Homily Pentecost Sunday 2020
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost. To help you better understand what Pentecost is, it seems important to give you briefly the history of this feast.  So in my homily today, I’ll focus on three main points.
1- The history of Pentecost: what is the origin of Pentecost?
In the beginning, Pentecost was not a Christian feast. But, in the origin, Pentecost was a Jewish custom in which Jews celebrated the first harvest of the year; just like here, in some regions of California where they produce wine, in Sonoma and Napa County for example, there is a custom of celebrating the vintage year. That day was a special day when all Jews shared the new bread made from the new grain of the harvest. And gradually, this custom had been used in the Jewish liturgy to commemorate the events reminding the history of salvation. Then, instead of celebrating the first harvest of the year, the Jewish religious leaders thought that it should be better for them to thank God for the blessing and the gift of fertile land they received from Him. Therefore, the meaning of that custom had changed, becoming for all Jews a profession of faith in which they had to pray God, in thanksgiving, for the blessing and the gift of the wonderful land he gave his people. Then, the date of this Pentecost Day was fixed to be celebrated seven weeks after Easter, to commemorate the events that happened in the desert at about the same dates, specifically, the arrival of Jewish ancestors in the desert of Sinai, and the first covenant between God and his People Israel, when he gave them through Moses, the law with Ten Commandments. So today, according to the Jewish liturgical Calendar, all Jews celebrate Pentecost as the commemoration of the First Covenant between YAHWEH and his lovely people Israel with the reception of the Sacred Book of the law, the Ten Commandments of God. 
2- My second point is about the Christian’s Pentecost. What is it?
The Christian’s Pentecost is the extraordinary and revolutionary event that Jesus’ apostles experienced fifty days after the Resurrection of the Lord. Etymologically, from Greek, “Pentekoste Emera” means “Fiftieth Day.” This joyful event that occurred the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Jesus is magnificently described in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. In contrast to the Jewish Pentecost, the Christian’s Pentecost is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles when they gathered together in their Upper Room, around the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The Holy Spirit that Jesus promised to his apostles finally came to give them strength, courage, and new energy in their mission of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the world. With the reception of the Holy Spirit, the Advocate and Defender, Pentecost was the great Day of the official kick-off of the Holy Church, and when Jesus’ Apostles began their mission and work of evangelization, to implement the last recommendation of the Risen Lord when he told them: “You are witnesses of all these things.” As Saint Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “By the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Christ’s Paschal Mystery was brought to its completion. The Holy Spirit prepares us with his grace in order to draw us to Christ. He manifests the Risen Lord to us, opening our minds. He makes present the mystery of Christ. And he reconciles us, bringing us into communion with God. Saint Thomas Aquinas says that ‘the Holy Spirit interiorly perfects our spirit, communicating to it a new dynamism so that it refrains from evil for love.  With the Holy Spirit within us,’ “it is quite natural for people who had been absorbed by the things of this world to become entirely otherworldly in outlook, and for cowards to become people of great courage.”
3- My Third point is a question: How does the Holy Spirit continue working in the world and our lives today?
The best and common image that represents better the Holy Spirit today is GPS, the GPS of your car. Yes, the Holy Spirit is the GPS of our life, to guide us. He is our divine guide, who shows us accurately the surest way to follow to succeed in our mission. He is our shield and stronghold. I came here almost two years ago from the Bay Area, and I didn’t know the ways to get to places. Then, the GPS was very useful and indispensable. Even if sometimes it leads me in the winding road I don’t like, such as the High way 193 from Placerville to Georgetown, but it’s indispensable. Likewise the Holy Spirit is the best and accurate GPS of our life, indispensable and unpredictable. He is the One who guides us in the way of love, faith, hope, peace, joy and humility. In other words, the Holy Spirit of Pentecost is still the same Spirit who continues guiding and strengthening the mission of the Holy Church and all the disciples of Jesus Christ.
He is the Spirit of Unity, who is working in the oecumenical prayer for unity of all Christians of different churches, - Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Lutherians, Episcopalians, Protestants, Baptists, Evangelists, - to gather together and pray for unity, to be one as the Father and the Son are one. The Holy Spirit is the cement of unity of our families and communities facing divisions and conflicts. He is the one who inspires us respect of others and tolerance. He is the Spirit of truth, who inspires priests in their mission of preaching the Holy Gospel. He is the one who, each Sunday, in this time of covid-19 pandemic, inspires your beloved Fr Pepin to find words of wisdom and comfort for you faithful of God in Placerville and Georgetown. He is the Spirit of Joy, who put in our hearts the joy of the gospel and makes us smile, happy in the Risen Lord. He is the Spirit of strength, who inspires people to defend justice, human rights, even by sacrificing their own lives, like veterans, and all those who fight to protect our freedom. He is the Spirit of love that dwells in our hearts and gives us strength to love one another in Jesus’ name. He is the Spirit of Peace, who inspires us to be peacemakers and to promote peace in the world and our families. He is the Spirit of intelligence and science, who is inspiring Doctors and scientists to work together in order to find quickly a treatment and vaccine against coronavirus. As this year, the Feast of Pentecost coincides with the last day of the Month of May dedicated to the Blessed Mother, Virgin Mary, let us implore her intercession for the end of coronavirus pandemic. As Pope Francis wrote, “I will not leave you orphans. Today, on the feast of Pentecost, Jesus’ words remind us also of the maternal presence of Mary in the Upper Room. The Mother of Jesus is with the community of disciples gathered in prayer: she is the living remembrance of the Son and the living invocation of the Holy Spirit. She is the Mother of the Church. We entrust to her intercession, in a particular way, all Christians, families, and communities that at this moment are most in need of the Spirit, the Paraclite, the Defender and Comforter, the Spirit of truth, freedom, and peace.” Happy Pentecost to all!
Rev. Fr Pepin W. F. DANDOU
Georgetown, May 30, 2020.