20-May-2012 Dear Friend,
"That's the Spirit!" We have often heard or used this expression in praise of someone who tackles a job or problem with great gusto, or in praise of a sports team or group of people doing a particular task well. If an individual or team has 'Spirit' there is a greater chance of succeeding. We look for this intangible thing called 'spirit' in people and it is present in so many human activities. Have we got the Spirit? Do we want the Spirit in our lives? With the power of the Spirit all things are possible! Let the Spirit set us on fire this Pentecost weekend! Fr. Jude Sunday Reflections: Pentecost Sunday 'Spirit of the Living God, melt us, mould us, use us! 27-May-2012 Readings: Acts 2: 1-11 Galatians 5: 16-25 John 15: 26-27; 16: 12-15 The first reading describes the dramatic coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles at Pentecost. Many signs appear as the Spirit descends on the apostles. There is the sound of the mighty wind. The spirit has been symbolized by the wind, the breath of life. At Pentecost once again the disciples experience the mighty breath of God giving new life to his Church. The second symbol of the Spirit is the tongues of fire that descend on the apostles. Fire has always been a powerful symbol for life. The third symbol of the Spirit is the gift of tongues, the gift of speaking a language that every one can understand. At Pentecost the Church is born. What is the common language they speak? What is the language that everyone understands? It is the language of love, which is the language of the Spirit. Rejoice! An elderly gentleman passed his granddaughter's room one night and overheard her repeating the alphabet in an oddly reverent way. "What on earth are you up to?" he asked. "I am saying my prayers," explained the little girl. "But I can't think of exactly the right words tonight, so I'm just saying all the letters. God will put them together for me, because he knows what I am thinking." Christians who have similar childlike faith rejoice that though their lives may be in shambles, God will put them together. The God in whom they believe is not up in the sky but dwells within them as the Holy Spirit. They know that, as the Holy Spirit came on the nascent Church at Pentecost, so he came on them also, though in a less spectacular way, at their baptism and confirmation "to lead them to complete truth" True believers are deeply aware of their utter dependence on the Spirit for "No one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit", nor can they even pray without him. Vima Dasan in 'His Word Lives' In the Gospel we see the Risen Lord coming to the disciples as they huddle behind closed doors. He breathes on them the Holy Spirit. "Peace be with you!" The spirit comes to set us free from fear that imprisons us, that prevents us from being bold, from coming out into the open. This Spirit is also the spirit of peace. Before receiving the spirit, the disciples were confused, lost, and uncertain. Now, having received the spirit, they can see clearly, and they fear nothing, not even suffering and death that awaits them. The spirit given to them is the spirit of courage that will not desert them when they face punishments, trials and death for being followers of the Lord Jesus. Lastly, the Spirit given them is the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. "Whose sins you forgive they are forgiven, whose sins you retain, they are retained." The disciples had made their mistakes. Peter had denied the Lord three times. But when the Spirit comes there is no reminder of failures of the past. Instead, Jesus' only question is about the present: "Simon son of John do you love me?" The past is forgiven and forgotten, the present alone matters. When the spirit takes possession of our lives we let go of the past and live in the gladness of the present moment. Pentecost people forgive because they themselves have been forgiven. They live in peace because the spirit is there as their advocate and confidant. They live in love because His loving Spirit fills their lives. Powered by the Spirit At home and abroad tragic violence evokes a deep sense of powerlessness in the face of evil. The anguished cry in many a heart and in many a community is to even glimpse a way forward out of hopelessness. As traditions and institutions that protected, however falteringly, values, relationships and communities in the past rapidly disintegrate; one temptation is to seek security in self-righteousness or authoritarianism. Another temptation is to yearn for times past and out of fear to bolt the door against the reality of the world outside. The latter course of action was the one adopted by the shocked disciples when the senseless barbarity of Calvary deprived them of their leader, their friend and their hope. Even the brief appearances of the Risen Lord among them did not restore their confidence. But the miracle of Pentecost did do so. Jesus had promised them an Advocate, a helper, his own Spirit to live among them, and that promise was now fulfilled. The promised Spirit of truth transformed them. It empowered them to be witnesses to Jesus throughout the world beginning from Jerusalem, their home base. Tom Clancy in 'Living the Word' How Discouraging! At those times when people have their finest insights for challenge and change, the world around them will often reject them because they seem out of the ordinary. We have all heard the phrases said dozens of times when a striking leader, a person of new vision, suddenly appears on the scene: "She must be crazy." "The guy's a nut." "She's out of it." Or, worse yet, we hear that tired comment that has been uttered millions