The prophet, Joel, quotes the Lord as saying, “I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh…I will work wonders in the heavens and the earth.” And he certainly has. On the first Easter, Jesus said to his disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and so they did 50 days later on Pentecost. And we did too when we were baptized and confirmed. Pentecost is our opportunity to celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Throughout the Easter season, we were reminded that the disciples were filled with both faith and fear. The church was a product of their struggle, crisis, disagreements and the gift of the Holy Spirit. On the first Pentecost, the disciples announced the good news of salvation “in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” The Church emerged on that day and has weathered the test of time, surviving many trials and tribulations to the present day.
Like the first disciples, we bring our fears and our faith, along with our own struggles and disagreements to the Lord. No generation of disciples has come to the Lord as perfect people, full of faith and lacking fear. That same spirit which touched the disciples continues to breathe throughout our Church today, 2000 years later, giving life and direction to our mission and ministry to preach the gospel in every corner of the world, proclaiming a message of forgiveness and hope.
What many Catholics don’t realize is that the mission of the disciples is also their mission. “Who me?” you might ask. “Yes you,” the Lord would say. “But I’m too shy,” you reply. “My faith is a private matter between God and me. I’m not that smart!” If that is your excuse, then you aren’t seeing the role God has in mind for you.
Anyone who is hesitant to follow in the footsteps of the disciples might appreciate this analogy. For the mechanically challenged among us, the three most terrifying words in the English language are some assembly required. Given the choice, some of us would rather buy the product already assembled but sometimes that isn’t an option.
Some things like jig saw puzzles have to be assembled. When all the pieces snap in place, we feel a great sense of accomplishment. The assembly process may have been more challenging than we expected and we may have experienced a level of frustration and anguish along the way but when everything came together we were delighted with the outcome.
I have assembled numerous things including furniture and toys since the summer of 1960 when I put together my first model airplane. Sometimes the effort ended in disaster, not because I lacked the necessary skills, but because a piece was damaged beyond repair or I gave up instead of persisting. Fortunately, Jesus is much more patient with building the Church than I was with building certain models!
Paul in his letter to the Corinthians points out that we are not meant to be a scattered bunch of self-reliant individuals, intent on living apart from God or others who share the same faith in Jesus Christ. Instead, as a community of believers, we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to make God’s will our will and to make His will evident to others by what we say and do in our daily lives. With the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which include wisdom, understanding, piety, knowledge and fortitude, we have been transformed so that we may bring an awareness of God’s presence and will into our broken world.
A vibrant faith community depends on its many members pooling together their talents and treasures to instill life in the parish. Like the parts that make up an assembled product, they are all essential to enabling the parish community to achieve its fullest potential. In other words, your participation in the life of your parish is vital. God is counting on everyone present to do his or her part in proclaiming the good news of salvation.
Don’t presume that the Church is just a weekend assembly. We who gather to celebrate Mass are “church” the other six days of the week. The church becomes authentic when we who gather for worship strive to live the gospel message when we leave this gathering. By finding God in the everyday market places, homes and neighborhoods, we become a living church, drawing inner strength from the Holy Spirit as the disciples did with their fellow believers whenever they celebrated the sacraments, especially Eucharist.
The power of the Spirit worked wonders in and through the lives of the first disciples. The power of the Spirit has worked wonders in and through the lives of believers down through the ages. The spirit called me 25 years ago to be ordained a priest. Likewise, the Lord has poured his Spirit upon you. You are also being called to do your part in building up God’s kingdom with your time, treasure and talents. Have you wondered what would happen if each and every one of us did more than just come to Mass?
Like the wind, you cannot predict where the Holy Spirit will move. In Hebrew, his name is ruah, which means, “breath,” a reminder that the Spirit can be a gentle breeze or a “driving wind.” The Spirit has moved the lives of countless people in unexpected ways. Perhaps the same could be said of you. Imagine what wonders the spirit can work in and through you.