Posted on 05/26/2012 1:35:39 PM PDT by Salvation
Pastors Column
Pentecost Sunday
May 27, 2012
The second reading for Pentecost Sunday is so important for our spiritual discernment that I want to reprint some of it for our continued reflectionyou might want to stick this on the refrigerator! (Galatians 5: 16-25Jerusalem Bible):
If you are guided by the Spirit, you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions .When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious:
Impurity
Lust
Idolatry
Sorcery
Outbursts of fury
Jealousy
Acts of selfishness
Dissentions
Factions
Drinking bouts
Orgies and the like.
I warn you as I warned you before that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very different:
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Goodness
Kindness
Gentleness
Self-control
You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirits lead.
Brothers and sisters, we live in a spiritual war-zone. Each of us is in fact on the front lines of the battle, with the enemy of our souls tempting us on one side and the Lord and his armies on the other. The battle rages both within and around us! In this Sundays second reading from Galatians , Saint Paul gives us this checklist to help us discern whose side of the battle we are fighting on: am I standing in the territory of the enemy at this moment, in this decision, or am I a force for good in the power of the Holy Spirit?
Even Saint Paul acknowledged that none of us wins every battle. This is why we rely on the mercy of Christ, who forgives our sins. Many people dont even realize that life is really a spiritual battle zone! Whether we realize it or not, every decision and action of ours will bear fruit ultimately on the side of self-indulgence, or on the side of the Holy Spirit. Selfishness, angry outbursts, impurity, impatience none of this comes from the Holy Spirit! When we see these types of fruits being manifested in our lives, it means that something needs to be corrected in our spiritual life.
This is exactly why Saint Paul gives us these two lists, because we need a constant reminder to help us discern regularly whose side we are fighting on, Gods or his enemy! The fruits of our decisions and actions will tell the real story. In order to see this, however, we will want to become more spiritually aware by examining our lives and actual decisions on a daily basis.
In many ways each church, like Saint Eds, is on the front lines of a kind of spiritual battle for souls that is taking place throughout the world. We come to mass and participate in other activities here in order to be nourished in our faith, fed by the Eucharist and the other sacraments, strengthened by our fellowship with others, and to give to our neighbor of what we have by our presence and by our gifts, sacrifices and finances.
Sometimes we let Christ in through the front door (by praying, coming to church or doing good works, for example), but at the same time, we open a window and let the enemy in too (watching pornography and impurity in the media and internet and self-centered behaviors at home, school and work, for example).
The question to ask ourselves is this: if I am continually falling in certain areas of self-indulgence, am I really at war with these sinful choices? What must I do to overcome them? Am I really avoiding the situations that cause me to fall into sin? Am I making a good confession on a regular basis? Is any form of fasting (food, media) a part of my regime? Do I really make God and prayer a priority in my life? By following the Holy Spirits lead, we can already begin to live in heaven, no matter how much suffering we may be experiencing, because to live in heaven is to do the Will of God.
Fr Gary
A Scriptural Reflection on the Readings for Sunday, May 27 2012, Pentecost Sunday | Carl E. Olson
Readings:
Acts 2:1-12
Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Gal 5:16-25
Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15
The Christian Church is the detonation of that explosive for which a train had been prepared through the centuries, wrote Monsignor Ronald Knox in a collection of essays titled Stimili (Sheed & Ward, 1951). Everything that happened before the day of Pentecost was a kind of dress-rehearsal for the day of Pentecost.
Many of the Church Fathers contemplated how Old Testament events foreshadowed or pointed toward the dramatic outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room and the events immediately following.
This was interpreted by some of the Fathers as a reversal of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). Responding to mans arrogant attempt to build a tower with its top in the heavens, God came down and confused the language of men so that they could not understand one another. Without the ability to communicate, mankind was scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. At Pentecost, God again descended and again caused confusionbut it was confusion caused by awe and astonishment, for men from every nation under heaven could understand one another.
The churchs humility, wrote St. Bede, recovers the unity of languages that the pride of Babylon had shattered. Man cannot, by his own efforts and intellect, achieve heaven; it is a grace and gift granted by the power of the Holy Spirit.
