Pentecost Sunday

June 8, 2003

The story is told that when Jesus returned to heaven after all the trumpets and fanfare, Gabriel asked: "Lord Jesus, does the whole world now know of your Father's love for them?" Jesus answered: The whole world: No. 90%. No. 50%. No. How many? A handful.

After all these years only a handful. What if they grow tired of complacent or meet opposition? Jesus answered: I have done my work and now they will do theirs.

In fact, Jesus did leave his church in the hands of a motley crew but not without first empowering them with the Gift of the Holy Spirit, as we hear described in the first reading this morning. This Peter, hardly seems the same person we find in the gospels. How was he changed from a whining wimp to a fiery dynamo?

Remember that the Peter of the gospels was always impetuous. He said or acted in whatever situation without considering the consequences. Only later, when he began to realize the price, he became cowardly. Peter had a strong personality. When the Spirit blesses or consecrates us; our personality is not changed or altered but empowered. God does not change who we are, but makes us aware and desirous of how we are and can become.

Today's feast is first of all the day to honor the Holy Spirit, the first Gift and giver of the gifts or charisms: the Person so often referred to as the poor Holy Ghost, the forgotten one.

The Spirit is the pneuma, the breath of life. The anima, or animator who provides existence. He is I AM within us. He is the principle of unity, the reconciler, the forgiver of sins. He is peace.

He is the Spirit of truth who will teach you everything, including integrity and honesty. He is the love that is mirrored in every relationship between two individuals who are true to themselves.

Paul goes on in the second reading to describe with great imagery the exercising of the charisms which were first prophesied as the dawning of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is the age when every nation will come to know the God of Israel.

But not necessarily all will accept Him. When the Good News of the Gospel has been spread to the ends of the earth; when all have been called to be baptized in the name of Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins, and in the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

It is not the charisms that should be the focus of our attention, not the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but the Giver, the Spirit Himself who is the source of life and holiness.

You and I are a human being not merely, because of the union of two chemical molecules, but because of the animation of the Spirit of Life within us, literally breathing into us His own essence which is or eternal soul.

God alone is. God alone possesses existence. Our is but to share. The answer to Hamlet's great question: To be or not to be is discovered in our relationship with God.

Twenty centuries after Pentecost, the Spirit continues to dwell in the hearts of the faithful as a Temple to renew the face -- of the earth -- but there is another temple on the earth -- one of idolatry, darkness and death -- and of all that is not of God. Jesus Himself said: There are some who fear the light and choose the darkness."

The Holy Spirit is the source of all God's saving activity in the Church and in the world. St. Paul tells us: "If we live by the Spirit, then we walk by the Spirit." We have no self conceit; no envy or rivalries.

Though every single person is a unique creation and carries his/hew own baggage and sees through the lens of optimism or pessimism. Both of these lenses are distorted. The optimist believes that everything is the best it can be. The pessimist fears that everything is the best it can be.

The Spirit offers us the corrective lenses of truth and reality. He will strength our will to choose what is holy and beneficial He will us of righteousness and judgment and not pouncing it on others. There will always be conflicts, not uniformity, but unity.

Like the organs of a body, all have separate functions that are not interchangeable; but without working together the body is diseased. The Spirit brings healing. The Spirit brings life. The Spirit enables us to deal with temptations and trials and decisions of life, which we all must face.

Where is your priority? Are you obsessed with vanity? With your appearance? Is your priority in the way you look to others or in the mirror, or is it in who you truly are, in the way you look to God?

Stand in front of a full length mirror and hold out the letters: L--I--V--E. Don't be surprised at what you see.

You can choose to live in the mirage of the mirror or the reality of the Spirit.

You can choose to see only evil or you can choose to Live.

This is the new life, the new courage that Peter and the others found through prayer -- the same gifts are offered to us if we choose to accept and to receive them. May you come to recognize and appreciate all that is available in your heart. Amen.