Happy Re-Birthday!

Happy Re-Birthday!
Homily for May 20, 2018    Pentecost Sunday - B
by Dcn. Bob Bonomi

[Author’s note: the Catholic Church historically and officially recognizes Good Friday as the actual birth of the Church, when Christ’s side was pierced by the centurion’s spear.  But just as the Church also teaches that we are reborn into the Church at our baptism, and as Jesus told Nicodemus that man “must be born from above”, “of water and Spirit” (Jn 3), it is appropriate to celebrate Pentecost as a “baptism” or “rebirth” of the Church.  Just as Jesus told his disciples prior to his Passion that they needed the Holy Spirit to guide them to the truth (Jn 18), and to wait for when they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1), we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit coming with His gifts at Pentecost.]

Today we celebrate what some theologians consider is the birthday of our Church - Pentecost.  Why is that?  Because it was on Pentecost that the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples and gave them the courage to come out from hiding and go into the streets to preach the Good News of God – to evangelize the people.  Actually, it was more than courage, for often we think of courage as facing challenges that we would rather avoid.  Those first disciples – the Apostles and the others from the upper room – were on FIRE with the presence of God in their hearts and were compelled to share that Good News to others.  It wasn’t that they were still afraid and forced themselves to overcome that fear; they were truly FEARLESS because they had no reason to fear.  From that tiny group of now fearless men AND women, the Church sprang into life; the people of God were reborn.  From that moment on, the world would never be the same.  It was a Happy Birthday.

To celebrate this special day, we actually have two completely different sets of readings for this weekend. Normally, the Mass on Saturday evening, although we often call it the “vigil” service, uses all of the same readings, liturgical parts, and so on that we would use on Sunday.  But for certain celebrations – like Easter and Pentecost – the church offers a true “vigil” liturgy with different Mass parts and readings because there is an important before-and-after message contained in the combined celebrations. To get the full “value” of this celebration, you should attend Mass both Saturday night AND Sunday. 

So, if you didn’t come to Mass last night, you might want to note it on your calendar to come to Mass twice on this Sunday next year.

Yeah, I can see your eyes rolling even from here.  I’m just saying, it isn’t a sin to go to Mass more than once a weekend.  And if you didn’t go last night, you have a homework assignment:  look up and read the other set of readings when you get home. 

In any case, today we celebrate Pentecost. In Jesus’ time, Pentecost was known as Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks.  Shavuot was one of the three pilgrimage festivals where Jews were required to travel to Jerusalem, and it commemorated the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai. It was celebrated seven weeks after Passover – hence our name Pentecost, or 50 days.  Because Jews had to travel to Jerusalem, it explains why there were so many people there who spoke different languages.  But more on that later.

Our readings this weekend then all relate to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit.  But in order to fully understand the complete message of Pentecost, we have to look at both sets of readings together.

Saturday’s first reading is the story of the Tower of Babel.  It is a fairly straightforward story – the people, in their arrogance, decide to build a tower that reaches to heaven.  They didn’t want to be “scattered all over the earth”; they preferred to bask in their own glory and abilities rather than God’s, and so the Holy Spirit came upon them and removed their ability to understand each other.

But in the passage from Acts that we heard today, we see how the Holy Spirit gave the Apostles the ability to speak to all present in their own language of the Glory of God – it’s the classic story of Pentecost.  The combination of the two readings reminds us that true peace and unity among nations cannot occur without our unity with God first. 

And then Saturday’s brief Gospel from St. John comes from the first time Jesus reveals to his disciples his future passion and death, and alludes to the coming of the Holy Spirit.  It occurs on the last day of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, another one of the three main pilgrimage feasts in Jerusalem and it too was a time of joyful celebration, coming just after Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.  (By the way, these pilgrim festivals generally lasted all week, from Sabbath to Sabbath.) During this feast, Jesus ticks off the Jewish authorities by his words and deeds to the point that they’ve begun to seek a way to kill him.  The key to this short scripture passage are the last two lines:  “He said this in reference to the Spirit that those who came to believe in him were to receive. There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.”

This doesn’t mean that there was no Holy Spirit.  As the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has always existed co-eternal with the Father and the Son.  Earlier versions of this passage include the word “given” after “yet”, signifying that the disciples had not received the fullness of the Spirit, which will come to them on that first Pentecost after the Resurrection.

But in Today’s Gospel from John’s Last Supper discourse, Jesus makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is coming, and how important the presence of the Advocate will be to his disciples.  They are not ready yet for the total power of the Holy Spirit, but they will need that power in order to continue Jesus’ mission after his physical presence leaves.  After His Resurrection they will receive strength and guidance from the Holy Spirit so that they will be able to give Glory to God and proclaim the Good News.   

So is this Holy Spirit present in our lives today?  Did I miss something at my Confirmation, or have I just lost it?  Why are we still afraid to risk everything proclaim the Good News?  If I’ve received the Holy Spirit, why can’t I speak Spanish?

The Holy Spirit doesn’t come into our lives just once in a spectacular moment and then leave.  The Holy Spirit is with us always, to guide us and bless us.  St. Paul talks to us about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how they are ours forever, if we accept them.  The Seven Gifts are:

1.    Wisdom – the knowledge and awareness of "divine things" and the ability to judge and direct human affairs according to divine truth.
2.    Understanding – the ability to "see" God in creation and the insight into the very heart of things necessary for our eternal salvation.
3.    Knowledge – the ability to judge correctly about matters of faith and right action, so as to never wander from the straight path of justice.
4.    Counsel – allows a man to be directed by God in matters necessary for his salvation.
5.    Fortitude – a firmness of mind in doing good and in avoiding evil, particularly when it is difficult or dangerous to do so, by virtue of the assurance of everlasting life.
6.    Piety – the reverence of God with filial affection, paying worship and duty to God in accordance to Scripture and the Church.
7.    Fear of God – the "filial" or chaste fear whereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from him—as opposed to "servile" fear, whereby we fear punishment.

We all received these gifts at our Baptism and had them strengthened at our Confirmation.  We continue to receive guidance on these gifts through the Holy Spirit whenever we actively seek it.  But do we?

I remember a story of a woman who loved to give gifts.  She was always thoughtful in what she gave, and one year she worked especially hard on a gift for a very good friend.  Her friend took the gift and later thanked her for the perfect gift.  One day while the woman was visiting her friend, she saw her gift on a shelf, still wrapped, unopened.

How many gifts do we have, unopened?  For this Pentecost, ask the Holy Spirit to give you the courage to open and use your gifts.