A second foreshadowing was the span of time between the first Passover and the arrival of the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The book of Exodus does not provide an exact time, stating the people arrived at Sinai on the third new moon (Ex. 19:1). Later, however, the feast of weeks, which was celebrated seven weeks after the first harvest was cut (cf., Dt. 16:9; Ex. 23:16; Lev. 23:9-21), was connected with the Exodus. Eventually, a span of fifty days was reckoned between the Passover and the feast of weeks, also known Pentecost (Greek for fiftieth).
Christ was the final and perfect Passover lamb who had, in fact, died during the feast of the Passover; by his Resurrection, he was also the first fruits from the dead (1 Cor 15:20). Therefore, Pentecost was the celebration of the divine harvest, brought about by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, Pentecost had become associated in Judaism with the giving of the Law and the establishment of the Mosaic covenant at Sinai. The parallels here are both evident and significant: the new people of God, the Church, is formed by Christ (who is the New Moses) and filled by the Holy Spirit (who is the soul of the Church). The new and everlasting covenant is established by the law of Christthat is, the law of Lovewhich in turn we are able to live because of the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The Church, St. Paul states in todays Epistle, is the Body of Christ, having many parts but being one by virtue of one Spirit and one baptism (1 Cor 12:12-13). The Church was not an afterthought or a Plan B, but was at the heart of the Fathers plan of salvation from the beginning; it was, the Catechism notes, the goal of all things, because it is the household of God, in which man enters into saving communion and is filled with the divine life (CCC 760).
Pentecost, then, is the birthday of the Churcha birthday giving new birth to mankind, regardless of race, sex, or social status. We are meant, Monsignor Knox wrote, to find ourselves as members of a Spirit-filled, Spirit-actuated Body; if we remain in its unity, we know that the life of the Spirit, is, however imperceptibly, expressing itself in us.
That unity, however, is often threatened by the temptation to save ourselves and to achieve wholeness apart from God. The feast of Pentecost reminds us that we have been saved from the land of sin by the Son, filled with divine life by the Holy Spirit, and called to the Promised Land by the Father.
(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the May 31, 2009, edition of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)
Alleluia!
Today the Spirit of the Lord has invaded the cosmos and filled it!
Life spills out of the Cenacle
and, like a torrent of wine,
courses through the streets of Jerusalem.
God arises and His enemies are scattered;
those that hate Him flee before his face,
and those that love Him sing: Alleluia!
Today He who came down to see Babels tower
and confused the speech of the proud
visits the Upper Room.
He unties the tongues of the humble
and unites into one holy people those long divided by sin.
Amazed at what she sees and hears,
the Church intones her birthday song: Alleluia!
Today He who on Sinai descended in fire,
causing rocks to quake and peaks to pale,
descends upon Jerusalem;
tongues of fire dance over the heads of those
who, cloistered in the Cenacle, waited to meet their God
and at His coming, they cry out: Alleluia.
Today the valley of dry bones
begins to stir, to rattle, and to reverberate.
Behold, I will cause the Spirit to enter you,
and you shall live:
and they lived and stood upon their feet,
an exceeding great host
singing: Alleluia!
Today the Cenacle sealed like tomb
opens, a joyful Mothers fruitful womb.
None was ever born of the Spirit
who did not take his birth from her,
and each, claiming from her the springs of his life,
calls her forever glorious, repeating: Alleluia!
Today the Spirit is poured out in superabundance;
today sons and daughters prophesy;
today old men dream dreams and young men see visions;
today menservants and maidservants
join the choir to chant with one many-tongued voice: Alleluia!
Today the Virgin whom the Spirit covered with His shadow
is wrapped in Love and crowned in flame.
Today the Woman who interceded at Cana
tastes New Wine, for the Hour has come.
Today the Mother who stood watching by the Tree
remembers the stream of water and of blood
and filled with sweetness, cries: Alleluia!
Today the Spirit helps us in our weakness
and we who do not know to pray as we ought,
pray in a way that is wonderful and new;
for now the Spirit Himself intercedes for us
with sighs too deep for words.
In the valley of the shadow of death
there rises the canticle of life: Alleluia!
Today, for the poor there is a Father,
for the destitute a Treasury,
for hearts grown dark an inblazing of brightness.
