Come Holy Spirit, Come

Pentecost Sunday

May 31, 2020

John 20, 19-23

On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you."
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained."

Happy birthday! Today we celebrate the birth of the Church; we are the Church so happy birthday to all of us.

In today’s readings we have two very different accounts of the feast of Pentecost. Acts tells the story with a time line that we are familiar with. Jesus died and then rose. For 40 days he was with the disciples, then he ascended into heaven and later the Holy Spirit came down upon the 12. John completely changes the order of events, or better put he collapses all of the events. Jesus dies and rises from the dead he then appears to the disciples and he gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit, he then leaves them, all on that same day.

We know the order isn’t important, what is important is that we have received the Holy Spirit. We are spirit filled Church! The Apostles received the Holy Spirit and upon reception of the Holy Spirit they begin to minister. Jesus sends them out filled with the Holy Spirit to continue his ministry in the world today.

The disciples were afraid. Jesus had been crucified, he had been publicly lynched, they were his followers so they had reason to be afraid, they had reason to fear the civil and religious authorities. They knew they could well be next. In fact we know that all of them with the exception of John were publicly executed for being followers of Jesus. So these fearful disciples are in hiding, behind locked doors, and Jesus appears to them. We can well imagine their joy. It will be like our joy when we know that they discovered a vaccine for the Corona Virus, or the joy when WWII ended. It says the disciples rejoiced when he showed them his hands and side. They rejoiced not just because they knew it was Jesus, they rejoiced because they knew that he had triumphed, death had no power over Jesus, Jesus was more powerful than death, death had no more power over them.

Jesus then gives them the gift of peace. As Catholic Christians we know that peace is much more than just the absence of war, we know that peace is sense of rightness with the world it is a feeling of inner harmony and love. It starts inside of us and then it extends to the whole world. When we think of what happened in Minneapolis, and what is happening in Los Angeles right now we know that we are far from this gift of peace. We know that our work is cut out for us.

Jesus then sends the disciples out, but how does he send them out? As the father sends me so I send you. As the father sends me so I send you. We are sent exactly as Jesus is sent. We have the same mission that Jesus has. We aren’t sent to do any old thing. We aren’t sent as representatives, we don’t try to do our little part. No, we are sent exactly as the father sent Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to do his will; no Jesus came to do his father’s will. We are the presence of Jesus in the world today. We come to do God’s will

Now as I said we know that our work is cut out for us, but it is good for us to keep in mind the specific task that Jesus highlighted when he sent out the disciples: the task that he gave them as he breathed upon them, the task of forgiveness. We are sent forth to be Jesus’ healing and forgiving presence in the world today.

We can rightly make a reference to the sacrament of reconciliation in the reading, but I don’t think that that is all that Jesus is talking about, or that priests are the only ones called to be a source of reconciliation in the world today. I think that Jesus is sending each one of us as his disciples into the world this day to be a healing and forgiving presence in the world today.  Again Minneapolis comes to mind but just think of our own city of Angels. There is so much division; there is hatred and fear. It his press conference yesterday Mayor Garcetti spoke to this division. He made a very good suggestion. He said if you don’t understand why folks are protesting sit down and talk to a young black man and ask him about his fears. If you don’t understand someone ask them how they feel. We need to talk to one another; we need to listen to each other. The corona virus strikes us all, the rich and the poor, the black and the brown and white, the young and the old. What is needed at this time is the gift of the spirit. What is needed is folks who are dedicated to the hard work of reconciliation. We are called to forgive and unite, not retain and divide.

Last Sunday we celebrated the solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus. Christ is not present in the world today in the same way as he was before the Ascension. Christ is here, and always is, but not in the same way. The Apostles could see the Lord and feel his presence, but they could also eat with him, go fishing with him. Things we cannot do with him the now.

How is Christ present in the world today? Where can we see Christ? How can we touch Christ?  The world can see Christ in us. People can touch Christ through us. As I said today is our birthday, we are the Church, but instead of getting gifts we have to give gifts, the gifts of forgiveness and peace. We are the presence of Christ in the world today. Jesus breathed on us so that we could be His presence in the world today.

Saint Teresa of Avila said,

“Christ has no body now but ours,
No hands, no feet on earth but ours.
We possess the eyes through which He looks with compassion on this world.
We possess the feet with which he walks to do good.
Ours are the hands with which He blesses all the world.
Ours are the hands, the feet, the eyes of Christ.
We are his body.
May we use the gift of our bodies
To Live Christ in the world
So all people know his healing touch. Amen

Now there are many protesting in our streets, others who are afraid, they have the right to ask, "Where is God?" But we who believe in Jesus have a responsibility to show God to others.

God is present in the world today in us. When we help the poor, it is God helping them. When we are faithful in our marriages, it is God who is faithful. When we are kind to the people in the store, it is God who is kind. When we go to the store for our neighbor who cannot leave their house and offer to go to the store for them, it is God. When we sit down and talk to someone who thinks differently than we do, votes differently than we do; we are Christ to one another. And as Jesus says, when we forgive others, it is God’s forgiveness we are sharing. The most important work we can do is to forgive.

We have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but not to keep them to ourselves, but to use them. In the same way that Christ was sent by the Father we are sent. So let us continue to do the work of Christ. Let's be the presence of Christ in the world today. Jesus breathed on us; through us we breathe Christ’s life in the World.