Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 12:3B-7, 12-13; Jn 20:19-23
In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked
the other: “ Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “why,
of course. There has to be something after delivery. May be we are here to
prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life
after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”
The second said, “ I don’t know, but there will
be more light than here. May be we will walk with our legs and eat from our
mouth. May be we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”
The first replied,” that is absurd. Walking is
impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous ! The umbilical cord
supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short.
Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted,” Well I think there is
something and may be it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this
physical cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if
there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the
end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and
silence and oblivion. It takes nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but
certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe
in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”
The second said.” She is all around us. We are
surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this
world would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “well I don’t see her, so it is
only logical that she doesn’t exit.”
To which the second replied, “ Sometimes, when
you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can hear Her loving voice,
calling down from above.”
Today is Pentecost: The Church’s birthday!
“Before Pentecost, the disciples were unsure of what they were to do next, and
spent most of their time in hiding. After Pentecost and the gift of the Holy
Spirit, they understood their mission to spread the Good News of Jesus, and
they had the courage to come out of their hiding and speak openly about who
Jesus was, and what he had accomplished by his dying and rising.
Todays Gospel tells us that Jesus breathed on
them. The Acts of the Apostles also tells us something similar: A violent wind
invaded the house where the Apostles were staying.” His action of breathing
inaugurated a new life in them. It means that the gifts of the Holy Spirit
commences a new life. And Pentecost marks the birth and creation of the
official Church. And it gave clarity of mission to the disciples of Jesus who
were hiding behind the curtains. The gifts of the Holy
Spirit – Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Fortitude, Good Counsel, Piety, and
Fear of the Lord changed the vision of the apostles.
According to Archbishop Romero, who was beatified by Pope
Francis on May 23, 2015, Today, “Pentecost is not just one day, but every day. Without breath,
there is no life. Without the Spirit, the Church is a field of dry,
dead bones”. Fulton J. Sheen once said about the Church, "Even
though we are God's chosen people,
we often behave more like God's frozen
people--frozen in our prayer life, frozen in the way we relate with one
another, frozen in the way we celebrate our faith." Today is a great
day to ask the Holy Spirit to rekindle in us the spirit of new life and
enthusiasm, the fire of God's love. On this birthday of the Church let us
resolve to be true members of the Church, a spirit filled people, a people
ready to carry out the mission entrusted to us. Let us pray: Come Holy Spirit,
come and renew us, our families, our Church and our world at large.
Let us repeat Cardinal Newman’s favorite little prayer, “Come Holy Spirit:” Let us pray
together: “Come Holy Spirit, Make our
ears to hear, Make our eyes to see, Make our mouths to speak, Make our hearts
to seek, Make our hands to reach out, And touch the world with your love.
AMEN.