Pentecost Sunday
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was known as something of a clever trickster and was responsible for shaping humanity from mud. At a joint assembly of gods and mortals at Mecone, Prometheus was tasked with dividing a large sacrificial bull. He wanted to ensure that humans got the best part of the meat while the gods received the least. Prometheus successfully tricked Zeus into picking the pile that only contained bones. When Zeus discovered the deception, he was furious. As punishment for the trick, Zeus withheld fire from humanity. Driven by empathy for his creations, Prometheus ascended Mount Olympus. He managed to slip past the gods and ignite a coal from the roaring hearth. He brought this precious spark to Earth and taught humanity how to use it to cook food, forge metal tools, and build cities. Zeus was furious that his authority had been challenged, and he enacted a brutal punishment: Prometheus was chained to a remote cliff in the Caucasus Mountains, where an eagle was sent to eat his immortal liver every day, but his liver would regenerate overnight, ensuring his torture would last for eternity.
Christ brought the real fire, the Holy Spirit, to the earth. He did not steal it from God like Prometheus but rather made himself the mediator of "fire" as the gift of God, obtaining it for us with the greatest act of love in history: his death on the Cross. God wants to continue giving this "fire" to every human generation and he is naturally free to do so as and when he wishes. But there is a condition before God sends the Spirit to us. In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke writes that "when the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together." Previously, the disciples gathered together in the upper room. Nevertheless, rather than insisting on the physical place, Luke intends to point out the inner attitude of the disciples: "All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer" (Acts 1:14). Harmony among the disciples is thus the condition for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and a presupposition of harmony is prayer. If we want Pentecost to be an actual event of salvation, we must prepare ourselves in devout expectation for the gift of God through humble and silent listening to his Word.