There was plenty of excitement at the Preakness horse race yesterday. It reminded me of the gambler who saw a priest blessing the forehead of a long-shot horse lined up for a race. The horse surprisingly won. The priest kept blessing long-shots on the forehead, and each won. The gambler rushed to the ATM and withdrew all his savings for the last race. But this time, the priest blessed, not the forehead, but the eyes, ears, and hooves of the “old nag.” The gambler bet all he had. When the horse came in last, the gambler was shocked. He asked the priest what happened. The priest answered, “I guess you can’t tell the difference between a simple blessing and the last rites.” That was the last rites. Moral of the story: know your Catechism.
Today we celebrate Pentecost – the outpouring of the Spirit upon the disciples gathered in Jerusalem centuries ago. The lesson is simple yet profound: God lives in us; and we in God. To paraphrase St. Paul: we are living temples of God.
Now Pentecost is not easy to celebrate visually. In Advent, for example, we see a wreath. At Christmas, the crib and the tree. In Lent we focus on the cross and cactus as a reminder of our 40-day desert journey. At Easter, we have a lighted paschal candle and display lilies. Except for red vestments, which symbolize tongues of fire, there's not much to see on Pentecost Sunday.
In some medieval churches, people dropped burning straw from the ceiling to recreate the “fiery tongues.” That practice stopped when it set afire some churches. And there was the dove which symbolized the Spirit at Jesus’s baptism in the Jordan. In medieval France, during the singing of the hymn “Come, Holy Spirit,” white pigeons were released in cathedrals. That was discontinued, when people complained something other than the Holy Spirit was dropping from above.
The image of the Spirit I like best is “breath of God” or “gush of wind.” It's something you feel. It's catching the Spirit. It's feeling the Spirit of God moving where it wants in order to recreate whatever it touches. Remember, e. g., how the “dry bones” in the Book of Ezekiel felt God's Spirit bringing them back to life.
The power and force and energy and vitality of the Spirit within “seizes us” so that we can be channels of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-discipline to one another.
Pentecost concludes the Easter season and begins the mission of the Church, the people of God, you and me, to continue the saving work of Jesus Christ until he comes again in great glory and power at the end-time. And one way we can continue that saving work is by embodying the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom (to recognize what really matters in life), intelligence (to discern what's true), courage (to stand up for what's right), empathy or compassion (for the needy), good judgment (to do the right thing), and wonder and awe (to worship the great God of this universe).
The word “Pentecost” comes from a Greek word meaning “fiftieth” – the fiftieth day after the Hebrew Passover. The Hebrews initially celebrated this festival after harvesting the spring wheat in their fields. Later they associated this festival with the covenant God made with their forebears on Mt. Sinai—a covenant summed up very simply yet very powerfully in the phrase: you are my people and I am your God.
In the Christian tradition, Pentecost gradually celebrated one aspect of the entire paschal or Easter mystery – the descent of the Spirit-- but which also includes the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
The Book of Acts describes how the Jews had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival of Pentecost. And suddenly the Spirit -- described in images of wind and fire (images that symbolize power and force and energy and vitality) -- was poured out on the disciples and emboldened them to preach the Gospel fearlessly in Jerusalem and eventually to people all over the Mediterranean.
The word of God may be asking us: Do we stand up for what's right? I always remember that great philosophical clarion call: “If not you, who? And if not now, when?”
The letter of Paul to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece speaks about all the gifts the Spirit bestows upon us: all for the common good. In our own 21st century where we often overemphasize the individual, Paul’s words are a powerful reminder to seek the common good.
The Gospel according to John describes a post resurrection appearance of Jesus where he breathes upon the disciples (as God breathed life into us in the Book of Genesis) and in that gesture bestows the Spirit upon the disciples.
So you may ask: what does the Spirit of God do within us?
It’s tremendous: the God of the universe lives within us. Because he is there, we are new creatures; we have a destiny beyond this earthly life: a relationship with God forever. That relationship has already begun in baptism. And if you want to see what the Spirit can do, look at the early disciples: transformed from cowards into heroes.
Let us pray on this feast that the Spirit whose gifts we already possess will empower us to live the results of the Spirit’s presence in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-discipline which St. Paul describes so powerfully in his letter to the Galatians.
The same Spirit of God who spoke through the prophets of ancient Israel, who overshadowed the Virgin Mary, the same Spirit who descended upon the disciples centuries ago, and who lives in the Church—our global community of disciples of Jesus-- and who guides human history, despite its “twists and turns,” toward its ultimate fulfillment.
That same Spirit lives within you and me and can transform us if we will let him.
Some of you may have heard of the Paradoxical Commandments. In this age of the internet, someone circulated this. The greatest paradox was discovering it had been written by a college student no one ever heard of. I like to think St. Paul would agree that doing these paradoxical commandments will serve the “common good” that St. Paul highlights in today's letter. Here they are:
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered; Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Do good anyway....
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable; Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds; Think big anyway....
What you spend years building may be destroyed in one night; Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them; Help people anyway.
And finally give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth; Give the world the best you have anyway.
Why not make these paradoxical commandments a guide to your life. Amen.