Today, for those who weep there comes the Best of Comforters,
for the lonely, there arrives a gentle Guest,
for the worn and weary there is a refreshment so sweet
that even they begin to sing: Alleluia!
Today, for workers there is repose,
for those scorched in the heat of discord, refreshment,
for those brought low by too great a weight of sorrow, solace,
and for those with tears to shed,
a chalice ready to receive them.
Today there is no one who cannot say: Alleluia!
Today, even where there is nothing good
Goodness elects to dwell;
and where there is nothing holy
Holiness makes a tabernacle,
so that the broken, the sad, and the powerless
find their voices to sing: Alleluia!
Today, there is a balm for every wound,
a dew sprinkled over every dryness;
a cleansing water for every stain.
Today, the stubborn heart learns to bend
and the stiff spine learns to bow.
In the twinkling of an eye the frozen are thawed
and icy hearts warmed through and through,
making them declare as never before: Alleluia!
Today there are Seven Gifts
lavishly given for each according to his need:
Wisdom for the foolish,
Understanding for the dull,
Counsel for the hesitant,
Fortitude for the weak,
Piety for the feckless,
and Fear of the Lord for those who have forgotten to adore,
saying humbly: Alleluia
Today for sinners there is forgiveness,
for the stranger a home,
for the hungry a Holy Table,
for the thirsty a river of living water,
and for every mouth the long-awaited Kiss.
Today heaven is poured over the face of the earth,
while the children of men in amazement sing: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
The Power of the Spirit | ||
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Pentecost Sunday
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John 20: 19-23 Introductory Prayer: Today, Lord, we celebrate the gift of your Holy Spirit to the Church, which you won for us through your patient suffering on the cross. I believe and trust in his power to make me a better apostle of your Kingdom, to bring fervor where I have grown tepid, to instill detachment where I have become too indulgent, and to perfect the innocence of my baptism, which leaves my soul more pure and worthy to serve and honor you each day. Petition: Come Holy Spirit, fill my heart with your grace and enkindle in me the fire of your love. 1. The Doors Were Locked: What is it that makes a disciple of Christ stop cold in the path of conversion and commitment? Cloaked underneath our spiritual inertia and lack of zeal are not so much our personal defects or our lack of human virtue as blindness to the dynamic power of the Crucified and Risen Lord. We can leave our self-made prisons only by opening our hearts to a faith in Christ that is total: total trust (in spite of the confusion of the present and uncertainty of the future), total hope (by breaking away from having to see the ideal in ourselves before we will act), and total divine confidence (in setting aside the sins of others and our personal failures that keep us stuck in myopic visions of life). Christ comes through bolted doors again today to ask us to unlock them with a real experience of the Risen Lord in the power of the Spirit. 2. Peace Be With You: It is vital to examine our peace and see if it truly speaks of the peace of the Upper Room. Substitute satisfaction for the word peace, and see where our hearts have tried to find consolation this past week. Then substitute the word fulfillment. This is the peace that Christ brings through the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Some passing satisfactions are part of life, and we can be grateful for them. When we seek them for their own sake, however, we can easily drown out the life of the Spirit, who comes to bring us deep peace and fulfillment in life. Pentecost must convince us above all about prayer and the order of life that permit us to have constant contact with sources of grace and divine inspiration. 3. Receive the Holy Spirit: In the sacrament of penance, we are forgiven our sins through the action of the Holy Spirit, who makes the actions of Christ present through the priest. We believe that mercy founds hope and change in our soul. Why, then, do we not believe that this same grace from the Holy Spirit can make us heroic saints, victorious in trial, patient in difficult relationships and more effective as apostles? Christ assures us that his power will never leave us, so we have no reason to slip into neutral after a few bad incidents in our life. Rather, the Holy Spirits goal moves us from mercy to transformation into Christ, permitting us spiritually to carry and reveal his wounds to an unbelieving world. Conversation with Christ: Oh, Jesus, I will trust more in the power of your Holy Spirit to change me than in my own efforts. I will depend on you in that face-to-face encounter I need to have with you every day. Let the sources of divine grace become my true food, and may I move away from feeding my soul on passing pleasures and vain ambitions. Resolution: This week, I will write down daily all the lights and inspirations of the Holy Spirit I receive, and I will try to act on them with promptness, confidence and generosity. |