of times in every comfortable suburban community, "Well, I agree with some of their principles, but I can't go along with the way they carry them out." There is a simple lesson to be learned from the experience of the apostles on Pentecost. The world is rarely for the clarity of insight, the striking vision, the jarring moment of truth that comes from the prophetic Spirit. Perhaps it is characteristic of greatness to be able to accept the fact that prophetic insight will be misunderstood, opposed, mistreated, and perhaps even considered to be drunkenness, and to be able to forge ahead nonetheless. Those ordinary fishermen from Palestine began that Sunday to convert people to what has become the largest religious body in the world. It is a tribute to their personal magnanimity, and to the power of the Spirit with them, that they didn't let their critics frustrate them when they were accused of being full of new wine. Eugene Laeur in 'Sunday Morning Insights' Do not give up hope! If Pentecost means anything it means don't give up hope. God has not given up on us; God is active in this world bringing life out of death. Jesus did not see the end of hunger and poverty in his lifetime and met a cruel death after only a few years of ministry. But Pentecost reminds us that God wants to bring life and hope to the dry bones of violence and despair. -Frances Moore Lappe, in his book, takes us into the Third World beneath the radar of the global media and shows how dry bones are coming to life in poor villages of Kenya, among landless peasants of Brazil, and for single mothers of Bangladesh. They are learning to survive by transforming fear into creative action. People have taken Ezekiel's story to heart. They have not given up hope, even though the market economy of globalization would say that it is a given that some should live in poverty. Larry Hollar in 'Hunger for the Word' Truth and Wisdom Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, was a famous British lawyer and politician. He was regarded by many as a man who was too clever for comfort. Smith was conducting a lengthy and complicated case before a judge whom he regarded as slow and rather dim. As the case drew to its close, the judge let it be known that some of the issues involved were no longer clear to him. Smith gave the judge a short and clear account of all the issues and their implications. As Smith sat down, the judge thanked him courteously, but added: I'm sorry, Mr. Smith, but I regret that I am none the wiser." Smith rose wearily to his feet again. "Possibly, my Lord," he said "but you are better informed." Information doesn't add up to wisdom; knowledge doesn't necessarily lead to good judgment. Like the judge in the story, we can possess all the information available but still be no wiser about what it actually means. In today's Gospel we hear Jesus give his final address to his disciples. He promises to send them a good lawyer! Jesus promises his disciples that the lawyer he will send will lead them out of confusion and bewilderment into the complete truth. This lawyer is no human advocate; he is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. Denis McBride in 'Seasons of the Word' When the dove came down I was concelebrant at a Eucharist to mark the 'Year of the Spirit' in the run up to Yesu Khrist Jayanti 2000. At the offertory, a boy walked up with a white dove, and the commentator explained, "The priest will now release the white dove as a sign of the Spirit." Holding the dove aloft, the main celebrant solemnly threw it up in the air. To everyone's amazement-and amusement- the dove landed with a thud among the pious women of the front pews who shrieked in fright. Then, the sacristan picked up the half-dead, dazed dove, and carried it back to the sacristy. Inquiries revealed that that particular dove was hyperactive, and thus its legs and wings were tied up. Unfortunately, the sacristan forgot to cut the strings before the Offertory! -Come Pentecost and that scene of that diving dove comes alive. To me, that fettered dove symbolized a church that has shackled the Spirit. Indeed, unlike the Pentecostal groups, there is hesitancy in the Catholic Church to pray to, and proclaim, the Holy Spirit. But how different it was at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles! That event transformed their lives forever, igniting them for mission. Francis Gonsalves in 'Sunday Seeds for Daily Deeds' Come Holy Spirit! Every Sunday, a tribal from the mountain used to come to the market place along with two dogs - a white dog and a black dog. He had trained the dogs to fight on command. Every Sunday afternoon there used to be a dogfight in which the people in the market place used to take bets. One Sunday the black dog won; another Sunday the white dog won - whichever dog won, invariably the tribal always won. His friends asked him what the secret of his winning was. He said, "I starve one and feed the other. The one I feed always wins because he is stronger." -We have two natures within us, fighting for mastery -the carnal and the spiritual nature, or the sinful and Christ-filled nature. The one we feed the most wins in the end. If we feed our spiritual nature and allow the Holy Spirit to empower us, He rules over us. But if we feed our sinful nature, the flesh rules over us. We need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Our lives need to be dominated and ruled by the Holy Spirit John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies' May the fire of His spirit burn in our hearts and transform us! Fr. Jude Botelho [email protected] PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site www.netforlife.net Thank you.
