May 28, 2023 (Pentecost)
/“Let the Spirit Blow”
by Fr. Dominic DeLay, O.P.
[This is the text composed by the homilist prior to delivering the homily.]
So how does the Spirit come into our lives, like wind and fire, or the gentle breath of Jesus? And what does the Spirit do in and for us, give us the ability to be understood in any language, or heal us from fear and give us the capacity to grant God’s forgiveness? Or give different gifts to different people for the benefit of all? When does the Spirit come? In baptism or confirmation? Or some other time?
The answer is yes, yes, and yes. The Spirit comes to us in all these ways, for all these reasons, at all these times, and more. The question is, are we ready and willing for the Spirit to come into our lives? Are we ready for our lives to be shaken up with the gift of understanding and being understood? Do we trust that the gentle breath of Jesus frees us from sin, and through us, frees others? Can we accept the gifts the Spirit gives us so that we can be at the service of others?
We often celebrate diversity on this great feast of Pentecost, inspired by the diversity of languages heard when those noisy tongues of fire descended on the disciples with one message, and by the different gifts given for the sake of the whole body of Christ. Diversity in unity. Earlier this month, we had the annual Stanford Pow Wow, celebrating our indigenous sisters and brothers. We celebrate in May the presence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in our community and larger society. In June, we celebrate Pride month, appreciating the presence and gifts of our queer brothers and sisters in our church and beyond. We continue to struggle as a nation and world to honor the needs of immigrants and refugees. On this Memorial Day Weekend, we pray for those who have died in wars and that we may commit to developing pro-life alternatives to war.
In all of this diversity, how does the Spirit seek to free us from our fear of those who are different from us, to grant us deeper understanding of their experience, and gift us with greater gratitude for their gifts, cultures, and values? Can we believe that the Spirit really is alive in us, that we can offer understanding and mercy to a world that cries out in pain?
While we’re gratefully celebrating the diversity of cultures, why not celebrate as well the diversity of creatures? Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth! Lord, give us the courage and persistence and ingenuity of your Spirit to heal our earth! Can we believe that the Spirit is a force greater than the greatest storm to help us heal God’s planet?
Our church is a family of diversity. Peoples and perspectives are brought together by the one Spirit to praise God. As we prepare for this fall’s first half of the climactic Rome edition of our synod on synodality, where, for the first time, women will have a vote – admittedly only a few women – can we pray together in hope that the Spirit really is moving in this ongoing synodal movement of ours, that she is drawing us to a Pentecostal listening to and learning from each other and urging us to renewal of the old and welcoming of the new? They say Pope John XXIII said when he initiated the Second Vatican Council: “Throw open the windows of the church and let the fresh air of the Spirit blow through.” This new, synodal way of the Church is similarly an opening of the stained glass windows we thought couldn’t be opened. Do we dare believe that the Spirit can make this project of listening to and learning from each other a way of life that leads to the healing of our diverse and divided society?
The other day, the staff was talking about maybe coming up with a one-word synodal theme or simple phrase for our community for the coming year about listening to and learning from each other. M’Lis and I have come up with some bad ones like Listen and Learn, Hark and Heed, the Need to Heed, and the Year of the Ear. I share those with you hoping they inspire you to come up with a more inspiring word or phrase. Let me know, even if you think yours is another bad idea.
How does the Spirit blow fresh air into your life today? What gifts do you ask the Spirit for? What do you need to be more alive and loving, to be your true self? The Spirit is ready to resuscitate your soul. The Spirit is ready to give you the power to let of fear and to instill peace in others, to receive God’s mercy and to extend it to others, to be grateful for your gifts and the gifts of others, to celebrate diversity even when it rankles.
And the Spirit – although we often talk about it as an it, as a thing like wind or flame or oil or even a bird – the Spirit is a person, a deeply personal presence in our lives. The Spirit is Jesus’ promised gift of an Advocate. The Spirit is our Comforter. As St. Paul tells the Romans, the Spirit “comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself – himself? Herself? – intercedes with inexpressible groanings.”
The Spirit comes to us in diverse ways, noisy and quiet, sudden and gentle, through loving dialogue and quiet prayer. The Spirit comes to us in every moment, dwells inside our every cell, prays within us in sighs too deep for words. The risen Jesus breathes his Spirit with each unique breath each unique person takes, or rather, receives from God. Today, and each moment of every day, let’s throw open the windows of our lives and give ourselves over to God’s peace-instilling, hope-inducing, and life-injecting force, this wondrous, personal force. Let the Spirit blow where she wills!
