The feast of Pentecost celebrates the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon the disciples and energising them to set about their mission of continuing the ministry of Jesus. Sunday’s gospel is one of the post-resurrection appearances by Jesus when he breathed the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. The actual events of that first Pentecost are recorded in the book of Acts and are recalled in this week’s first reading. The use of this post-resurrection gospel account is a reminder that Jesus had already imbued the disciples with the Spirit but, as so often throughout his ministry, they were a bit slow to catch on to the significance of what he had done. It seems that they needed a more tangible experience to jolt them into action and Acts records the very physical experience of the Spirit entering their midst as a roaring wind before settling upon them as tongues of flame. Jesus had breathed the Spirit upon them but it took the roaring wind to make a real impression on the disciples. There are frequent references in the gospels to Jesus being ‘filled with the Spirit’. It is this Spirit with which he was filled that he breathed upon his disciples; it is that same Spirit that we receive sacramentally in Confirmation.

For the weeks following the death of Jesus the disciples had lived in fear and confusion, not fully understanding what had happened and not really knowing what to do. When they realised that the Spirit Jesus had breathed upon them was really present and urging them to action they finally had the courage to begin the mission that Jesus had entrusted to them: to spread the Good News of Jesus and continue to realise his message in the world.