John 14: 15-16, 23b-26
Dear Friends,If there ever has been a time to be careful for what we pray for, it is on this Pentecost Sunday. In the Response we pray: “Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” When the Spirit comes, an explosion of creativity follows. Our comfortable boundaries are under siege.
The Spirit gifted the new-born Church. though it was wrapped in poverty and bewilderment, it was able to gather an extensively diverse group of people, driven by a wide-range of cultures, into a semblance of unity. In spite of all the many self-interests, a fragile but growing unity prevailed. This was the work of the Spirit.
All of today’s readings uncover this action of the Spirit. The presence of the Spirit is an unsettling event. It opens up the depth and breadth of Jesus’ revolutionary message. There is a creation of new worlds with expansion of horizons, calling us to accept the new, the different and the neglected. The Spirit shatters our sense of security, and often, our confidence rooted in false independence. The Spirit always pushes for more, for new ways to include others.
The disciples who received the Spirit, as described in Acts, were only shortly removed from being dominated by the search for power, prestige and wealth in their commitment to Jesus. (Mk 8:22-10:52) With the enlightenment of the Spirit, Jesus’ message had a new transforming power within their hearts. Now the Good News of God’s unconditional love and limitless mercy penetrated their entire being. The mystery of the crucified and risen Christ now opened their eyes and hearts. Reality now was experienced with a graciousness and beauty that directed them away from selfishness to the liberating journey of love. With the guidance of the Spirit, they now were at home in Jesus’ upside-down world. Finally, they longed to serve, to wash the feet, to be last and desired to lose their life so they could walk in the new reality of life and truth revealed in Jesus.
Even with these new insights, gifted by the presence of the Spirit, they still struggled mightily to accept the Gentiles. They failed to see the God-given dignity of women along with countless other racial and ethnic challenges. The seeds of Jesus’ message were far from reaching full bloom in the days of the earliest believers. It is the same for us today where there is so much about the Church that fails to mirror the Gospel.
It took some time, but the first Christians who wore Jews’ eventually experienced their long-cherished birthright as the Chosen People in the light of the Gospel. They now understood their heritage as children for Abraham was not something that closed them in. I t became for them a world-shattering reality where all humankind was endowed with the call to the New Covenant. Ever so reluctantly they accepted Gentiles into the fold. With much struggle, they broke the bondage of the law and embraced the freedom of the Spirit. They saw clearly the infantile and destructive pull of the flesh. They recognized that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, faithfulness, gentleness self-control” (Gal 5:22-24).
As the disciples learned to listen to the Spirit, two things became obvious. They had to learn to listen to their hearts. This shattered their traditional and commonsense vision of reality. Secondly, they must assent to the challenging consequences of the Spirit’s presence. It always demands change, a disturbing experience. History tells us the demands and new horizons of the Gospel are never finished. The Spirit always has more to keep us from settling down to a comfortable status quo that we yearn for so dearly. The Spirit is always about the troubling encounter of new possibilities and new perspectives.
The disciples recalled Jesus telling them he would send the Sprit to deepen their awareness of his words. This helped them. As they faced the upheaval and confusion, they eventually learned this turmoil was often the by-product of the Spirit’s movement.
Two concrete and consequential examples of this struggle with change for the early Church were the delay of Jesus’ second coming and the previously mentioned reception of Gentiles into the Church. These two issues were truly traumatic events. These make the changes of Vatican II look like an argument over the color and size of the altar cloth.
The disciples learned that Jesus’ Spirit would open them to the future (John 16:13). Down through history this has been abused by many to foretell the end of the world and other self-serving predictions. In fact, this opening to the future is more in line with all of the Spirit’s work, the building up of the faith community in the footsteps of Jesus. This teaching about the future tells us the Spirit will guide us to see where God is at work moving the faithful community into a future God desires. This is what we mean by the signs of the times. The true future is walking in trust and love guided by God’s Spirit. This calls us to share the creativity of God and to oppose everything that diminishes this call to new life in any and all of our brothers and sisters.
