Word to the Wise
Sunday, May 23, 2010 - Pentecost Sunday
[Acts 2:1-11; 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Romans 8:8-17; John 20:19-23 or John 14:15-16, 23b-26]There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all lof them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. [1 Corinthians 12]
I once saw an amusing sign in a filling station that read: "No one is completely useless. They can always serve as a bad example!" These words come to my mind whenever I read St. Paul's wonderful image of the church as a body of Spirit-filled persons. No matter who we may be, the Holy Spirit is sent for us if only we believe. Our particular role in that body may not be glamorous or great, but it is important nonetheless because God's Spirit enables it. The feast of Pentecost is one of the most important of the liturgical year. It is the celebration of the "birth of the church" when a group of frightened disciples is transformed into a faithful and dynamic body of preachers! However, we do not only celebrate that historic moment. We celebrate the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all who believe. This is how the Lord remained and remains in the church after his physical time on earth ended. Baptism and Confirmation are sacramental celebrations of the Spirit's presence, but it is in the everyday faith and decisions of the People of God that we experience the power of the Holy Spirit guiding and urging us on. The traditional prayer says it all: O God, you instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit. Grant us in that same Spirit to be truly wise and ever to rejoice in its consolation. AMEN