On the first Easter evening, Jesus breathed on the apostles "and said: 'Receive the Holy Spirit' " (Jn 20:22). They showed no signs of having accepted the Spirit as they remained locked in the upper room "for fear of the Jews" (Jn 20:19, 26). Fifty days later, the apostles and over a hundred other people "were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them" (Acts 2:4). Why did the apostles receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost but not on the day Jesus rose from the dead? "The Holy Spirit of discipline flees deceit" (Wis 1:5). Possibly at the first Easter the apostles were not honest with themselves about their sins and fears. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (Jn 16:13). We must be consecrated by truth to receive the Spirit (see Jn 17:17). If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that we do not want to receive the Spirit that much because the Holy Spirit, being God, will not take orders from us. Rather, He will command us to do His will. This turns us off to the Holy Spirit because we naturally don't want anyone, even God, to tell us what to do. We must honestly face this resistance to the Spirit, repent of our selfishness, and make a decision to do God's will instead of ours. Then we will be filled with the Spirit.One Bread, One Body
<< Sunday, May 27, 2012 >>
Pentecost
Saint of the Day
Acts 2:1-11
1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13 or
Galatians 5:16-25
View ReadingsPsalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34
John 20:19-23
or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15
"OPPOSING THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Acts 7:51)
An epitaph is a text honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed
on a tombstone. Many are quotes from holy texts like the Bible. In
Manilas North Cemetery, a funny but striking epitaph of an unknown
tomb says it all: Juan dela Cruz Ako Ngayon
Bukas Ikaw (My turn
today, your turn tomorrow).
An epitaph is a reminder of our own mortality. When Jesus died on the
cross, the disciples, except John, hid themselves for fear of being
arrested and killed. Fear, frustration, and uncertainty of their
future overwhelmed the disciples, but they stood together. Then one
evening, Jesus suddenly stood among them and said, Peace be with
you, and immediately showed his wounded hands and side. At first
glance, the showing of wounded hands and side seems to contradict the
greeting of peace; but it is actually an offering of consolation,
encouragement, and hope to the disheartened disciples. Jesus knew what
was within the hearts of the disciples great fear. As a consoler,
Jesus consoled them in words (Peace be with you) and in action (He
showed them his hands and side). His greeting of peace was intimately
connected to his wounds. His wounds speak of peace!
The best consoler is the one who already experienced difficulty.
Encouragement from a cancer survivor or cancer patient is more
consoling than that of a priest. Words of forgiveness from a father
whose son was brutally murdered may move our hearts to forgive. A
scripture professor may impress us with his in-depth knowledge of the
Bible but a very profound sharing that comes from the heart may bring
us closer to God. The deepest and truest consolation will always come
from somebody who has been there already.
This is the reason why Jesus showed his hands and side to his
disciples. Besides telling them that he is alive, by showing his
wounds, Jesus wanted them to see the marks of cruelty, pain, hate, and
torture that he endured. The risen Christ was wounded, suffered, and
was crucified, and yet he survived. Yes, he died on the cross
but now
he is alive! The Father vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead.
Thus, the wounds of Jesus became the signs of hope and strength, bound
intimately to his words of peace. I will carry my cross and claim my
own resurrection.
The greeting of Jesus, Peace be with you, is a forceful command for
the disciples, encouraging them back to life, to hope, to be available
to him and the world again. His greeting of peace and revelation of
his wounds call us not to run, not to hide, not to fear anymore, not
to do a disappearing act; but rather to face the world with courage
and spread the Good News. The empty tomb becomes the womb of our hope
Jesus defeated death and has risen. Go now! Claim Jesus victory
over death, you are an empowered Easter child!
A good epitaph speaks to us and warns us of our own mortality, but the
epitaph of Jesus in his empty tomb will remind us of our own
immortality.
