Pentecost, May 19, 2024

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The Spirit of God is always with every one of us

John 20:19–23

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

Come Holy Spirit, fill the heart of your faithful one, and enkindle in me the fire of your love. Help me to recognize your presence in my life, help me to act on that presence and help me to love [name a particular person here] more each day.

Companions for the Journey

A Pre-Note:

Remember, the Gospels are NOT history, they are a theological testimony of the disciples’ experience of Jesus on this earth. Do not attempt to reconcile the first reading and the gospel into one narrative. The story from Acts takes place on the Jewish feast of Pentecost; the gospel story takes place on the evening of the Resurrection. It is enough to know that after his death, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send a helper to the disciples, an advocate who would help them be His witnesses in the world. And so this Advocate has been sent through them to us as well.

PENTECOST SUNDAY May 23, 2021
Fr. Gerard Austin, O.P.
Southern Dominican Province

For the first generations of Christians of the early Church, the liturgical year consisted of only a weekly celebration of the Resurrection: the Day of the Lord, the Sunday. At this celebration all the various elements of the Paschal Mystery were recalled. God was blessed, thanked, and praised for all the wonderful works of creation and redemption—especially for the wonder-of-God par excellence, God’s only-begotten Son, who gave of himself for us. By the end of the second century, we see attestations of an annual celebration as well. It was modeled upon the weekly celebration, but it lasted for a period of fifty days, thus being referred to by St. Athanasius as the “Great Sunday.” Thus our present “Norms Governing Liturgical Celebrations” state: “The fifty days from Easter Sunday to Pentecost are celebrated in joyful expectation as one feast day, or better, as one ‘Great Sunday’.” This fifty-day period has its roots in Jewish tradition, sharing for example, in the notion of being a “seal,” a completion.

At first, no particular day or days of the fifty-day period was privileged; rather, during the entire period was celebrated: the death, the resurrection, the later appearances, the ascension, the sending of the Spirit, and the waiting for the final coming of Christ. Nevertheless, before the second half of the fourth century, certain churches and certain Fathers of the Church did emphasize different aspects of the Paschal Mystery on particular days (as the Ascension on the fortieth day, the sending of the Spirit on the fiftieth day), but never destroying the notion of whole as whole. This approach was called the “global view of the Great Sunday,” and during this time the notion of “Pentecost” extended to the entire fifty days. The entire period was a “period of the Spirit.” Jesus had promised his followers that he would not leave them orphans; he would stay with them but in a new way: through his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, which he would leave to them as his departing Gift.

Thus, one can well argue that the entire period from the Ascension of Christ to his Final Coming at the end of time is the “Era of the Holy Spirit.” This era, in which we are now living, is an era where Jesus is no longer with us in bodily form, but in a new way—in the presence of his Spirit. We have been assured the Gift of that Holy Spirit, but still down through the ages the Church never ceases to cry out, “Come, Holy Spirit, come”—not just on Pentecost but each and every day. I think my favorite book on the Holy Spirit is I Believe In The Holy Spirit by Fr. Yves Congar, O.P. I find it significant that the final chapter of that highly respected three-volume work is entitled “The Life of the Church as One Long Epiclesis” (the Greek word meaning ‘invocation’ of the Spirit). We know that Jesus’ promise not to leave us orphans is true, but still we pray each day that the Holy Spirit who already abides within us (and among us), might penetrate even more deeply into every fiber of our being! Yes, pentecost is not just a once-for-all event of history; it is an ongoing mystery of faith.

Let us allow the global view of the Great Sunday, the view that contains all the multiple aspects of the “Paschal Mystery” to be reflected in our own private prayer as well. In conclusion, may I suggest your praying slowly the following trilogy of mantras:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
“Lord Jesus, Crucified and Risen Lord, send me your Spirit.”
“Come, Holy Spirit, come!”

Further reflection:

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

With that he breathed on them and said: ”Receive the Holy Spirit”

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

  • A longer version of this gospel is read on the second Sunday of Easter. The action takes place on the evening after the empty tomb was discovered, and the disciples are cowering in fear in the upper room. Why are Jesus’ first words to the disciples (Peace be with you) so important?
    Is this a wish or a statement of fact?
    What does “Peace” mean to you?
  • The gifts of the Spirt are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, long-suffering, gentleness, faith, modesty, chastity and self-control.
    Which ones do I feel I have been blessed with?
    Which ones do I still need help with?
    What does the gift of the Spirit of Jesus mean to me in my life right now? What are the challenges of such a gift?
    What are my gifts that I am commissioned to use for the good of others?
  • Do I have any personal wisdom to impart to others?
    What is the source of my personal wisdom? (my education, my religious community, my family and friends, the culture I live in, my prayer, personal reading, for example)
  • How do I define wisdom as opposed to knowledge or intelligence?
    When I say that today is the birthday of the Church, am I thinking of the church hierarchy and structures, or am I thinking of all of us in the “cheap seats”?
  • How are we “church” in our homes, workplaces, communities and in this parish?
  • Do I see reconciliation as something reserved to the sacrament and not requiring any agency on my part?
    What is my role in forgiving the sins of others?
    Do I see myself as an agent of reconciliation?
  • Can I think of a sin that might not be forgiven?
    Is forgiveness the same as license to continue destructive or bad behavior?
    Is forgiveness optional?
  • Is there anyone in my life that I have failed to forgive (“kept bound”)?
    How does this failure keep ME bound?
  • Is there anything I have to forgive myself for?
  • “As the Father sent me, so I send you”. What is God sending me to/for?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

