The great truth of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit has the power to enlarge and expand the human heart.

 

PENTECOST  2023

 

On this Feast of Pentecost, we come with grateful hearts always giving thanks to the Lord our God for Father Bob as we celebrate his 95^th birthday and celebrate my 55^th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. What both Fr Bob and I are both well aware of; it is not our skill or talents that energizes; it is the grace of God working through us. It is the grace of Pentecost, the spirit of Christ Jesus, that energizes our unending desire to minister in the service of our faith communities.

We come with an attitude of gratitude, having no desire to retire. Rather, we have the desire to serve. We discover the love of God best when we seek to minister in the name of Jesus.

Today’s Gospel describes the three gifts that define the priestly ministry of Father Bob and I, and further they are three gifts from God that are to characterize our faith communities.

The first gift comes from the first words of the Risen Jesus to his disciples: “Peace be with you.”  The first message of the resurrection is peace. To disciples who were fearful and kept behind locked doors as their leader had been tortured and crucified, Jesus comes and says, “Peace. Everything is OK.”  The message of the Resurrection is that no matter what happens to us, the Father will not let defeat and death be the end. He will raise us up just as he raised Jesus from defeat to victory.

The Peace of the Lord for Fr Bob and myself has been an inner resource, the spirit of Christ that is within us that defines our faith and our discipleship that the Lord accompanies us in all circumstances and thus there is nothing to fear.

But this peace is not a peace of stillness; it is not a peace of sleep. Immediately after wishing the disciples peace, Jesus says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

Peace is the first gift of the Resurrection, but mission is the second. Jesus gives the disciples and us a mission: “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

We have the same mission today as Jesus had from His Father, to spread the good news of the Father’s love, of the Father’s compassion and mercy. Our mission, like that of Jesus, is to help establish the kingdom of God, a kingdom of justice, of peace and of love.

Even after many years of priestly between us, even though we could have retired some years ago, simply put, Fr Bob and I were ordained to carry on the mission that was given to Jesus and to all of us as the disciples of Jesus. Our mission continues to spread the good news of the Father’s love, compassion, and mercy.

The third gift of the Resurrection is the Spirit. Jesus breathes on the disciples and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  In John’s Gospel, we do not to wait for Pentecost. The Spirit is given on Easter Sunday.

 It is the Holy Spirit that gives us courage to take up the mission of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit that transforms us into the Body of Christ. It is the Holy Spirit that inspires us with love for all our brothers and sisters. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us the power to forgive each other’s sins.

We see how the growth of the Church took place with the influence of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles. The Book of Acts is the story of the incredible growth of the first Christian communities. The Acts of the Apostles is kind of like a Gospel of the Holy Spirit. In the first four books of the New Testament, we learn the Good News of what God did through Jesus Christ in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In the Book of Acts of the Apostles, we learn the Good News of what God did through the Holy Spirit.

The first and foremost attribute of the servant church in the Acts of the Apostles is its daring openness to the Spirit.  It is our prayer that we the Church make room for the release of the Spirit in the life of the community and the courage to act when it does. We are not to fall back into being the safe and self-absorbed church, but rather a place of miraculous hope and extravagant hospitality.

God chose a young virgin named Mary to bear God’s Son, and Jesus chose a bunch of Galilean fishermen to share in His ministry.  God chooses Father Bob and myself to proclaim the Good News of the love of Jesus to the faith communities of St Joseph’s and Holy Spirit. Further, God chooses you to hear and witness to His message of hope and promise and love in this place and in our world this day.

The great truth of Pentecost – for the first disciples and for us as well – is that the Holy Spirit has the power to enlarge and expand the human heart if we allow the Spirit of Jesus to grow and enliven us from within.

 

The great meaning of Pentecost is that it was time for God to be born again not in one body that was Jesus but this time in a body of believers who would receive the breath of life from their Lord and pass it to others. We see how the growth of the Church took place with the influence of the Holy Spirit.

 Defensive Christianity is not a Biblical idea. The posture of Christian disciples is not hiding in fear to protect ourselves. No, the disciples are sent to proclaim the Good News of the love of Jesus to one and all. St. Joseph’s and Holy Spirit are called to be sister parishes who help and serve and love one another.

Now more than ever, we invoke the Holy Spirit to wipe away the darkness of anxiety allowing us to be guided by the light of Christ and to trust in God’s promise of new life.

On this day of Pentecost, may we pray for healing and unity for our Church and our nation as we now come to the Table of the Lord. May we all commit ourselves to using our God-given giftedness in the service of one another.

Have a Blessed Day.