Sermon 272B
But we must seek the Lord not as though he were absent; we must seek him with a strong desire and in a certain, accessible way. It is not as if he were distant, but let us call him to ourselves in our desires.
ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST
Christ has fulfilled what he promised.
Today I believe that your Charity knows to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit of the Lord to the Church; for the Lord promised to send the Holy Spirit to his Apostles, and according to his most faithful promise, he indeed fulfilled what he promised. For just as the resurrection of the Lord confirmed His divinity in the faith of men, He who deigned to become man for us, so much the more did His ascension into heaven, and the fuller and more perfect gift of the Holy Spirit which He sent, fill His disciples, who had already become new wineskins, so that they could receive the new wine; therefore, when they spoke in tongues, they were said to be drunk and full of new wine. The voice of those who heard was a testimony of the Lord's Scripture: For no one puts new wine into old wineskins, the Lord had said. Therefore, He was preparing new wine for new wineskins. They were old wineskins as long as they thought carnally about Christ; for that saying of the Apostle Peter belonged to the old wineskin, when the Lord said to him, fearing that Christ would die and perish like other men: “Get behind me, Satan; you are a hindrance to me.” This perturbation of Peter belonged to the old wineskin. But when the Lord resurrected and showed Himself to them, and they touched what they had mourned hanging on the cross; they saw the living members which they had mourned as dead and buried; they were confirmed in faith and believed Him. He ascended into heaven and commanded them to assemble in one place, and there wait until He sent His promise. Therefore, gathered in one place, praying and desiring the promise, they overcame their old state and were clothed with newness. Hence, having been made capable, they received the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And not without reason do we celebrate this day as a great and most evident sacrament. Let your Holiness observe how the old and new Scriptures harmonize: for there grace was promised, here it was given; there it was prefigured, here it was perfected. Just as an artisan forming things first composes the forms he is going to cast in wax from other metal, bronze, or silver, and the first outline shows the way to future solidity—for he makes the very forms he is going to fill—so too the Lord delineated and shaped everything in figures for the old people, but for the new people, He filled them with the most perfect outpouring. Therefore, let your Holiness observe more attentively what that form was and what this fulfillment is on the day of Pentecost: it is worth your attentive commitment; it is said with great fruit, when what is said is listened to more attentively. Be certainly yourselves new wineskins, so that you may be able to receive the wine through our ministry.
The sharing multitude makes one soul.
We are often asked: If we celebrate the day of Pentecost because of the arrival of the Holy Spirit, why do the Jews celebrate Pentecost? For they also have Pentecost. You heard this morning, those who were attentive, when the reading from Tobias was read in memory of the blessed Theogenes, that on the day of Pentecost he made a meal for himself, intending to invite some of his own, who were worthy to share the table with him, from the fact that the fear of the Lord was in them: He said, On the day of Pentecost, which is holy from the weeks. For seven times seven makes forty-nine: one is added to this because of unity, so that we may return to the head, which unity confirms every multitude. And a multitude, unless it is bound by unity, is contentious and quarrelsome; but a multitude sharing one mind makes one soul, as it was with those who received the Holy Spirit, as Scripture says, they were of one soul and one heart toward God. Thus fifty is made, which is the sacrament of Pentecost. Why, therefore, do the Jews celebrate it, unless because it was a figure there? Attend: you know, and there is no Christian at all who does not know what I am about to say, that among the Jews the lamb was killed, and the Passover celebrated in the figure of the future Passion of the Lord. For they were also commanded to seek a lamb from the goats and sheep. Whence can a lamb be found from goats and sheep? But what was commanded there as impossible, predicted the future possibility of the Lord: for a lamb was found from goats and sheep, because our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh, born from the seed of David, has origin from both sinners and just ones. You find in the origin of the Lord, according to the generations which the Evangelists expound, both many sinners and just ones; therefore He called such, that is sinners, because He also came through such. For He gathers His Church from the just and sinners: about to send the just into the kingdom of heaven, and to separate sinners who persist in sins and wickedness. However, He came to bear our sins, as He did not disdain to take on the origin from sinners; and there are many sacraments there, in the very generations, which God will grant that there will be time to explain to Your Holiness. But now let us return to what we had instituted.
Passover and Pentecost among the Jews and Christians.
On the day of Pentecost, we were saying why the Jews celebrate that very day. They kill the lamb, it is the killing of the paschal lamb: so we also celebrate Easter, where the lamb, immaculate and without fault, is killed. Truly the lamb of whom John bore witness, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world; we celebrate Easter by his passion. The law was given to the Jews in fear; the Holy Spirit was given to the Christians in grace. They could not fulfill the law through fear, and by that very law, they were found guilty. The law has five books; five porticoes surrounded Solomon's pool, but they carried the sick, none of whom they could heal. The five porticoes carried the sick, where they lay; as in the books, no one was healed. Why no one? Because of pride: for when they think they can fulfill what is commanded by their own strength, they have not fulfilled what was commanded. And the law was against them, in which they are found guilty, until they cry out, as we also said to your Holiness this morning: Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. The law, therefore, shows the guilty, grace frees from guilt: the law threatens, grace soothes: the law intends punishment, grace promises pardon. Yet that which is commanded is in both the law and grace; and therefore that law is said to be written by the finger of God. Thus we have it written.