Almighty God, our Father, you who have given us life and intended us to have it forever, grant us your blessings. Enlighten our minds to an awareness and to a renewed conviction that all human life is sacred because it is created in your image and likeness. Help us to teach by word and the example of our lives that life occupies the first place, that human life is precious because it is the gift of God whose love is infinite. Give us the strength to defend human life against every influence or action that threatens or weakens it, as well as the strength to make every life more human in all its aspects. Give us the grace... When the sacredness of life before birth is attacked, to stand up and proclaim that no one ever has the authority to destroy unborn life. When a child is described as a burden or is looked upon only as a means to satisfy an emotional need, to stand up and insist that every child is a unique and unrepeatable gift of God, a gift of God with a right to a loving and united family. When the institution of marriage is abandoned to human selfishness or reduced to a temporary conditional arrangement that can easily be terminated, to stand up and affirm the indissolubility of the marriage bond. When the value of the family is threatened because of social and economic pressure, to stand up and reaffirm that the family is necessary not only for the private good of every person, but also for the common good of every society, nation and state. When freedom is used to dominate the weak, to squander natural resources and energy, to deny basic necessities to people, to stand up and affirm the demands of justice and social love. Almighty Father, give us courage to proclaim the supreme dignity of all human life and to demand that society itself give its protection. We ask this in your name, through the redemptive act of your Son and in the Holy Spirit. Amen. (From Pope John Paul II's homily of October 7, 1979.)
Pentecost Sunday, May 27, 2012
Gospel (Read Jn 20:19-23)
Todays Gospel tells us that Jesus surprised the disciples on the evening of that first day of the week by appearing in their midst without using a door (locked for fear of the Jews). We wonder if He had to calm them down a bit, because He said, twice, Peace be with you. We can imagine how startled they were. He showed them His wounds, in case they thought He was a ghost. Then, Jesus gave the apostles an astonishing commission: As the Father has sent Me, so I send you. What had begun three years earlier with a call to Follow Me (Mt 4:19) culminated in a sending out. Their work was to be a continuation of the divine apostleship of Jesus (apostle means one sent; see Heb. 3:1). If we have paid attention to the Gospel accounts of Jesus companionship with these men, we have seen clear indications that He intended to give the apostles authority to build His Church and do His work. We are impressed by the scope of their mission but not really surprised by it. However, after announcing His directive to them, Jesus steps out of the expected with an action that can only be described as strange: He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. Dont let familiarity with this verse rob it of its shock value. Why on earth did Jesus breathe on His apostles?
To understand this moment, so different from anything weve yet seen in any Gospel account, we have to go back to the beginning, to the first time divinity breathed on humanity. At Creation, the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being (Gen 2:7). There is no clearer image than this of Gods desire to impart His own life into man, who is made in His image and likeness. Adam and Eves fall into sin robbed them (and us) of their inheritance as Gods children, but the entire story of salvation reveals Gods plan to restore and renew His life in us. So vivid is this image of Gods breath in man that it appears again at the time of the prophet, Ezekiel. Gods people, Israel, were in exile in Babylon; they had been ravaged by their enemies as punishment for their covenant unfaithfulness. They represent all of us who are spiritually dead and entirely helpless. However, in His unrelenting determination to restore His people, God says to Ezekiel (whom He called son of man): Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O LORD God, Thou knowest. Again He said, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live and you shall know that I am the LORD (Ez 36:3-6).
When we know this Old Testament history, Jesus breathing on the apostles on Resurrection Day no longer seems so odd, does it? In this gesture, He begins the divinization of man, always Gods intention for His children. The renewal of humanity begins, once again, with the breath of God. For the apostles, this unique action enabled them to truly be Jesus continuing presence on earth. They will forgive or retain sins, an action reserved for Divinity. What about the rest of us? Will the breath of God blow on us, too? The other readings will help answer this question.
Possible response: Father, thank You for loving us enough to share Your own breath with usa marvel beyond description.
First Reading (Read Acts 2:1-11)
At His Ascension, Jesus told the apostles not to start on their mission of making disciples of all nations until they received power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you (Acts 1:8). This helps us see that Jesus action of breathing on them on Resurrection Day was an initiation into the Holy Spirit, not the fullness they were meant to have. For that, Jesus had them wait for the Jewish feast of Pentecost, nine days later. Pentecost originally had been a harvest festival in the Jewish liturgical calendar; gradually it also became associated with a memorial celebration of Gods giving of the Law to His people at Mt. Sinai, when they had been delivered from slavery in Egypt. The Law, or Torah, gave the people a way of life that would distinguish them from all other peoples on earth. To seal the covenant, God actually came down on top of Mt. Sinai, manifested in fire, smoke, thunder, an earthquake, and the loud sound of a trumpet (see Ex 19:16-19). It was quite the fireworks show!
