Today’s
Feast of Pentecost is the birthday of the Church. After Christmas and Easter, its next most
important Feast of the Church. It may
not seem like it because we don’t have all the festivities that occur at these
other feasts. Pentecost gives us an
opportunity to focus on the gift of the Holy Spirit and the mission we are sent
on as disciples of Jesus. The Psalm
today sums up the mission: Lord send
out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.
In
the Gospel Jesus sends his disciples out to the world to spread God’s love. It didn’t sound like they were ready to go on
this mission as they were hiding in a room locked away in fear of the Jews. By returning Jesus fulfilled a promise he made. He told them they would see him again and
that he would give them an Advocate to be with them. Jesus offers them his peace, and their fear is
turned into joy. Jesus then breathes
the Holy Spirit on them. This is
reminiscent of God breathing life in the nostril of Adam to create man. Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on the
disciples so they can re-create mankind by making disciples of Jesus who will
become children of God. The disciples are
given the power to extend God’s mercy, freeing mankind from the power of sin. What another word for God’s Mercy? Love!
In
Acts the Holy Spirit comes in a more dramatic way. Jews from around the world are gathered in
Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. This was a Jewish harvest celebration.
Jews from around the world would typically gather for this feast. A strong wind fills the place where they
were gathered and tongues of fire came to rest on the disciples. This gave them
the ability to speak many languages to people of many nations. The gift of tongues enabled the Church to
spread to Jews all over the world.
St.
Paul’s letter tells us the Spirit is given in different ways to each
individual. These different gifts
provided the ability for the spread of the Church beyond the Jews to
Gentiles. Even though there are many
different gifts of the Spirit, they’re all given to build up one Body of
Christ.
Most
of us here have received the gift of the Holy Spirit through Baptism and
Confirmation. Does this mean we’ve all
been given the gifts of tongues to speak in other languages? We have a growing immigrant and refugee
population in central Indiana, but many of us don’t encounter people who speak
a language other than English. But we do
have opportunities to speak the language of love by being Christ to others. We
may do so by witnessing the joy that Christ brings to us in being his disciples. Most likely this will be by extending acts of
charity to others who are most in need.
I’d
like to share an example of the Holy Spirit at work in the Kairos prison
ministry that I’ve served in. To be effective I’ve learned that listening and
being present to others is the most effective way to be a witness of Christ. Kairos
is a four-day retreat very much like a Christ Renews His Parish where the
Gospel and personal witnesses are shared with participants. This is the first exposure to Christ for the
majority of those who attend. On the
first day of the retreat I was paired up with an inmate, Bob, who really didn’t
want to be there. Bob put up a wall to
prevent anyone from getting close to him.
I didn’t pressure him to participate, but daily I’d tell him I was glad
he came and happy to see him. After 3
days he finally opened up and started sharing with members of our table. Bob was about 40 years old and said this was
the first time in his life that kindness was shown to him without expecting
something from him in return. He also found it hard to believe that anyone
would give up four days of their own time to be with guys in a prison without
being compensated. By the end of the
weekend Bob was so moved he agreed to continue with the Kairos. Bob eventually become a Christian and a leader
within the Kairos ministry inside the prison. This transformation was only
possible through the Holy Spirit’s help.
So
where are opportunities in your life to share your witness of Christ by using the
gifts of the Holy Spirit? It may be
closer than you think if you’re open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It may be with a co-worker, a friend, a
relative, or maybe the homeless person you see on your way to lunch. It could
be spending ten minutes listening to someone who seems troubled or could be as
simple as looking at someone who is down and smiling at them. A simple prayer
to help keep you aware is: “Come Holy Spirit”.
The Holy Spirit can provide the
power to do some things that you never thought possible. So remember to pray the simple prayer daily
to be open to the Spirit so that you can help the Lord to renew the face of the
earth.
