So, is Pentecost a noun or a verb? In some of my reading, I recall that Pentecost is God’s way of being and acting because God is always “pentecosting” us through life and creation. What Jesus said at Ascension still remains valid and indispensable: “You be My witness”. We are the Church, and what we do the Church does. And what we fail to do, the Church fails to do.
Ascension and Pentecost tell us that God is still present, still speaks, still sends out disciples to make a difference, and still calls. The Spirit endows us with gifts—the classic gifts of the Holy Spirit: – wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, fortitude, piety, fear of the Lord. These gifts “inform” the particular gifts each person possess—their charisms. These charisms, according to Sherry Weddell, range from prophecy and the discernment of spirits to administration, service, mercy, and hospitality. (Forming Intentional Disciples)
”The difficulty with Pentecost is that too often we look for the extraordinary, the show stopper, that once in a lifetime experience. But maybe the miracle of Pentecost is not the rushing wind, the divided tongues of fire, or magical fluency in a foreign language.
Maybe the real miracle of Pentecost is that God breathes and fills hearts, souls, minds, and bodies with his own spirit and life. God breathes and his extraordinary power fills and works in common ordinary people in common ordinary ways, transforming life. God breathes and we live”.