"And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit . . . "
John 20: 19-23
The Word: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm
A number of years ago I heard a very insightful line that I have used myself both in understanding my own thinking and when counseling others or in the confessional. It goes: “We lie because we fear the truth may hurt us.” Think for example about small children who get in to trouble with their parents. “Ok, who started this?” asks the parent. “I didn’t, he/she started it!” (finger pointing). Meanwhile, the parent well knows their son or daughter is the culprit. Why did the guilty child outright lie to their parents? Because they knew if they tell the truth they would get in trouble.
As adults we find our lives far more complex but I think
the same principle does apply. Marriages get in to trouble because one of the
spouses attempts to hide something from the other. They may create the illusion that all is fine
but eventually the truth is revealed in a way that could be very painful. It
may be a hidden bank account or something more personal and devastating like an
extramarital affair.
If I tell the truth in a court of law, as I am obliged to
do, it may bring certain punishment on the accused or me but in the end it also
opens the door to reconciliation as it does in the sacrament of penance. There, the truth will not hurt me but will indeed
be a road to healing.
On this beautiful Feast of Holy Spirit, Pentecost Sunday,
we celebrate that moment of truth that was revealed to the Apostles in the
upper room: How Jesus will remain present to them and to the Church until he
comes again. In our readings this day we
hear of bold preaching; about a risen Christ who appears truly alive again and
breathes on the startled disciples to grant them his Spirit. We hear of wind and fire and diverse ancient
languages spoken miraculously by simple uneducated men who were temporarily in
a holding pattern about their next move after Jesus ascension. The confusion of
Babel is now healed by the Spirit of truth poured out to them. That Spirit will
energize and protect the truth which Jesus taught for all time to come. It will
not harm but only bring life.
Jesus, no longer contained on this earth, sends his
Spirit that moves beyond differences like an unstoppable wind which cannot be
confined. In the continuation of our
first reading from Acts 2 we hear of 3,000 people converted and baptized that
Pentecost morning due to the Apostles now courageous witness and
preaching. So, this Sunday we are
confronted with power and tremendous possibility as the Spirit reveals God’s plan
to heal our fears, our division and isolation caused by brokenness.
I think some key phrases from our readings are powerful
yet we could easily miss their implications.
From Acts 2: 1-11: “they were all in one place together . . . There were
devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, (the blowing wind of the
Spirit), they gathered in a large crowd . . . we hear them speaking in our own
tongues of the almighty acts of God.”
From 1 Corinthians 12, our second reading, we read:
“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; different
forms of service but the same Lord . . . the same God . . . as a body is one
through it has many parts . . . are one body.”
What is the point of these verses? - Unity in diversity. From a fractured and alienated world, the
power of the Spirit brings all together as one: in one place . . . gathered in
a large crowd . . . we hear in our own tongues . . . different gifts but same
Spirit . .. one Lord, one God, many parts but one body.
Rather than seeing differences as a point of separation,
the Spirit of God sees them as a reason for union. This truth reveals to us that in spite of
differences we are all loved by the same God; we are all his children each made
in his image and likeness as the Book of Genesis reminds us. We all have a
meaning and purpose to contribute to the whole however small or large it may
be. It is one body in Christ not broken
pieces in competition with one another. That Spirit created wholeness is a
cause for beauty and goodness.
The extension of creation and of human life is expressed
in a kind of kaleidoscopic way like bits of colored glass that by themselves
have no useful purpose but put together in a pattern they become parts of the
whole. Think of stained glass in Churches and the famed “rose window” at Notre Dame
Cathedral in Paris. It is the Spirit of
truth which we all were born into through baptism and confirmation that makes
us one; each in its own giftedness.
As the risen Lord appears to his disciples in our Gospel
passage, in a place where they were hiding in fear behind locked doors, he
offers them “Shalom,” Peace. The sign of
the Spirit in our diversity should be peace offered from Christ to one
another. It is the truth of knowing that
our sins can be forgiven, that we are called to a new way of life, one centered
in love, and don’t have to remain in separation or darkness without hope. Even in the midst of whatever troubles life
may bring us, we can find peace and hope to rise above that darkness. The Spirit promises this to us and he is
truth itself.
When we gather for word and sacrament we do so not as
individual isolated families or couples or singles. We gather in one place to welcome the risen
Christ among us who feeds us with himself as we continue this journey of life
in service to him and one another. Though a bit cliché the simple definition of
Church as “here comes everybody!” is made visible every Sunday. Here we find God who reveals himself to us,
though hidden by material signs, neither distant nor unconnected.
So, we have an invitation or a kind of proposition that
God has made to all humanity: to embrace
the power of unity and peace or to remain divided in the arrogance of our own self-superiority. To live by a higher moral code centered in Christ-like
charity and forgiveness for the common good or to remain in self-absorption and
focused on my particular wants, needs, and agendas. Politics in particular
these days besides its force to make positive changes has become far more about
power and social destruction than a search for the common welfare of all in
Christ.
There is much that could divide us from politics to culture to economics and education. We sit in a time of great tension both in this country and in Eastern Europe with the illegal war against Ukraine. But this Sunday’s Feast is a reminder that God has created a family of the Spirit and a place to enter with Christ himself as shepherd. The Spirit guards the truth among us so we have a direction to follow in confidence.
For bringing your Paschal Mystery to completion,
you bestowed the Holy Spirit today,
on those you made your adopted children
by uniting them to your Only Begotten Son.
The same Spirit, as the Church came to birth,
opened to all peoples the knowledge of God
and brought together many languages of the earth
in profession of one faith.
(Preface of Pentecost)
No comments:
Post a Comment