PENTECOST SUNDAY
15 MAY 2016
Toward
the end of his papacy, Pope John Paul II did something unexpected and shocking
to some. He invited Bob Dylan to perform
at a Eucharistic Conference in Bologna, Italy.
Many Catholics shook their heads at the thought of the Pope sharing the
same stage as the “prophet of the counterculture.” But, John Paul knew what he was doing. He used Dylan’s song, “Blowing in the Wind,”
as a common reference point to speak about the Holy Spirit. The Pope said: “A representative of yours just said on your
behalf that the answer is ‘blowing in the wind.’ It is true!
But not in the wind which blows everything away in empty whirls, but the
wind which is the breath and voice of the Spirit, a voice that calls and says:
‘come!’”
Saint Luke
describes the blowing of that wind in the Acts of the Apostles. Reminiscent of the wind blowing over the
chaos of creation in Genesis and the wind blowing around Mount Sinai when God
entered into a covenant relationship with the people he had led out of slavery
in Egypt, the Holy Spirit blows into that room where the disciples are gathered
as a strong driving wind and tongues as of fire. Then what had happened at the tower of Babel
is reversed. Instead being divided by
different languages, everyone hears the disciples speak in their own
language. Emboldened by the presence of
the Holy Spirit, those who are convinced of the Paschal Mystery of the death
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ proclaim the truth boldly and
clearly.
That same
Holy Spirit is given to us, who have spent forty days reflecting on the passion
and death of the Lord and another fifty days basking in his resurrection and
ascension. We often associate the coming
of the Holy Spirit into our lives as a gentle breeze, soothing our
anxieties. And sometimes the Holy Spirit
does comfort us in our afflictions. But the
image of the strong driving wind reminds us that the Holy Spirit sometimes
afflicts us in our comfort. Fifteen
years ago, I was going about in my comfortable and happy role as pastor of
Saint Jude in Fort Wayne. I was just
entering into my fourteenth year when Bishop D’Arcy’s secretary called and set
up an appointment for me to “chat” with him.
In that little “chat,” he told me that he was assigning me to become the
first diocesan priest to be pastor of this rapidly growing parish in Granger.
What does a
normal person do when his world is turned upside down? He goes for a bike ride! At the time, I was working on my homily for
Pentecost Sunday, trying to explain the image of the Holy Spirit as a dove. The “chat” with the Bishop forced me to
examine that image from a different perspective, because the dove wasn’t doing
it for me. I was furiously pedaling on
the bike path along the Maumee River when I must have come to close to a nest
of Canadian geese. Two geese came at me
like a strong driving wind, furiously nipping at my legs and my heels, forcing
me to pedal as fast as possible. This was
the Holy Spirit blowing me out of my comfort zone through my promise to obey
and respect the Bishop and pushing me into new territory!
As we
reflect together on the presence of the Holy Spirit comforting us in our
afflictions, please look for the possibility that the Spirit may be afflicting
you out of your comfort zone. Saint Paul
describes the Church as the Body of Christ, containing different gifts of the
Holy Spirit given for the common good.
What is your gift? How can you
move out of your comfort zone to put it in humble service of our parish? Maybe the Spirit is blowing in the wind of
your life to take a step of faith in service to the community. Next weekend, we will be invited to listen to
a witness talk about stewardship of service and attend the ministry fair after
Mass. Saint Paul is correct. We speak the same language of love when we
work together as very different people with very different gifts to proclaim
the Paschal Mystery with the example of our lives.
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