirit does, not just allay our fears and give us peace. 

These are souls welcomed guest as we hear in one of our holy spirit prayers. The holy spirit gives us these gifts. We’ve heard about the seven gifts of the holy spirit, I’m sure before. Wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear of the lord. Each of these seven gifts, i don’t have time to go through each one of them, but help us in particular ways. 

So for instance, you know what’s the right thing to do. Maybe wisdom, understanding, knowledge, but you’re not able to do it. So that’s where fortitude or courage comes in to give you the grace to do it. 

Do you have a lot of difficult decisions you need to make in life? Maybe decide between two good things. 

Maybe you’re changing jobs. How do you take care of your elderly parent who’s got alzheimer’s? 

The gift of counsel comes in from the holy spirit, allows you to navigate those difficult waters. 

Again, you’re lacking, you’re not sure about something. All the intellectual gifts, wisdom, understanding, knowledge come in. So on this day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church, the gathering of the people of god, the taste of heaven, like i was saying, open up your hearts to receive the holy spirit and pray for those seven gifts so that we can live life in a beautiful way and experience heaven on earth. Amen.