Pentecost Sunday

This is the holy day that brings to a close the Easter Season; the day we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit that drove those 11 scared men out of that locked upper room into the streets of Jerusalem, preaching to all the world in each person's language (Acts 2:1-11) is still driving the Church throughout the world today. That same Holy Spirit is inspring the Church to proclaim today in every language the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babel. A people once divided has now become one again.

Isn't this what we pray for in every Eucharistic Prayer? In the Spirit and in the sharing of the one bread and one cup, that we may all be one.

Evangelization takes on a level of reconciliation then. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit as it is given in John's gospel, "He breathed on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you retain are retained." The Holy Spirit is given to the Church for evangelization and reconciliation. In unity and fellowship, we proclaim the message of Christ. As a matter fact, the unity of our fellowship, the love we show one another, can be as powerful a witness as anything we preach. "See how they love one another," was the comment that so many pagans made in the time of Tertullian, the 3rd century bishop.

The Holy Spirit was given to equip the Church to empower the Church to complete it's mission of making disciples of all the world. But the Holy Spirit is also given to each of us individually. It is a restoration of that gift of creation. Adam did not become a living man until the Holy Spirit was breathed into him at that moment of creation (Genesis 2:7). That original unity with God, for which we were created in the first place, is restored.

We have the Spirit of God living within us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord. These aren't just words. God has invited us into a living relationship with him so intimate that he comes to dwell within our very being. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and guides us (John 14:26). My favorite image of the Holy Spirit within us is that the Holy Spirit is like a tuning fork, and we are the instruments. The Holy Spirit resonates within us at all times. When we make time in prayer to listen to the Holy Spirit, there is harmony in our lives, serenity, "the peace that surpasses understanding" (Phillipians 4:7). When we are not in union with the Spirit of God that indwells our hearts, there is dissonance, a troubled conscience, fear, hatred, anger, hopelessness.

Being in union with the Spirit means the original unity for which we were created is restored, but it also means the original unity we were to have with each other is restored as well. This is what Paul refers to in using the image of the body (1 Corinthians 12: 12, 13). We are all one in the Spirit, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, ANY PARTICIPATION IN THE SPIRIT, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the love, being in full accord and of one mind" (Phillipians 2:1, 2). Imagine an orchestra in which every person's instrument is out of tune and every individual member is playing his own song.

If each of us makes a point to listen to that Holy Spirit, while each of us may have a different instrument and be playing different notes, we will all be in tune with each other and the differences between us will create an amazing harmony in the world. "Let us make a joyful noice unto the Lord" (Psalm 95:1, Psalm 100:1). Or, as Paul puts it, let us be one body with many parts.

The Holy Spirit makes it possible to have peace when there is suffering, love when there is hatred, courage when there is fear, hope when there is darkness, and forgiveness when there is betrayal. The Holy Spirit is the Presence of God in the world, in our Church, and in our hearts.

"Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, Lord, and we shal be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.

"O God, who buy the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations, through Christ our Lord."

AMEN!!!