Word to the Wise
Monday, June 6, 2011 - 7th Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 19:1-8 and John 16:29-33,923]"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They answered him, "We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." He said, "How ere you baptized?" They replied, "With the baptism of John." Paul then said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus." When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
One of the principal elements of a parish mission that I preach is the focus on Baptism. I ask the congregation, "How many of you remember your baptism?" A few who entered the church later in life and had never been baptized before can recall the event but most of us cannot. We were infants at the time! Then I ask them, "How many of you can remember your confirmation?" I get a better response, but I don't push the matter too hard! Sometimes I will ask, "How many remember the name of the bishop who confirmed you?" The hands go down! As part of the mission service, I lead the congregation in a "Prayer for the Gifts of the Spirit!" I don't ask anyone to name all seven! How many in the Beloved Congregation can name all seven?
If the results of my questions are uneven, the incident in the first scripture for today from the Acts of the Apostles indicates that the problem is an ancient one! Despite the fact that we recite the Nicene Creed every Sunday or the Apostles' Creed when we say the rosary, there remains the question of what the average Catholic really knows about the faith. Surveys every year show the uneven results. I once was asked sincerely by one of the very active students at a Catholic campus ministry, "Do we really have to go to church every Sunday?"
Among Western nations, the USA stands out for the comparatively high percentage of people who attend church and are religiously active. Students from my campus ministries have commented to me about being the only young person at a Sunday Mass in Europe! It would seem that if the gospel is taking hold in those places, the "hold" is not in a sacramental practice! What happened to the message? Is it no longer exciting? The people whom St. Paul spoke to in today's scripture wouldn't just shrug and say, "Whatever!" Can we recapture that sense of Christ's presence through the Holy Spirit and allow it to animate our lives? AMEN