Sunday, May 28, 2023

PENTECOST SUNDAY

(Acts 2:1-11; I Corinthians 12:3-7.12-13; John 20:19-23)

Today, Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the Holy Spirit, it is true. But we also celebrate the Church. In some parishes forty or fifty years ago they brought a big cake into mass. The children sang “Happy Birthday” because today is the day the Church was born. While such a practice may highlight the connection between Pentecost and the Church, it also trivializes both. Somehow, we have to relate Pentecost to the Church by taking both things seriously.

It helps us to understand that Pentecost is not just a Christian holiday. Rather, it has its origins in the foundations of Judaism. On the fiftieth day after the Passover and exodus from Egypt, the Israelites received the Law of God. Together with the Covenant, the Law meant that they were the “People of God.” With the gift of the Holy Spirit, we Christians have also identified ourselves as the "People of God" or, sometimes, the "New People of God."

We are the "New People" not only because we are the most recent. Rather, we are men and women recreated by Baptism. We remember what Jesus says to Nicodemus in the Gospel of John: "'He who is not born again cannot see the Kingdom of God.'" Jesus then goes on to explain how to be "born again" is to be born "of water and of the Spirit." Of course, he is referring to Baptism.

The gospel today shows Jesus blowing on the apostles while he says: "... To those whose sins you forgive, they will be forgiven them." We Christians are also renewed because we are not bound by our past sins. We are like the criminal whose sentence is pardoned. He can start life anew without paying the debts due for his previous crime.

Jesus left the New People of God with a mission. Its members, beginning with the apostles, have to go everywhere setting the world ablaze with love. The flames that pass from one to the other in the first reading today represent hearts on fire. They do not stop with the group in the hall but continue to spread through Jerusalem and from there throughout the world to this day. The disciples of Jesus both in Jerusalem and we today fulfill this task by announcing the good news of the love of God. Of course, this announcement is not made only with words but also with deeds.

Since the time of Saint Paul the Church has also identified herself as the "Body of Christ." This is a strange title. In what sense is the church like a body? The Church remains on earth as the physical and organic presence of Christ. The Spirit of Christ, that is, the Holy Spirit, animates this body to fulfill its mission of announcing the love of God. Believers in Christ are the members of this body, each with his or her own ability. Everyone has their necessary role as in the case of a human body so that the Church continues to radiate love. Whether we are cardinal archbishops or those who fry fish for dinner on Lenten Fridays, we support the Church in proclaiming the Kingdom.

The Spirit harmonizes all the efforts of the members. That is why it seems that Pope Francis' proposal to institutionalize synodality with the laity comes from the Spirit. The bishops have always listened to the opinions of the laity. They have sisters, cousins, and cooks in their houses. But casual listening is neither clear nor compelling. The Spirit works by the structures that are built to be truthful and effective.

It has been said that sometimes you have to accept changes so that things remain as always. It seems so with the Church now. Synodality may be necessary for the Church to continue spreading the self-sacrificing love of God.