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Do You Want To Fly?

Pentecost Sunday

May 31^st, 2009

John 15:26-27, 16:12-15

Jesus said to his disciples:  “When the Advocate comes whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.  And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.  “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now.  But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth.  He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming.  He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.  Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

        As I reflect on this reading, the thought crosses my mind that the promise of the Holy Spirit by Jesus after he has ascended into heaven, is a very profound message for his followers at that time, and perhaps for those who follow him today.  One thing comes across quite clearly to me is that Jesus, his Father, and the Spirit, are one in the same God, a mystery that many perhaps cannot comprehend.  He had already told them before that when he left, he was going to sent a Paraclete.  And, in essence, simply said, “Guys, if you think I have performed miracles, when the Spirit comes, you will be able to do things that I haven’t done thus far.”  At least I believe that is the intention of what he said.  We can still act as if it is all about others.  I say that because I think that we’ll rarely experience the pouring out of the Holy Spirit exactly as the apostles did; winds roared, tongues of fire leaped upon their heads, they shrunk in terror at the unexplained spectacle and even began to speak in languages unknown.

        Perhaps we would like for the Spirit to express himself that dramatically in this day and age to us.  Has he?  Maybe to some.  It is more realistic, perhaps, to understand that the Holy Spirit is given to each person as a unique individual who is integral to the life of those around him or her.

        Paul spoke about the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, yours and mine.  “No one can say,” he wrote, “Jesus is Lord except in the Spirit.”  All the services rendered to each other, all the works we work, all the gifts and talents we use, it is all from the same Spirit.

        The Jerusalem wind and fire is over.  Jesus does not appear anymore.  But the Spirit remains.  As Paul wrote, “It remains in the humdrum of our daily lives, hidden and mostly unnoticed by us.”  Being unnoticed does not mean not being there!  Perhaps we need to become aware of the unnoticed experiences we have.  Our breathing goes on all the time, so become aware of our breathing.  Our hearing, for the most part, remains functional, so become aware of our hearing.  We feel bodily sensations all the time.  Become aware of those feelings.  Without some concentration, the presence of the Holy Spirit, the fruits of Pentecost, will remain as unnoticed to us as our breathing, hearing, and bodily sensations.

        Pentecost is about us.  It is about our takeoff with the Spirit.  With that Spirit, we have to fly in all directions.  But that is another difficulty, that variety in the Spirit.  The Spirit is given at different times: the third day, the fiftieth day, and every day since.  The Spirit is given in different ways: in the enthusiasm and excitement of a gifted speaker, a poem, in the smile of a child, in the quiet of our praying, in the listening of a spiritual song or a gospel hymn.

 The Spirit is given in different gifts: in the gift of peacemaking, forgiving, speaking in tongues, healing, dancing, singing, playing, and praising the Lord.  Jesus laid the foundation for our journey to the Kingdom of God when he said, “Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me.”  Although he promised us the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, we have to make it happen.  We have to allow the Spirit into our hearts? 

How about living as Christians as we were called to be.  It is quite alarming when over half of the so called Christians in this country voted for a President who comes across so much as denying God.  And even more alarming that over 50% of Catholics also voted for him.  Certainly not the work of the Holy Spirit.  Something is very wrong with this.  Just who do we say we are? And if we are who we say are, then maybe it’s about time to LIVE IT or GET OUT of the fold, and stop all the pretence.

The differences are so great and the difficulties so alarming, that even while we are engulfed in all of this, Paul is quoted from his letter to Corinth where Jesus’ followers threatened to split up because they were all flying in different directions.  Yet those in Corinth were at least flying.  It is those fliers that Paul wrote.

        Let us belong to those who fly on the wind of that Spirit, and let us fly together into the dawn of the Kingdom to come!

© Deacon Steve A. Politte

May 28, 2009