Let the Scriptures Speak: The Bible Story Behind Our Pentecost Room

By Fr. Fernando Morales, L.C.

June 11th, 2025 - Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center

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The Pentecost Room represents the very moment when God’s promise of the Holy Spirit is fulfilled and the early Church is born. This immersive, 360° oil-on-canvas masterpiece by Chilean artist Daniel Cariola transports you to that upper room on Mt. Zion—bridging the ancient Jewish feast of Shavuot with the Christian celebration of Pentecost. As you step inside, you’re invited not merely to observe, but to become the 120th disciple—to hear the rushing wind, feel the flames of divine love, and experience how the same Spirit that empowered the apostles still moves the Church today.

Now, let us turn to the biblical account of Pentecost:

In the ancient Near East, every year the grain‐harvest festival was celebrated—Israelites fixed it fifty days after Passover, fifty days from the beginning of the spring shoots. Over time this festival, called Hag Shavuot (Festival of the Seven Weeks), came to commemorate the giving of the Torah, God’s Law, on Mount Sinai, after the Exodus from Egypt celebrated at Passover.

“Mount Sinai was entirely in smoke because the LORD had descended upon it in fire; the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently.” (Exodus 19:18)

The Law was the greatest pride of the people of Israel—their distinguishing mark, their wisdom. God’s commandments, inscribed on the tablets of Moses, were the magnificent gift God gave to His people to transform them into a holy nation.

Thus we come to Jerusalem. Before the risen Jesus ascended into heaven from the Mount of Olives, He said to His disciples,

“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49)

“For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:5)

The words of the prophet Joel were about to be fulfilled:

“And afterward, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” (Joel 2:28)

Ten days later, on the day of the festival of Shavuot or Pentecost—which means the fiftieth day, that is, after the seven weeks since Passover when Jesus had risen—about one hundred and twenty disciples were gathered in the upper room, the very place of the Last Supper, to celebrate the Festival of the Law as devout Jews. They devoted themselves to prayer together with Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

“And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2:2–4)

Like Moses at Sinai, they were receiving a gift from heaven—but no longer a divine Law written on tablets of stone; now it was a new Law, written on the hearts of believers (cf. 2 Cor 3:3). The presence of the Spirit filled that house, the whole Church, every heart. No longer did God impose Himself by an external law of commands; rather, God Himself entered to dwell in the hearts of all who received Him, to move their lives from within, by love.

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)

“I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26)

The same Spirit who moved Christ to give His life, to love without measure, is now of the whole Church. That is why the fire which signified God’s presence at Sinai and in the Temple now rested on each of the disciples—new living temples of the divine presence.

The Spirit who filled Jesus with love for His Father is the one who now makes us true children of God, filling us with love for Him and freeing us from fear.

““For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15)

A new Sinai with a new gift from heaven: a life no longer driven by obligations and minimum requirements, but by a love that seeks total self‐giving, that springs from within, and that fills with joy whoever gives their life fully, like Christ.

“And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2:4)

From that moment the Church began to express itself in every language of the world. The Gospel began to be proclaimed to all peoples of the earth. The Church discovered its catholic vocation—that is, its universality. God’s people would no longer be for the Jews alone but for all nations, races, tongues, and cultures. The Church would learn to speak the language of every age and every time.

From the Upper Room the disciples would go forth to evangelize the entire world. Those who days before had been locked in that place, full of fear, now filled with fire, would bear witness to Christ before all nations.

May the same Spirit that transformed the fearful disciples inspire each of us today. As you visit the Pentecost Room, carry with you the fire of that first gathering—let it fuel your prayers, guide your service, and embolden your witness. Just as the apostles went forth to every corner of the earth, may we too bear Christ’s love into our families, workplaces, and communities, confident that the promised Spirit empowers us to speak and act with courage, compassion, and joy.