June 8, 2014

Pentecost

Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; John 20:19-23
‘I will never leave you alone...I will send the Spirit to be with you and help you...I love you always...I need you.’ Today is Pentecost, the day that the Lord makes all things possible by giving us the Spirit: giving each person who is trying to love the grace...the help...the encouragement...the wherewithal to be love, to be Jesus.
So often I have said, ‘I can’t do it’...well that is not true. I remember my father’s response to my saying that ‘I can’t do it’...he said this each time...there is no such word in the English language as can’t...it is two words -- can not...and I say you CAN do it. So much for trying to win an argument with my father... I have noticed myself down the years giving the same message, the same words to my students and people who came to me for help. The angel said, There is nothing impossible with God...all things are possible with God.
I look in detail at the Gospel: the apostles were hiding “in fear” behind locked doors and windows. Outside their barricade was ‘the enemy’...what would happen to them...they could not envision anything positive. They felt better commiserating with each other, probably encouraging someone else to go out ‘into their harsh world.’ They thought they were safe, listening for any harsh sound outside and then Jesus appeared right in front of them. The account seems to imply that this was noiseless...what did they do...what did they say...did they go up to Him and embrace Him? Luke does not give an answer in Acts nor does John in his Gospel. Here they were men 20 to 50 years old; many having spouses and families; all having some sort of occupation and now scared and unsure. And Jesus surprises them again. “I have come to give you the Spirit and this Spirit will enable you to do what you cannot do yourselves. Who is this Spirit? Jesus explains: the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of love and compassion, the Spirit of passion and courage, the Spirit of realizing that they have been gifted and can and must share these gifts, the Spirit of being aware of people and situations around them; the Spirit is the Spirit of God and God’s love. And this Spirit is as totally present to me and each person as to the Apostles.
I have heard many stories from people these 47 years of my priesthood and I am always amazed, astonish and filled with awe on how God uses each person in some way to ‘get out of themselves’ to realize that there is a need and responding with kindness and love. And they were ‘surprised’ by being able to ‘get out of themselves’ and do something they thought they would never be able to do. That is the role and the activity of the Spirit. Mother Teresa says how surprised she was that at her age, time and place she could do something different and be something different. She had previously hid behind the closed door of the cloister and was called to be Jesus. She was surprised by the Spirit. I find it a special reflection to see how I have been ‘surprised’ by the Spirit. I never envisioned myself leaving family and dear friends in New York State. It was totally ‘not part’ of my makeup to go to places where I didn’t know anyone. And the Spirit has surprised me over and over in my 12 years in Virginia. It is important that each person realize that God’s gift to us through Jesus was the Spirit. God does not give gifts foolishly...God does not give gifts that are impossible to understand or figure out. God gives gifts to each person to be used to show God and to be God’s love to those He makes us aware of.

Msgr. Chet Michael likes the New Testament in Modern English by J.B. Phillips; he says this is the best translation of Paul’s letters. This section is from Romans 8: 14-19: “All who follow the leading of God’s Spirit are God’s own sons. Nor are you meant to relapse into the old slavish attitude of fear—you have been adopted into the very family circle of God and you can say with a full heart, ’Father, my Father’. The Spirit himself endorses our inward conviction that we really are the children of God. Think what that means. If we are his children then we are God’s heirs, and all that Christ inherits will belong to all us as well! If we share in His sufferings we shall certainly share in His glory.

In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has in store for us. The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own.” And this is seen so readily when me and each person are aware that God is needed and we are to be God’s hands, feet, mouth, ears, and love. If not me than who?
For my reflection today I look at Mother Teresa’s Pentecost reflection on ‘Jesus to me’. This is taken from My Life for the Poor pp. 106-107:

Jesus to me

This is Jesus to Me:

The Word made flesh.

The Bread of life.

The Victim offered for our sins on the Cross.

The Sacrifice offered at the Holy Mass for the

sins of the world and mine.

The Word – to be spoken.

The Truth – to be told.

The Way – to be walked.

The Light – to be lit.

The Life – to be lived.

The Love – to be loved.

The Joy – to be shared.

The Sacrifice – to be offered.

The Pace – to be given.

The Bread of Life – to be eaten.

The Hungry – to be fed.

The Thirsty – to be satiated.

The Naked – to be clothed.

The Homeless – to be taken in.

The Sick – to be healed.

The Lonely – to be loved.

The Unwanted – to be wanted.

The Leper – to wash his wounds.

The Beggar – to give him a smile

The Drunkard – to listen to him.

The Mental – to protect him.

The Little One – to embrace him.

The Blind – to lead him.

The Dumb – to speak for him.

The Crippled – to walk with him.

The Drug Addict – to befriend him.

The Prostitute – to remove from danger and

befriend her.

The Prisoner – to be visited.

The Old – to be served.

To Me Jesus is my God.

Jesus is my Spouse.

Jesus is my Life.

Jesus is my only Love.

Jesus is my All in all.

Jesus is my Everything.