We need to know this history, because it helps us understand why Jesus waited until Pentecost to send the Holy Spirit on His Church. Drawing on all the parallels with Gods visit to Mt. Sinai, the Jews gathered there in Jerusalem that day could comprehend this action as the harvest of Gods people, ready now, because of Jesus accomplished work, to receive Gods new Law of Love, to be written not on stone tablets but in the hearts of men by the Holy Spirit. Just as Gods descent on Sinai meant the formation of Israel as a nation, the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost meant the formation of Jews and Gentiles into the Church, the new Israel.
Of course, the events on Pentecost evoke the deep symbolism of wind and fire throughout the Old Testament, not just at the Mt. Sinai covenant. At Creation, the wind of God (literally, Gods breath) hovered over the waters of the earth, ready to do Gods bidding as He brought forth life (Gen 1:2). The wind of God also blew apart the waters of the Red Sea so Gods people could escape from their enemies, the Egyptians. As for fire, recall that God first appeared to Moses, the deliverer of His people, in a fiery bush. Also, the people had to follow a pillar of fire to make their way home to the Promised Land.
The more we know of the imagery representing God in the Old Testament, the more we understand the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost as an explosion of fulfilled promises! See that the tongues of fire rested over each of the apostles. They will now be Gods presence in His Church, leading His people on their journey home to heaven. To this day, the bishops of the Church, who are successors of these apostles, wear hats (mitres) in the shape of a flame of fire. They are marked out as our pillars of fire, leading us on our pilgrim journey home to heaven.
What about the effects of all this amazing action? The apostles were miraculously able to communicate the Gospel in the foreign tongues of the Jews assembled there. All male Jews were required to make a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem for this feast; that explains why there were devout Jews from every nation there. This immediately evokes the history of Babel (see Gen 11:1-9). There human pride made a grab at heaven by building a tower up to God. The solidarity of men (made possible by one language) was perverted to accomplish an evil end. God broke it by confusing the one language into many. Now, in the fullness of time, God grants the human solidarity for which man longs (because he is made for that) but which he cannot naturally achieve. The Holy Spirit creates supernatural solidarity, represented here by all men being able to hear, in their own language, the mighty works of God. This time, God reaches down to man rather than man trying to climb up to God.
So, now that we understand something of the background of Pentecost, we can ask whether all the rest of us who arent apostles will also have a share in this breath of God. The answer is YES. In verses not included in todays reading, Peter answers the what about us? question: Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:28). Jesus wants to breathe on all of us and thus renew the face of the earth.
Possible response: Lord Jesus, may Your Church always live in the joy of Pentecost, in awe of Your power and presence.
Psalm (Read Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34)
Todays psalm celebrates the life-giving power of Gods Spirit. Written long before the Day of Pentecost, it nevertheless summarizes both the past and the future. If you take away their breath, they perish and return to their dust (Ps 104:29) reminds us of the Fall, at the beginning of mans story. Disobedience led to death: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen 3:19b). When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth (Ps 104:30) describes our celebration today. The world, weary in sin, is in dire need of refreshment and renewal. Maybe we are, too. The psalm response is the perfect Pentecost prayer: Lord, send out Your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.
Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.
Second Reading (Read 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13)
The Gospel showed us Gods desire to once again breathe His life into man. The Book of Acts showed us that the gift of Gods breath, the Holy Spirit, entered the stream of human history on the Day of Pentecost, producing miraculous results. In the epistle, St. Paul gives us a theological reflection on the meaning of all this history. He explains that none of us can confess Jesus as Lord without the Holy Spirit. Our Christian faith is, itself, a work of Gods breath, the Spirit, in us. That Spirit gives to believers a wide variety of spiritual gifts, creating diversity of service in His Church. However, because it is the same God Who produces this diversity, we are one body. St. Pauls emphasis here is on the unity created by the Holy Spirit. Lets consider this for a moment.
