Last week I received a note from a long time friend informing me that she would no longer be worshipping here. Simply put, after many years of soul searching, she could no longer support the institution of Roman Catholicism. She and her husband had decided to find a different community to worship in. Reading between the lines, I had to wonder if the latest news media blitz on Pope Benedict’s handling of the clergy scandal in Europe was the final straw that prompted her to leave the Church. She closed her note wishing me the best in living my chosen spiritual path. Likewise, I wish her well as she explores other spiritual paths.
What is happening in Europe is a painful reminder of just how human the institutional Church can be. Throughout its history, the Church has seen its share of upheavals, heresies, critics and enemies. The story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte boasting once to a cardinal that he would destroy the Church. The cardinal replied, “Good luck, your majesty. We priests have been attempting to do just that for centuries.”
The cardinal was essentially doffing his scarlet biretta to the Holy Spirit. Try as anyone might, and many have tried, the Church will not go away precisely because the Third Person of the Holy Trinity is on the job 24/7, serving as the glue that has held the Church together for twenty centuries. Napoleon thought the cardinal was jesting. He took on the Church and was ultimately dethroned. The Church survived and the former emperor found himself living his final days in exile on a remote island.
Those of you who are sports fans would agree that how well any team performs depends on its star athletes. Without them, teams rarely contend for first place, but with them, a team generates a sprit amongst its members and fans that produces a winning season. Likewise, without the Holy Spirit, the Church at best would be a third rate operation, but with the Spirit, the Church is able to survive its many challenges and thrive.
Pentecost, coming fifty days after Easter, celebrates the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church from the very beginning. Following the resurrection, the disciples prayed in the upper room, pondering what their mission would be. The earthly kingdom they might have envisioned when Jesus rode into Jerusalem to cheers of “hosanna!” wasn’t meant to be.
We celebrate Pentecost as the birthday of the Church. On that day a strong driving wind filled the place where the disciples had gathered. Tongues of fire came to rest on everyone of them. They were filled with the Holy Spirit. The promise Jesus had made to them on that first Easter evening had been fulfilled. The final piece of the puzzle had been put in place and at last the disciples understood their mission. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they ventured forth to renew the face of the earth.
What they started that day was not an institution but a faith community, out of which the institutional church gradually grew. Early Christians viewed themselves not as an institution but as a community of believers carrying out the mission of proclaiming and living the good news of Jesus Christ. As the Body of Christ, they regarded the Holy Spirit as the essential power that kept them together.
We aren’t reading Christian scriptures carefully if we think that the Holy Spirit came just that one time and landed upon the disciples for the sake of creating an institution that would continue unchanged to the end of time. Pope John XXIII once said, “We are not on earth to guard a museum, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life.” Undoubtedly, he surprised many when he called the bishops together in what became known as Vatican II. He saw the need for the Church to experience fresh air and with the grace of the Holy Spirit, the bishops reviewed and transformed in many ways what the Church stood for. Yes, the Church is still an institution, but the Church is more than that.
Cardinal Avery Dulles, a prolific Jesuit theologian, wrote many books, but the one I remember best is entitled, Models of the Church. He spoke of the Church as being more than an institution. The Church is also a mystical communion, a sacrament, a herald, and a servant.
I vividly remember learning about the notion that together we make up the body of Christ as a child. Each baptized person here is a part of that body. As with our bodies, some parts may not seem as important as others. I could lose a toe and still walk. That toe, however, will not survive without the rest of me!
Some Catholics may feel as insignificant in the parish as a little toe may be to one’s body, or they may feel that the parish isn’t all that important for keeping their faith alive. I feel otherwise. Not only do we need the church to nurture our faith in Christ through the sacraments, but Christ also needs all of us as his team to herald the gospel, enabling others to see its true value through our actions, that is, in how we serve others in our community.
Those of us who witness Vatican II know well that the Holy Spirit is a disruptive force, constantly challenging the status quo and prodding us to do more toward making the kingdom of God a reality. But disruptive does not mean destructive for the Spirit is also a creative force, constantly remaking things anew. Lest anyone here still thinks that their presence and participation in the life of this Catholic community does not matter, I invite you to reflect on what Amado Nervo, a Mexican poet, has to say:
Alone we are only a spark, but in the Spirit we are a fire.
Alone we are only string, but in the Spirit, we are a lyre.
Alone we are only an anthill, but in the Spirit, we are a mountain.
Alone we are only a drop, but in the Spirit, we are a fountain.
Alone we are only a feather, but in the Spirit, we are a wing.
Alone we are only a beggar, but in the Spirit, we are a king.