It has been two thousand years and perhaps the Church has still not fully understood nor implemented what happened on that amazing Sunday – when the very Holy Spirit of God the Father fell deeply into the lives of the Twelve Apostles gathered in the Upper Room. The whole house shook! It had the sound as of a mighty wind! That wind is still blowing!
But another image came to life that day as well: rivers of life giving water erupted that began to trickle from the side of Christ Crucified. The blood that flowed out was for the forgiveness of our sins; the water was a sign of this very event of the coming of the Spirit when the Church would be inaugurated and the fountain of life-giving water would well up forever providing our way into everlasting life!
What does it mean to be "filled to overflowing with the presence of the Gift of God – the Holy Spirit?" It means three things: our sanctification. It means our access to real, concrete, authentic, genuine and infallible truth. It means being equipped for membership in the communion of saints – the Church - where there is just so many things that we can do to help one another and to help the whole world!
SANCTIFICATION: The first and most excellent result of the coming of the Spirit is to sanctify the Church – to make it holy – unceasingly – which means that believers can now have access to the Father through Christ in the one Spirit. It is by means of the sacraments of the Church – beginning with Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist that this access is given – and membership into the one body of Christ is accomplished. If there were no sacraments we would not have access to the Father; there would be no way for us to be "plugged into" the events of Christ's death and resurrection. Thank you Holy Spirit for coming to sanctify us! To make us holy!
INFALLILBLE TRUTH – There is a story that our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, the day after his election as Pope said to a friend who asked "How do you feel today?" – "Well I don't feel any more infallible today than I did two days ago!" In one way he was right, in another way there is more to the story. Infallibility regarding the real honest truth about who God is, who we are, how we are supposed to get along with one another, and where this is all leading to - was signed, sealed and delivered on that sunny Pentecost Day to the entire Church – to all of us. It would be "by the working and guidance of the Holy Spirit" who is the very Wisdom and Truth of the Church – that absolute assuredness about these things would be available. Isn't that an amazing and wonderful thing to know!
With so much untruth in the world today! With so much lying and deception and corruption! With so much energy being put forth to twist, distort and manipulate truth – it is so very refreshing and vital to know that in the Catholic Church there is found TRUTH!: truth about everything – everything that is crucial, beneficial and important in life. These truths are summarized in our Creeds, and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church -which is an outstanding summary and explanation of who we are and what we believe as Catholics.
As I said the whole Church is infallible in matters of faith and morals: which means that any "infallible statement" that is made – and they are very few and far between – is made after consulting all of the bishops of the world – and a tremendous cross section of lay people from throughout the world as well. Then, if the Holy Father concurs – (he has final veto power) – the statement can be said to be made through his mouth – as successor of Peter - as an infallible statement. And so yes, the Pope is "infallible" – but not without you and me!
GIFTS – The Holy Spirit, lastly, equips each and every member of the Church on the day of their Baptism, Confirmation (Ordination), with gifts to ensure that the Church will be the best Body of Christ that it can possibly be at any given time! So that we can be One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic! Some gifts he gives to everyone: the FAITH, HOPE, CHARITY of Baptism; the WISDOM, UNDERSTANDING, COUNSEL, KNOWLEDGE, PIETY, FORTITUDE, FEAR OF THE LORD of Confirmation; and any special, custom made gifts that he knows would be useful for each individual: for example, making apostles teachers, preachers, administrators; gifts of prophecy, interpretation of prophecy, healing – and any other kind of gift - of the Spirit's own choosing. It is comforting and exciting to know that God has provided everything we need to make the Church work!
Now, back to my original statement – after two thousand years, does this sound like the Church that you
know and are a member of? To a greater degree I hope you can say "Yes, it is!" But I hope you can also say, with me, that in many ways it is not! It needs some work! It is on a special day like this – when we recall the very first day of our existence with all of its eagerness and enthusiasm – when we can see
things as they are – we can reaffirm our membership in the communion of saints – we can rededicate ourselves to using the gifts that we have been given for our sanctification; for our access to truth; for the smooth running of our united organization – which is so much more than a bureaucracy: it is the living Body of Jesus Christ.
One way that we can do this – all of us – is to welcome the opportunity, this year, once again – to participate in the Bishop's Appeal. To ensure the smooth running of the early Church – the faithful would place their gifts at the feet of the Apostles so that help could be given to those who were truly in need. In our day, this appeal is, for us, most assuredly a way to live out and respond to in a grateful and generous way our own baptismal call, to not only share in the rights of life in the Church – the rights to the sacraments and care by the Church when we are in need; but also the duties and responsibilities that come with it – to support and take care of others who are in need – others who are truly our brothers and sisters in Christ.
I have watched a DVD of our bishop talking on this subject and he wants me to assure you that even though there is an increase of 1.4% in the "target goal" over last year - (up to 3.7m from 3.6m) – this is far from the general cost of living increase that seems to be accelerating everyday! Diocesan programs are vital to his mission of pastoring the people of our state. Let us place something at his feet for his use! In essence – he was sent out on Pentecost Day to do his work! Let us consider how we can help him! Let us prayerfully consider how much of a beginning we can make if we haven't given before; or how much of an increase we can make over last year – if we have given before. The pledge cards will be available next Sunday at Mass.
I close with a PRAYER FOR NEW EVANGELIZATION: Loving Father, Lord of heaven and earth, you gather us together to be your Church in this time and place. Send your Spirit to be with us, and open our hearts to do your will. As we make this journey as a Diocesan Church, we trust that you will guide us along the way. Help us embrace this new evangelization with faith and love. May it empower us to recognize you and to bear witness to your presence in the world.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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