The Spirit gifted the new-born Church. though it was wrapped in poverty and bewilderment, it was able to gather an extensively diverse group of people, driven by a wide-range of cultures, into a semblance of unity. In spite of all the many self-interests, a fragile but growing unity prevailed. This was the work of the Spirit.
All of today’s readings uncover this action of the Spirit. The presence of the Spirit is an unsettling event. It opens up the depth and breadth of Jesus’ revolutionary message. There is a creation of new worlds with expansion of horizons, calling us to accept the new, the different and the neglected. The Spirit shatters our sense of security, and often, our confidence rooted in false independence. The Spirit always pushes for more, for new ways to include others.
The disciples who received the Spirit, as described in Acts, were only shortly removed from being dominated by the search for power, prestige and wealth in their commitment to Jesus. (Mk 8:22-10:52) With the enlightenment of the Spirit, Jesus’ message had a new transforming power within their hearts. Now the Good News of God’s unconditional love and limitless mercy penetrated their entire being. The mystery of the crucified and risen Christ now opened their eyes and hearts. Reality now was experienced with a graciousness and beauty that directed them away from selfishness to the liberating journey of love. With the guidance of the Spirit, they now were at home in Jesus’ upside-down world. Finally, they longed to serve, to wash the feet, to be last and desired to lose their life so they could walk in the new reality of life and truth revealed in Jesus.
Even with these new insights, gifted by the presence of the Spirit, they still struggled mightily to accept the Gentiles. They failed to see the God-given dignity of women along with countless other racial and ethnic challenges. The seeds of Jesus’ message were far from reaching full bloom in the days of the earliest believers. It is the same for us today where there is so much about the Church that fails to mirror the Gospel.
It took some time, but the first Christians who wore Jews’ eventually experienced their long-cherished birthright as the Chosen People in the light of the Gospel. They now understood their heritage as children for Abraham was not something that closed them in. I t became for them a world-shattering reality where all humankind was endowed with the call to the New Covenant. Ever so reluctantly they accepted Gentiles into the fold. With much struggle, they broke the bondage of the law and embraced the freedom of the Spirit. They saw clearly the infantile and destructive pull of the flesh. They recognized that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, faithfulness, gentleness self-control” (Gal 5:22-24).
As the disciples learned to listen to the Spirit, two things became obvious. They had to learn to listen to their hearts. This shattered their traditional and commonsense vision of reality. Secondly, they must assent to the challenging consequences of the Spirit’s presence. It always demands change, a disturbing experience. History tells us the demands and new horizons of the Gospel are never finished. The Spirit always has more to keep us from settling down to a comfortable status quo that we yearn for so dearly. The Spirit is always about the troubling encounter of new possibilities and new perspectives.
The disciples recalled Jesus telling them he would send the Sprit to deepen their awareness of his words. This helped them. As they faced the upheaval and confusion, they eventually learned this turmoil was often the by-product of the Spirit’s movement.
Two concrete and consequential examples of this struggle with change for the early Church were the delay of Jesus’ second coming and the previously mentioned reception of Gentiles into the Church. These two issues were truly traumatic events. These make the changes of Vatican II look like an argument over the color and size of the altar cloth.
The disciples learned that Jesus’ Spirit would open them to the future (John 16:13). Down through history this has been abused by many to foretell the end of the world and other self-serving predictions. In fact, this opening to the future is more in line with all of the Spirit’s work, the building up of the faith community in the footsteps of Jesus. This teaching about the future tells us the Spirit will guide us to see where God is at work moving the faithful community into a future God desires. This is what we mean by the signs of the times. The true future is walking in trust and love guided by God’s Spirit. This calls us to share the creativity of God and to oppose everything that diminishes this call to new life in any and all of our brothers and sisters.
.jpg)