Unity is the distinguishing characteristic of the Trinitythree Persons in One. Man, created in the image and likeness of God, is hard-wired for unity, for communion with both God and others. Sin shattered this unity (recall the immediate fracture of Adam and Eves relationship with God and each other in the Garden). Babel showed us that when men actually cobble together unity, their pride bends them towards a perverse use of it. Gods descent on Mt. Sinai was for the purpose of forming one nation for Himself out of many tribes. He gave them one way to worship and one law to live by. In time, that nation fractured, and a large part of it completely disappeared. Men cannot create unity for themselves, although their hearts long for it. Fittingly, unity in His Church was the one thing for which Jesus prayed as He faced His Passion: I pray that they may all be one so that the world may believe that You have sent Me (Jn 17:20-21).
On Pentecost, God sent His breath to create supernatural unity. It was experienced immediately among the first converts, and it is a constant manifestation of Gods breath in His Church, 2000 years later. The life of Jesus in us, the Holy Spirit, holds us in His one Body. Unity at lastalleluia!
Possible response: Lord Jesus, forgive me when I rebel against unitywanting my own way, isolating myself. Let Your Spirit lead me to the unity for which my heart longs.
As a teen, I thought the clergy were supposed to do everything. We laity were just called to pray, pay, and obey. Oh yes, and keep the commandments, of course. The original 10 seemed overwhelming enough. Then I discovered the Sermon on the Mount and nearly passed out.
Perhaps this is why many inactive Catholics are so resentful of their upbringing in the Church. For them, religion means frustration, failure, and guilt.
Somehow they, and I, missed the good news about Pentecost. OK, we Catholics celebrate the feast every year and mention it in Confirmation class, but lots of us evidently didnt get it.
Because if we got it, wed be different . . . bold instead of timid, energetic instead of anemic, fascinated instead of bored. Compare the apostles before and after Pentecost and youll see the difference the Spirit makes.
The gospel is Good News not just because were going to heaven, but because weve been empowered to become new people, here and now. Vatican II insisted that each of us is called to the heights of holiness (Lumen Gentium, chapter V). Not by will-power, mind you. But by Holy Spirit power. Holiness consists in faith, hope, and especially divine love. These are virtues, literally powers, given by the Spirit. To top it off, the Spirit gives us seven further gifts which perfect faith, hope, and love, making it possible for us to live a supernatural, charismatic life. Some think this is only for the chosen few, the mystics. Thomas Aquinas taught to the contrary that the gifts of Isaiah 11:1-3 (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, counsel, piety, fortitude, and fear of the Lord) are standard equipment given in baptism, that all are called to be mystics.
Vatican II also taught that every Christian has a vocation to serve. We need power for this too. And so the Spirit distributes other gifts, called charisms. These, teachesSt. Thomas, are not so much for our own sanctification as for service to others. There is no exhaustive list of charisms, though St. Paul mentions a few (I Corinthians 12:7-10, Romans 12:6-8) ranging from tongues to Christian marriage (1 Corinthians7: 7). Charisms are not doled out by the pastors; but are given directly by the Spirit through baptism and confirmation, even sometimes outside of the sacraments (Acts 10:44-48).
Do I sound Pentecostal? Thats because I belong to the largest Pentecostal Church in the world. Correcting the mistaken notion that the charisms were just for the apostolic church, Vatican II had this to say: Allotting His gifts to everyone according as he will (1 Cor. 12:11), He [the Holy Spirit] distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. . . . These charismatic gifts, whether they be the most outstanding or the more simple and widely diffused, are to be received with thanksgiving and consolation, for they are exceedingly suitable and useful for the needs of the Church (LG12).
Powerful gifts, freely given to all. Sounds like a recipe for chaos. But the Lord also imparted to the apostles and their successors a unifying charism of headship. The role of the ordained is not to do everything themselves. Rather, they are to discern, shepherd, and coordinate the charisms of the laity so that they mature and work together for the greater glory of God (LG 30).
So what if you, like me, did not quite get it when you were confirmed? Ive got good news for you. You actually did get the Spirit and his gifts. Have you ever received a new credit card with a sticker saying Must call to activate before using? The Spirit and his gifts are the same way. You have to call in and activate them. Do it today and every day, and especially every time you attend Mass. Because every sacramental celebration is a New Pentecost where the Spirit and his gifts are poured out anew (CCC 739, 1106).
Thats why the Christian Life is an adventure. There will always be new surprises of the Spirit!
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