Come Holy Spirit

PENTECOST John 20, 19-23 Today we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. The birth of the Church. When the Holy Spirit came down upon the Disciples in the upper room. The doors tightly locked because of their fear and the Holy Spirit came down and they opened those doors and left that room and they began to live their faith, the begin to share their faith. Luke paints a powerful story of this incredible event in the first reading for today. It happens on the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection. Rushing wind and tongues of fire and the disciples speaking in so many different languages. John too tells the story in his Gospel. Here it is the day of the Resurrection, Jesus is still with the Disciples and he sends them forth to proclaim forgivenss of sins. Someone might ask, which story is more correct? What really happened? Did the Holy Spirit come on Easter Sunday, or 50 days later? Were there rushing winds or not? What about those tongues of fire? The answer obviously is yes! The Holy Spirit came down upon the Disciples the day of the resurrection, and she came down upon them on the day of Pentecost. The thing is, the Spirit didn’t just come once in the past, the Spirit comes continually. What we celebrate today is not some event that happened in the past. The Holy Spirit continues to come down upon us and send us forth again and again. The first Reading mentions 13 different language groups and says that everyone heard the gospel in their own language. It was the undoing to Babel. Instead of being divided the people were now united. United by one common language. Unity in the midst of diversity. A sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the community is solidarity. We are united as one. It is the unity that we heard proclaimed in the second reading from I Corinthians for today. Many gifts but one spirit. It is the Spirit that brings us together as one. Not language, not political party, not nationality but the Spirit. The Spirit also brought courage. It both stories the disciples were fearful but when they received the Holy Spirit they were filled with courage, the doors were unlocked, the windows were open, the disciples left the security of their room and began to live the gospel, they shared their faith. Yes, let us celebrate today. We remember what happened in that upper room when the Spirit came down upon the Apostles, but we also celebrate today and ask that the Holy Spirit come down upon us today. We need these gifts of unity today, the church is still divided. Not just between protestants and catholics but within the Catholic Church we know divisions: liberals and conservatives, right and left, those with Pope Francis and those against. Those who want women priests and those who threaten to leave if this were ever to happen. Yes! We need unity in our church today, right now! We need courage today! Courage to continue to live the gospel and to proclaim our faith. Not just with those who agree with us but with all. We need the courage to make our church more inclusive, to reach out to those who are on the margins and have been excluded for too long. Yes! We need courage to live the Gospel today! In many ways we are still a church waiting for the Holy Spirit, locked in upper rooms afraid of each other and afraid of the world. We long for the gifts of the Spirit, the lover of the poor, the light of human hearts, the kind guide and lavish giver of gifts, the advocate who eases our burdens, the light in our darkness, the fire in our hearts, the healer of wounds and forgiver of sins. Lord, send forth your spirit again and renew the face of this troubled earth. Come, Holy Spirit. Awaken our weak, small, wavering faith. Teach us to trust in the unfathomable love of God our Father for all children, whether they are inside or outside your Church. If this faith is extinguished in our hearts, it will soon die in our communities and churches as well. Come, Holy Spirit. Make Jesus the center of your Church. Let nothing and no one supplant or obscure it. Live among us drawing us closer to his Gospel and following his steps. May we not flee from His Word, nor forget His command of love. May his memory never be lost in the world. Come, Holy Spirit. Open our ears to hear your calls, those that come to us today, with their questions, sufferings, conflicts and contradictions. May we live open to your power to engender the new faith that our society needs. In your Church, may we live more attentive to what gives life than to what dies, with hearts sustained by hope and not undermined by nostalgia. Come, Holy Spirit, purify the heart of your Church. Teach us your truth. Teach us to recognize our sins and limitations. Remind us that we are just everyone else: fragile, mediocre, and sinful. Free us from our arrogance and false security. Grant that we may learn to walk among all people with more truth and humility. Come, Holy Spirit. Teach us to look at life, the world and, above all, people in a new way. May we learn to see as Jesus saw those who suffer, those who weep, those who fall, those who live alone and forgotten. If our gaze changes, so will the heart and face of your Church. As disciples of Jesus, we will better radiate his closeness, understanding and solidarity towards those most in need. We will become more like our Master and Lord. Come, Holy Spirit. Make us a Church of open doors, compassionate hearts, and contagious hope. May nothing and no one distract us or divert us from Jesus' plan: to make a world more just and dignified, kinder and happier, opening paths to the kingdom of God. José Antonio Pagola