The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. Alleluia.
Pentecost was one of the three great Jewish feasts; many Israelites made pilgrimages to Jerusalem on these days to worship God in the Temple. The origin of the feast dates back to a very ancient celebration in which thanks were given to God for the harvest of the year, which was about to be harvested. Later, this day was added to the memory of the promulgation of the Law given by God on Mount Sinai. It was celebrated fifty days after the Passover, and the material harvest that the Jews celebrated with such joy became, by divine design, the New Covenant, a feast of immense joy: the coming of the Holy Spirit with all its gifts and fruits.
On the day of Pentecost, they were all together in one place and suddenly a noise came from heaven, as of a rushing wind, and filled the whole house where they were2. The Holy Spirit is manifested in those elements that used to accompany the presence of God in the Old Testament: wind and fire.
Fire appears in Sacred Scripture as all-pervading love and as a purifying element4. These are images that help us to better understand the action that the Holy Spirit performs in souls: Ure igne Sancti Spiritus renes nostros et cor nostrum, Domine.... Purify, O Lord, with the fire of the Holy Spirit our bowels and our hearts....
The fire also produces light, and signifies the clarity with which the Holy Spirit makes the doctrine of Jesus Christ understood: When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you into the complete truth.... He will glorify me because he will receive what is mine and will announce it to you . On another occasion, Jesus had already warned his own: The Paraclete, the Holy Spirit... will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. He is the one who leads to the full understanding of the truth taught by Christ: "having finally sent the Spirit of truth, he completes the revelation, culminates it and confirms it with divine testimony ".
In the Old Testament, the work of the Holy Spirit is frequently suggested by the "breath", to express at the same time the delicacy and the strength of divine love. There is nothing more subtle than the wind, which penetrates everywhere, which even seems to reach inanimate bodies and give them a life of its own. The impetuous wind of the day of Pentecost expresses the new force with which divine Love bursts forth in the Church and in souls.
St. Peter, before the multitude of people gathered around the Cenacle, makes them see that what had already been announced by the Prophets is being fulfilled: "It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh..." (Acts 2:1). Those who receive the outpouring of the Spirit are no longer some privileged ones, like the companions of Moses, or like the Prophets, but all men, to the extent that they receive Christ1. The action of the Holy Spirit must have produced, in the disciples and in those who listen to them, such admiration, that all were beside themselves, filled with love and joy.