PENTECOST
9 JUNE 2019
During
these past ninety days, we reflected in very particular ways on the central
Mystery of our faith. During the forty
days of Lent, we embraced the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving to
acknowledge that we have not always lived our Baptismal promises and prepare
for the Sacred Paschal Triduum. During
those three intense days, we focused on the suffering, death, and resurrection
of the Lord. For the past fifty days, we
have been celebrating the Lord’s Resurrection, listening to him speak to us in
the Word and realizing his risen presence in the Sacramental Life of the
Church, especially in this Eucharist.
Today, we
bring to completion these intense days of reflecting on our faith. On this Solemnity of Pentecost, Saint Luke
tells us in the Acts of the Apostles how the Holy Spirit literally blew the
Apostles out of their comfort zone to share the Good News of the Paschal
Mystery with everyone. The Holy Spirit
reverses the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel. In doing so, the Holy Spirit enables them to
speak clearly and effectively to the diverse crowd of pilgrims who had gathered
in Jerusalem for the Jewish Feast of Pentecost.
That same
Holy Spirit is given to us and blows us out of our comfort zones to proclaim
the truth and the power of the Paschal Mystery.
We cannot accomplish the mission on our own without the power of the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit strengthens
us in three ways. The Spirit strengthens
our relationship with Jesus Christ. The
Spirit strengthens our passion to defend the faith we have celebrated. The Spirit strengthens us to spread the faith
as effectively as possible. The Holy
Spirit gives us the same gifts given to the Apostles. They are the gifts that we drill into the
memories of our eighth graders when Bishop Rhoades quizzes them at Confirmation
Mass.
We need the gifts of wisdom,
knowledge, and understanding, if we intend to understand the faith that helps
us grow in a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. As we implement our Strategic Plan in the
fall, be sure to check out the many offerings designed to help our adult
understanding of the faith. We are also
looking for sponsors in the RCIA this August.
The gifts of fortitude and courage will help us to defend the faith, especially
when others challenge us or question what we are doing. If we accept the gift of piety and fear of
the Lord, we will know the strength to spread the faith, more by our actions
than by our words. Piety is a gift that
helps us express our faith in healthy ways.
Fear of the Lord does not make us afraid of the Lord, but more rooted in
the awe-filled sense of wonder at his presence in our lives.
In his Letter to the Romans, Saint
Paul distinguishes between those who are in the flesh and those who are in the
spirit. In using these terms, he
outlines two ways in which people relate to God and to the world. Those in the flesh are earthbound. They can only think of success in terms of
what we can conceive in our world. Those
in the flesh are driven to be successful in business or power or fame or
wealth. They cannot see any reality
beyond these. Those in the spirit are
immersed in the person of Jesus Christ.
They too value the measures of success in this world. But they also understand that these values are
not permanent and cannot last beyond the grave.
They understand that being immersed in Jesus Christ will last forever.
We were introduced into living in
the spirit when we were baptized. That
is why we have been sprinkling the assembly every Sunday since Easter. As people living in the spirit, we accept the
gifts of the Holy Spirit to strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ, to
defend our faith, and to do everything we can to spread it. We are cooperating with the Holy Spirit in
bringing unity and peace and respect, instead of hatred, division, and fear.
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