Pentecost Sunday (19.05.13)
MORE THAN A DAY
We tend to view ‘Pentecost’ as a singular, stand-alone event. It is theologically the pinnacle of Paschaltide. Reflecting on the loss of this connection, Sr. Joan Chittister, an American Benedictine, writes, “But only here in this time, between the bursting open of the tomb and, fifty days later, the overflowing of the Holy Spirit, does the full awareness of what it is to live in Christ, with Christ, and through Christ finally dawn” (Joan Chittister, The Liturgical Year, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2009).
‘Pentecost’ is a generic name for the interaction of the Holy Spirit with human nature. A classic example is ‘The Annunciation’. Mary’s response to Gabriel – “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) is reasonably assumed as the moment of Jesus’ conception through the overshadowing by the Holy Spirit. We know that a confirmed conception will lead, God willing, to a nine-month gestation, a safe delivery, independent life outside of the womb yet still dependent upon the mother. Mary’s motherhood of Jesus is celebrated these centuries later though, physically, neither she nor her Son is with us on earth as they once were.
Enriched thinking about ‘Pentecost’ is vital for the spiritual development of a Baptised person. God’s gift of his Spirit to us might be likened to the continuously welling source of a river. Once launched on its journey, the flow may vary from trickle to torrent, from gentle stream to thundering waterfall. The water doesn’t determine the alterations that mark its flow; either manmade or natural forces cause them. A hydroelectric damn is manmade. A floodplain has geophysical origins.
It is customary to attribute the source of God’s Spirit in us to the Sacrament of Baptism. Those with long memories may recall a Sacrament being described as ‘an indelible seal upon the soul’. The phraseology leaves much to be desired. It could limit a young mind to comparing the Holy Spirit to some sort of stamping machine! Is this an explanation for more than one generation lacking a tradition of personal prayer to God the Holy Spirit?
Pentecost may be an appropriate season for me to ask myself how have I collaborated with God’s Holy Spirit over the years? With hindsight, can I identify significant spiritual landmarks? Did I identify them at the time or only later? What did those landmarks teach me? How important are they to me these years later? Pentecost accompanies all aspects of our meandering journey of life. This truth can take time to be fully grasped. Have I, do I, give sufficient time to silence and review of life?
Then again, Baptism may not be the earliest source of God’s Holy Spirit interacting with us. Think of God’s words to his prophet Jeremiah (1:4-5): “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you, I appointed you as prophet to the nations”.
Continuing with the simile of water, a seashore can aid contemplation. The ebb and flow of the tide sometimes calm, sometimes angry and all dictated by the unseen wind and the moon. Pick up a pebble, worn to a smoothness that has taken decades to achieve while being bounced around in the flow of water forever on the move. From the first moments of the Spirit’s interaction with us, God’s Spirit has never left us. Life may have bounced us around, the Spirit has shared as much as we have allowed. We may have driven the Spirit ‘underground’, like the vast unseen waters coursing along beneath endless desert. We may have reduced the Spirit’s presence to a mere trickle in our fast flowing social and/or working life.
A challenging question to face is: “Am I, today, the person that God is calling me to be? Do I, in fact, want to discover God’s will? Am I perhaps selfish? Am I afraid? Have I allowed myself be sidetracked by God’s enemy and mine, if I only knew it? Probably the questions flow more readily than the answers. “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love …… ” To what is my heart primarily sensitive God’s Holy Spirit or something else?
A recent TV documentary showed a desert nomad faithfully carrying out a vital but unglamorous chore on which his tribe depends for their supply of precious drinking water. Deep underground he was following an uncomfortably narrow watercourse. His task was to ensure the removal of any obstruction that could slow or even block the watercourse. The simile with the Sacrament of Reconciliation was unmissable.
Is this why the Church, concerned for our spiritual wellbeing, recommends that we make use of the Sacrament of Reconciliation especially at Eastertide? The recommended period extends to Trinity Sunday, which follows Pentecost. Individual Reconciliation concerns more than an individual person’s spiritual health. Each of us is a conduit of God’s Holy Spirit for others. If I am spiritually depleted then others will suffer! If I am a parent, teacher, religious or member of the clergy, my below par spiritual life can have damaging and long-term detrimental effects on more than one generation. St. Paul makes this clear in his Letter to the Church in Ephesus (3:1-3) “For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles … Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.”
Each Eucharist concludes with the deacon or priest addressing the congregation, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.” The call has a Pentecost ring to it. All the Baptised are commissioned to affect the gathering of the whole world into one family united in Faith. The psalm refrain for this feast of Pentecost makes the point clearly: “Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:30). The Spirit is within us to bring this about. Each has been gifted with a unique part in renewing the face of the earth and each of us irreplaceable.
In silence or on the seashore it is for us to ask the Holy Spirit to help us fulfil what he is asking of us this day and every day.
The Ascension (12.05.13)
In today’s readings, Luke tells us that Jesus’ return to His Father is the completion of His mission, while at the same time it marks the beginning of a new age, so the Ascension is an ending and a beginning.
Jesus tells his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the coming of the Holy Spirit, who will empower them to go out and minister to all peoples. This same Holy Spirit empowers the community of believers today. That is why the approaching feast of Pentecost is so important. Not only is it a memory of the beginning of the Church, but also a celebration of the heart of the Church today. Each of us is a part of that Church through our Baptism, with our individual and unique role to play through the power of the same Holy Spirit.
When Christ entered our world, St. Paul tells us, “He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant” and having completed His earthly mission, God raised Him up in glory.
On this day, we celebrate the glorification of Christ. He wants us to share in His glory, when our earthly journey is ended. Let us reflect a moment on the glory to which Christ calls us.
Today, the Church invites us to celebrate the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father. It is a day of great joy. Although He is no longer physically amongst us, He has not abandoned us, but lives on in us. He continues to be born, to live and to die in each of us. Our mission then is to witness to His presence in the world. We do this by showing that, in spite of difficult circumstances, we continue to trust in God, and live according to His Will.
On Ascension Day, Jesus withdrew His physical presence from His disciples, who thenceforth lived by Faith, as do we, His followers, down through the ages.
Physical absence does not mean absence of presence.
People can be very close to one another even though separated by thousands of miles.
For those who love one another there is no such place as “far away”.
Actually, in order for people to grow and mature , there must be periods of absence as well as presence. We have heard of “the dark night of the soul”, when God seems to be out of reach. Surely it is precisely at such testing times that we long for signs of His abiding, loving, caring, merciful presence!
How true then is the saying: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder!”
Lord Jesus, raised in glory to the Father’s right hand, may your Spirit create a bond of love between us, so that whenever we think of you we will never be alone.