The Holy Spirit is the finger of God.
But what is the finger of God? Let us seek in the Gospel, and we will find. What does "finger of God" mean? For God indeed does not have a bodily form like we do; and from one part He sees, and from another He does not see; nor is the shape of His limbs determined, He who is whole everywhere and present in all things. What then is the finger of God? The Holy Spirit. Pay attention: from what do we prove this? From the Gospel. For sometimes, what one Evangelist says figuratively, another says more clearly in the same place. There is a certain place in the Gospel where the Jews said of the Lord that He casts out demons in the name of Beelzebub. But the Lord, responding, says: If I cast out demons by the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Another Evangelist explains the same place, saying: If I cast out demons by the Holy Spirit, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When therefore one Evangelist says "finger of God," the other explains it, so that he may demonstrate to us that the Holy Spirit is the finger of God. Let us not seek the fingers of flesh in God, but understand why the Holy Spirit is called the finger. Because through the Holy Spirit, the Apostles received the divisions of gifts: but in the fingers, the division of the hand appears; there is calculation and distribution there. Why then do the Jews celebrate Pentecost? A great sacrament, brothers, and altogether marvelous: if you notice, on the day of Pentecost, they received the law written by the finger of God, and on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came.
The law in the hearts of the Jews and Christians.
But this must be proven concerning the law given, which the Jews received on stone tablets. However, it signified the hardness of their hearts. Nevertheless, it was written by the finger of God: because everything that was written there is also commanded to Christians; but now, as the Apostle says, "Not on stone tablets, but on fleshly tablets of the heart." This, therefore, is the difference, because it was written on their hard hearts and was not fulfilled; it was given to the already believing hearts of Christians, being easy and everlasting. Therefore, it was a stone: but the hearts of Christians were fertile land, which could bear fruit. Therefore, also the Lord in the Gospel, when that woman who had been found in adultery was brought to Him, and they wanted to stone her according to the law, the Lord, however, wanting her to sin no more, ready to forgive her sin, said to them who wanted to stone her, though they themselves were stony: "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." But when He said this, He bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger; but they, considering their consciences, went away one by one, from the oldest to the youngest, and the woman was left alone. The Lord then lifted His head and said to her: "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" And she said: "No one, Lord." And the Lord said: "Neither do I condemn you; go now and sin no more." What did this indulgence signify? Grace. What did that hardness signify? The law given on stones. Therefore, the Lord was writing with His finger, but now on the ground, from which fruit could be received. However, whatever is sown on stone does not sprout, because it cannot send down roots. The finger of God, and the finger of God: the law was written by the finger of God, the finger of God, the Holy Spirit.
Why was the law given on the day of Pentecost?
The law was given on the day of Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost. But we said that we would prove that the Jews received the law on the fiftieth day from Passover which we celebrate. You have the commandment that they should kill the lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month and celebrate Passover. Seventeen days remain in the month, counting from the fourteenth day, from which Passover begins. They came to the wilderness, where the law was given, and thus the Scripture says: "In the third month, from when the people were led out of Egypt, the Lord spoke to Moses, so that those who were to receive the law might purify themselves on the third day, on which the law was to be given." So at the beginning of the third month, purification is commanded for the third day; and Passover begins... Pay attention, lest the numbers mislead you, and bring darkness to your understanding: as much as we can, we open it up, with the Lord granting it. If your attention aids us, you will quickly see what is said; but if it is not there, it will be obscure, whatever I say, even if it is said very clearly... Thus Passover is declared on the fourteenth day of the month: and purification is commanded, for the law to be given on the mountain, written by the finger of God; but the finger of God is the Holy Spirit. Remember: we have proven this from the Gospel. Purification is commanded for the third day of the third month. Therefore, subtract thirteen from the first month, and seventeen remain, starting from the fourteenth. Add the entire second month: the days become forty-seven; from the very day of purification to the third day, the days become fifty. Nothing is clearer, nothing is more evident, because the Jews received the law on the day of Pentecost.
The weight of the law and the gentle yoke of Christ.
But it is harsh, it has been a burden, it has been a harsh weight. However, the Lord came with grace, and he cries out: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." How is his yoke easy? The law threatens, he caresses: the law says, "If you sin, I will punish you"; Christ says, "Whatever you have done I forgive, henceforth be careful not to sin." Therefore his yoke is easy, and his burden light. If we become new wineskins, we await his grace attentively, we will be greatly filled with the Holy Spirit, and through the Holy Spirit there will be love in us, already when we have been heated by the new wine, and intoxicated by his intoxicating and splendid cup, so that we forget those worldly things that held us, just as the martyrs forgot, when they went to their passion, and forgot their children and wives, and threw dust on their parents' heads, and mothers baring their breasts with the reproach of milk, they separated themselves from food, they forgot everything, and did not recognize their own. What amazes you if a martyr does not recognize his own people? He is a drunk man. But from what is he drunk? From love. But where does love come from? From the finger of God, from the Holy Spirit, from him who came at Pentecost.