Celebrate the Birth of The Church
Today we celebrate the birth of the Church, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is Greek for fiftieth. It is now fifty days since the Easter season began. For the Jewish people this feast celebrates the closing of the harvest festival and the giving of the Law (Ten Commandments) to Moses on Mount Sinai. Christ has given us a new commandment, to love one another as he loves us. Not simply to love one another but to love as HE loves us. We celebrate today the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self control, chastity, wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence and wonder and awe. We will reap a new harvest in the world if we live these gifts each day of our lives. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to fall afresh upon us and to renew the face of the earth!
In the preface of the second Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation we pray: “In the midst of conflict and division, we know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace. Your Spirit changes our hearts: enemies begin to speak to one another, those who were estranged join hands in friendship, and nations seek the way of peace together. Your Spirit is at work when understanding puts an end to strife, when hatred is quenched by mercy, and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.”
In this column over the last few weeks I have referred to the speeches and homilies Pope Benedict gave while he was in the Holy Land. They are inspiring and fulfill the above words from the Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation, they witness to the presence and action of the Spirit of God in our midst. At a recent General Audience in Rome he continued to reflect on his recent pilgrimage: “In this Land blessed by God, sometimes it seems impossible to get out of the spiral of violence. But nothing is impossible for God and for those who trust in him! Because of this, faith in the one God, just and merciful should pour forth its treasure of respect, reconciliation and collaboration. Jerusalem is the crossroads for the three great monotheistic religions (Jew, Muslim and Christian) and its very name - ‘city of peace’- expresses the design of God for humanity: to make of it a great family. This design, announced to Abraham, was entirely fulfilled in Jesus Christ. All believers, therefore, should leave behind prejudices and a will to dominate and practice in harmony the fundamental commandment: to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves.”
When he stood a couple of weeks ago at Christ’s empty tomb he proclaimed with great hope: “History need not be repeated, memories can be healed, the bitter fruits of recrimination and hostility can be overcome, a future of justice, peace, prosperity and cooperation can arise for every man and woman, for the whole human family, and in a special way for the people who dwell in this land so dear to the heart of the Savior. May we grow in the life of the Spirit through conversion, penance and prayer. By the power of that same Spirit may we overcome every conflict and tension born of the flesh, and remove every obstacle, both within and without, standing in the way of our common witness to Christ and the reconciling power of his love.”
Through the grace and power of the Spirit may these words be fulfilled not only in the Land that first experienced the power and presence of the Holy Spirit but in each of our own hearts and lives.
- Fr. Gary Dowsey
