Pentecost Sunday
Every Catholic knows that the Feast of the Pentecost is crucial in the Church’s calendar. This is the day the Church born, this was the day the Church was empowered and this was the day the church began its Christ-given mission to go and make disciples of all nations. In spite of the centrality of the Pentecost and the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, there seems to be much ambiguity about the role of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives. There is also ambiguity about how the Holy Spirit is active in the church today. Perhaps, that is the reason we pray more easily to Mary and the saints than to the Holy Spirit.
The reason for the ambiguous role of the Holy Spirit is not too hard to figure. First, the Holy Spirit lacks the flesh and blood image that Jesus or Mary or the saints have. After all, we do not witness magnificent and spectacular signs like the tongues of fire at Pentecost. We cannot put a face to the Holy Spirit. Secondly, we Catholics are a very tangible people. We are a sacramental people. We like to touch holy things and wear them on our bodies. We dip our hands in holy water and like to bless ourselves with the sign of the cross. We like rosary beads between our folded hands and the feel of the prayer book in our hands. We bless our homes, our crosses, our cars and even our pets. When we are sick we anoint our ailing bodies with holy oil. We hold bread in our hands and drink wine of the cup because we like that God is tangible. When we cannot sell a house we bury St. Joseph upside down in our yards. We are a tangible people. The Holy Spirit defies such tangibility. And so it is hard for Catholics to deal with the ambiguity of the Holy Spirit.
Today, I have two points for reflection and a prayer to the Holy Spirit.
1.Ambiguity does not mean Unimportant. Let me use an analogy from today’s gospel to emphasize the point that ambiguous does not mean unimportant. Jesus “breathes” on the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Most of us pay very little importance to our breath or our life-sprit within us. We pay attention to our heart and other vital organs, our looks (we spend thousands of dollars on how we appear to others) and we spend enormous amounts of time controlling how much we weigh. But without our breath we would be dead and would not have to take care of our vital organs, our looks or how much we weigh. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is the breath of the Church and every Christian. Paul understood that well. That is why in today’s second reading says, “No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.” In other words, a Christian cannot do anything Christian without the Holy Spirit, not even pronounce the name of Jesus. Paul’s teaching is exactly the teaching of the Church today. Nothing in the church – neither her sacraments nor her prayers, neither her rituals nor her blessings have any efficacy without the Holy Spirit. For example, during the Eucharist, the priest invokes the Holy Spirit to come and transform the ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. In the confessional, Just as Jesus says in the gospel reading, the priest invokes the Holy Spirit to bring about the forgiveness of sins. Without the Holy Spirit neither the life of the Church nor the Christian would have any meaning or purpose. The Bible would be empty words, our worship would be empty ritual, and our community a social gathering.
2.Giving a Face to the Holy Spirit. Let me begin with today’s second reading. In the Corinthian community the Holy Spirit was very concretely connected to certain gift the Holy Spirit bestowed to individuals in the community. In other words, it was the gifts through which the Holy Spirit became concrete and tangible. Paul gives a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: healing, mighty works, prophecy, speaking and tongues etc. After giving a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit Paul says, “To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” Paul wrote this because there was a conflict between the individual gifts given to individual believers and how it was used in the community. Some Corinthians were using these gift either for their own benefit or becoming pompous in the exercise of the gifts. Paul settles this conflict saying four things: a) that any gift an individual Christian has is the gift of the Holy Spirit. In other words the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the most tangible manifestation of the Holy Spirit; b) that the gifts are given are not for personal gain but rather for the good of the community; c) that in the final analysis there are three gifts that are eternal – faith, hope, and love; and d) that the greatest gift is the gift of love. Paul says that without the gift of love all other spiritual gifts are noisy gongs and clashing cymbals.
So then, here is the practical implication of today’s reading and today’s feast – if you have an iota of love in your heart, know that it is the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you the slightest hope in God’s boundless mercy and love, it is the gift of the Holy Spirit. But, then as Paul says, these gifts are not for our own selves. These gifts are for the gift of the community.
If the Pentecost story in the first reading is true, then we must believe that God has poured out the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit in abundance upon all creation. Catholics like you and me who are baptized are the face of the Holy Spirit. You and I are being challenged today to use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us and in this way not only become the face of the Holy Spirit but also spread God’s goodness, hope and love in the world. You and I must descend upon the world like tongues of fire. That is the meaning of being Church.
3.So today, I want to invite you to join me in a prayer to the Holy Spirit. I want to ask you pray this prayer with the deepest desire for the Spirit. I encourage you to begin your day with this prayer or another prayer to the Holy Spirit. I cannot imagine that our lives will not become a witness to the power of God in us and in the world.
Holy Spirit of God,
Breath of my breath
Life of my life,
Soul of my soul;
I praise you, I adore you, I worship you.
I bring before you my whole life;
my heart, my soul, my mind and my body.
Come, possess me and make me holy.
Possess my heart that I may love God above all else;
Possess my soul that I may yearn for God and God alone;
Possess my mind that I may know God;
Possess my body that I may glorify God in my being
I consecrate this day to you.
Grant me Wisdom
so that I may know that in God alone is all truth.
Grant me Peace in my heart
and calm all my fears.
Grant me Love
so that I may show compassion.
Grant me Patience
so that I may take the opportunity to learn from life and others.
Grant me Understanding
so that I may deal wisely with the mysteries that today brings.
Grant me Faithfulness
so that I may lovingly nurture each of my relationships
Grant me Kindness and Generosity
so that I may share God’s love and my being with those in need.
Grant me Self Control
so that I may not hasten to wrong words and actions.
Be my all, today and forever.
Amen.
Fr. Satish Joseph