SOLEMNITY OF PENTECOST

[cappie]

The giving of the Spirit to the new people of God crowns the mighty acts of the Father in salvation history. The Jewish feast of Pentecost called all devout Jews to Jerusalem to celebrate their birth as God's chosen people, in the covenant Law given to Moses at Sinai. In today's First Reading the mysteries prefigured in that feast are fulfilled in the pouring out of the Spirit on Mary and the Apostles

One of my favourite hymns is There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, by Frederick Faber and one of the most memorable lines is – “But we make God’s love too narrow, with false limits of our own”. I think, in part, this is the culprit for why I might not know God, in God’s fullness. I am guilty, of making God small enough to fit into the confines of my life and into the confines of my mind, instead of allowing myself to enter the breadth and depth of God.

In some ways, the Pentecost story of flaming tongues is about this very same breaking down of barriers. God will not be confined by a certain language and so becomes transcendent of it. Suddenly, the words we are using are one and the same. And this is not an erasure – it is not a homogenous system imposed by an empire on another people. Rather, it is a wide-open embrace – God meeting us, exactly where we are.

And in this way that God meets us, language seems particularly significant. We speak of our “mother tongue” not just because language is learned from our parents, but also because there is something about language and the culture it perpetuates that is soul-deep. It connects us to our mothers, and grandmothers – it connects us to our ancestors.

In this moment of Pentecost, when tongues of fire appeared over the heads of the disciples, God breaks down the barriers between what is divine and what is worldly, between what is sacred and what is profane, between what is me and what is you.

Suddenly, we can understand each other perfectly. Suddenly, I see you for who you really are, for the perfect image of God in which you are cast and there are no barriers. You are in God, and so am I and we are talking to each other, sharing in this transcendence. Because we have allowed God to be big and deep and wide and broad, God is doing a new thing.

In the Gospel of St John just before these verses Jesus said to Philip, “Have I been with you all this time and still you do not know me?” and I know this question is being asked of me. I miss God because I do not expect or look for the new things that God does. I do not look for creation anew. I expect to find God in church, maybe, but forget to see the breath of the Divine in creation. Or, I expect to meet God during my daily moment of prayer, maybe, but forget to see Divine fingerprints in the kindness of a stranger. I miss the ways that God is always with me, because I confine God with limits of my own. I stop seeing God travelling with me, because I build walls around where God “should” be. I dictate where I think God “belongs”.

Instead of building up these walls, we are challenged by today’s Gospel to be open to seeing the face of Jesus in new ways. Jesus asks us to open our eyes wider, and see anew where God is in our lives. In doing so, we must heed Jesus’ advice, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  Sometimes, the movement of God can be scary. It can be unfamiliar, and it takes us outside of who we think God to be, to open us up to who God is. As our barriers are broken down, we must hold on to the promise of God, “Peace I give to you – my peace I leave with you.”    

 Jesus asks us to keep his commandments (John 14:15) and so grow deeper in love with him. Jesus’ commandments are also gifts—wisdom that will open our hearts to the Holy Spirit. Jesus has offered us the gift the Advocate but we must be ready to receive the Spirit into our hearts. God cannot dwell in a heart that is hardened by selfishness and indifference. We call today the birthday of the Church.  We were created to be in community with each other and with our Lord. The best birthdays are never celebrated alone but with those who love. On the birthday of the Church, we come together in love to worship and honour the source of all that is good. Like so many on their birthdays, we ask our loving Father to continue to bless us in abundance.

NOTE: The outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost is called the birthday of the universal Church. Through the Spirit the Church realizes her call to preach the Gospel of Christ to the whole world. The Feast of Pentecost brings the Easter Season to a close. The double Alleluia at the end of Mass will illustrate that. The Easter Candle will be extinguished and moved to the Baptistery. The 50 Days are over. But our call to Mission is not. What gift of service have you received from the Holy Spirit and how well are you using it right now?

[BarbTherese]

4 hours ago, cappie said:

What gift of service have you received from the Holy Spirit and how well are you using it right now?

Another really good and important reflection, Father - so much in it and concise.  The above question came home to me to ponder particularly over this weekend and the coming week as well as all points raised in your whole text - copied and printed. Thank you once again.