This Memorial Day weekend, we honor again the men and women who died in the wars of our country. The total number slain is staggering: some 1.2 million during America’s eleven major conflicts. I invite all of us to pause to pray for these brave men and women. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. Let perpetual light shine upon them.
Today we celebrate Pentecost – the outpouring of the Spirit upon the early disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem. The lesson is simple yet profound: the triune God lives in us; and we live in that trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To paraphrase St. Paul: we are living temples of God.
“Pentecost” is a Greek word meaning the fiftieth day after the Passover. The Hebrews associated this festival with the covenant God made with their forebears. In the Christian tradition, Pentecost celebrates an aspect of the paschal mystery: the death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus, and descent of the Spirit.
The Book of Acts describes how the Jews came to Jerusalem to celebrate the spring harvest. And suddenly the Spirit – described in sounds and images of wind and fire (symbolizing energy and vitality) – was poured upon the disciples and fired them up to preach the Gospel fearlessly throughout the Mediterranean and around the then-known world.
The word of God asks: Do we have the courage to stand up for the good news?
The letter of Paul to the Christian community at Corinth in Greece speaks about all the gifts the Spirit bestows upon us: all to build up the community. We often overemphasize the individual. Paul’s words are a powerful reminder to seek the common good.
The Gospel describes a post-resurrection appearance of Jesus. The risen Christ breathes upon the disciples (as God breathed life into us) and in that gesture God bestows the Spirit. It’s an awesome truth of our faith: the God of this splendid universe lives within us.
You may ask: what does God’s Spirit do within us? The Spirit transforms us into new creatures, with a destiny of eternal life with God. That life has already begun in us, in the waters of baptism, and is nurtured in today's word and sacrament.
Look at the early disciples: initially cowards hiding in a Jerusalem room, and then suddenly transformed into heroes proclaiming from the rooftops that Jesus Christ is gloriously alive.
Visually, in Advent we see a wreath. At Christmas there’s the creche and the tree. In Lent we focus on the cross. At Easter, a candle and lilies.
Except for the red vestments symbolizing fire, there's not much to see on Pentecost. We may think of “fiery tongues” and the image of a bird descending from heaven.
The symbol I like best for Pentecost is the “breath of God” or “gush of wind.” It's something you can feel, “catching” the Spirit. It's feeling the Spirit of God moving where it wants and recreating what it touches. Remember how the “dry bones” in the Book of Ezekiel felt God's Spirit bringing them back to life.
The power and energy and vitality of the Spirit is within each of us. It inspires us, moves us, so that we can be a channel of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-discipline.
Yes, only humans receive the “breath of God” but all living things can inspire us if we are alert to God’s creative spirit.
Pentecost begins the mission of the Church, the people of God, your mission and mine, to continue the saving work of Jesus Christ until he comes again in great glory at the end-time. We can continue that work by embodying the gifts of the Spirit: wisdom (to recognize what really matters in life), intelligence (to discern what's true as opposed to what’s fake), courage (to step up for what's right), compassion (for the needy), good judgment (to do right), and wonder and awe (to worship the great God of this universe).
Let us pray that the Spirit whose gifts we already possess will empower us to live more fully the results of the Spirit’s presence in us – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, self-discipline – gifts which 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 in Nazareth, and who energized the disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem,
and who lives fully within the Church – the community of disciples of Jesus – and guides human history toward its ultimate fulfillment—a new heaven and a new earth at the end-time—that same Spirit lives and breathes within us and can transform us ever more fully into “living temples of God.”
So we pray today, celebrating Pentecost,
“Come, Holy Spirit anew into our lives, and re-energize us so that we can see God more clearly, love God more dearly and follow God more nearly. Amen.”