From “First Impressions” by Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

The Spirit isn’t up ahead of us, cleaning out and arranging our heavenly quarters for our arrival—someday. Rather, the Spirit is here and now, urging us out to work at community building, peace and justice, love and reconciliation; helping us overcome destructive addictions, opening our eyes to God, so present in the world around us—in others, nature and in the wonders of our own beings.

In other words, I am being sent forth by the Spirit of Jesus. I am individually sent. What, in concrete terms, is my mission?
To whom am I being sent? (My family and friends, my worship community, the wider world?)
I pray to the Spirit for guidance and strength as I live out my calling in Jesus’ name.

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Read Acts of the Apostles 2:1–11. Imagine that you are one of those disciples in the upper room. How do you react to the noise of a strong wind and then tongues of fire? What are the expressions on the faces of the others there with you? How does it feel to speak in a strange tongue? Do you actually feel the energy of the Spirit entering you? When the people, alerted by the commotion, gather around, do you wish for a little more time to be with this new experience? What actually, are you saying to thee people who gather? What is your purpose? After the excitement has died down and you are once again alone with your fellow disciples, how do you process this experience? Have you ever experienced a time when you were able to reach a group of people and convey an important truth to them? What was the message or insight you were trying to impart? How did it feel to be so empowered? Did you feel exhilaration, pride, humility, fear, or awe? Take some time to pray to the Spirit, not only for yourself, but to ask for gifts and the strength to allow you to make a difference in the world. Exactly what difference would you like to make? What message of Jesus is important enough to you that you would expend the energy and take the risk to share it?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from Sacred Space, a Service of the Irish Jesuits:

When have you experienced Pentecost in practice?

When you feel an inner urge to be kind, constructive, forgiving or compassionate, do you sense the Spirit at work in your heart?
When you settle down to pray, do you sense the Spirit bringing you into the world of God?
When you take up a demanding task because it is the right thing to do, do you sense the Spirit encouraging you?
When you protest against injustice or falsehood, do you sense the Spirit protesting in you?
When you stand up for gospel values and try to be inclusive, do you sense the Spirit calling you?
When you find yourself watching out for the needy, do you sense the spirit making you aware of others?
When you experience deep-seated joy without any special reason, do you sense the Spirit of God working in you?

Once you begin to catch on, you find that the Spirit is everywhere! You begin to attend to your inner promptings, asking “is this a nudge from my friend the Spirit?”. Life will take on a new color and will cease to be boring and predictable. You become free to dance with the Spirit.

Literary Reflection:

What does this poem by Denise Levertov say about trust in the Spirit of God?

“The Avowal”

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them;
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

Literary Reflection:

This beautiful, profound little poem, “Primary Wonder,” by Denise Levertov (1923–1997), reminds us what is important when we get overshadowed by life’s little problems. When she became present to the mystery, experienced that joyful cosmic stillness within, she realized her life, and all of creation was sustained by the Creator. Life’s problems receded, became insignificant when presented with such primary wonder. (—from a commentary by Philip Goldberg)

“Primary Wonder”

Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions, my courtiers, wearing
their colored clothes; caps and bells.
And then
once more the quiet mystery
is present to me, the throng’s clamor
recedes: the mystery
that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything,
rather than void: and that, O Lord,
Creator, Hallowed one, You still,
hour by hour sustain it.

Poetic Reflection:

The coming of the Spirit into our lives is not always as dramatic as it was described in the Acts of the Apostles. Sometimes the Spirit works within us slowly and deliberately, quietly teaching us how to be and teaching us where we are meant to go in our lives. This sense of the gradual working of the Spirit, especially through the beauty of the natural world, is captured beautifully by Theodore Roethke in the following poem:

“The Waking”

I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.

We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.

Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.

Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.

This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.

Closing Prayer

Dear Jesus, help us to radiate your spirit, and by word and example help us to share it. Help us to understand that the gifts of your Spirit are not for us alone, but are to be shared. Help us to tell others how much God loves each and every one of them… Help us to BE God’s love for them.