Preached Saturday, May 18 - Feast of Pentecost SKT at St. Cecilia

Readings:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/051913-pentecost-mass-during-day.cfm

Audio:   https://sites.google.com/site/sktdeaconed/home/mp3/150518_001.mp3?attredirects=0&d=1

          One of the ushers asked me a few months ago, “Deacon Ed why don’t we ever hear about your family in your homilies?” and I told him to wait awhile, that “I’d get around to it” eventually.  So I guess I’ll start today with a little anecdote about my family that perhaps you parents and kids can relate to.
             It was just about the time our oldest daughter Lauren was born, my wife and I went out and spent money we didn’t have because we had to have a VHS video camera.  And boy did we get our money’s worth – from the Hospital delivery room where I got some shots my wife has probably erased, and at every significant moment in Lauren’s first few years plus more than a few insignificant moments as well, we have tens of hours of video tape of Lauren doing anything and everything.  And hours of her doing nothing at all.  Same thing with still pictures – we took hundreds of pictures of her, and that was when you had to buy film and pay to have it developed!

            Then along came Colleen, our second daughter, and now busy with two little ones, we didn’t haul out either the video camera or still camera nearly as often.  So as a rough guess I’d say that if we have 50 hours of video of our oldest, we might have five hours of video of Colleen, our middle daughter.

            Then along came Erin, our youngest, and boy did she get short-changed.  Because busy as we were with three little ones, and with the novelty of parenthood having worn off a bit, we probably have at most have 20 minutes of video of her, and almost no still pictures.  We found this out a couple years ago putting together a collage of pictures for her High School graduation  party – we could barely find any!  Poor Erin!

            This all came to mind as I was preparing for this weekend’s Feast of Pentecost, because that’s just about how much attention we seem to give to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity, whose descent upon the disciples we celebrate today.  Now I admit it’s a bit of an awkward metaphor, but think about it - look at the bible, the entire Old Testament speaks of God the Father and His relationship with His people.  And we have the Gospels and much of the rest of the New Testament, that tell of the life of Jesus Christ.  But there’s almost nothing in scripture that speaks of the Holy Spirit.  A handful of scripture references, many of which comprise our readings tonight and tomorrow (last evening and today).

            So it seems that the Holy Spirit gets short-changed, big-time.   Which is odd, don’t you think, since if you stop to think about it, it’s the Holy Spirit who’s actually the closest to us.  Who since our baptism has lived within us.  And Who was poured out anew upon us in the Sacrament of Confirmation, poured out upon our young people at the Cathedral ten (eleven) days ago. 

            It is the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who pours into us the Spirit’s seven-fold gifts:  which you’ll recall are Wisdom, Understanding, Fear of the Lord, Right counsel, Knowledge, Fortitude, and Reverence. 

            And if we are living in the Spirit, we will exhibit all the many fruits of the Spirit – Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity.

            Now that’s your catechism lesson for today (there’s a quiz later), but what does it mean for you and me?  Put another way, “why should I give a darn about the Holy Spirit?  So What?” You might ask.  And who is this Holy Spirit, anyway?  After all, it’s not some white bird that we worship today.

            So in answer to these questions , there are three things I want to focus on.  Three reasons we should give a darn about the Holy Spirit - Power, Courage and Love. 

            The Holy Spirit is the source of the power in our faith, that energy, the fire within us.  It’s not unlike an appliance that, if not plugged into the electric outlet, just sits there.  But once plugged in to the source of its power, only if plugged in to the source of its power, can it do what it is supposed to do, what it was created to do.   If the electric outlet is Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit is the electricity flowing through that cord and making it work.

            And there’s courage, or fortitude.  Think about the disciples and apostles after Our Lord had left them, and ascended into heaven.  They just sat there, locked in a room.  No energy.  No direction.  No power.  Filled with fear.  But when the Holy Spirit descended upon them, was breathed into them, overcame them, they became completely changed.  Completely energized.  Brimming with fortitude, filled with courage.  No longer afraid of anything, they went forth and boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ – that Christ’s kingdom is at hand, that by faith in Christ their sins are forgiven and eternal life is set before them.  They were unafraid to proclaim that they had encountered a person, Jesus, who had saved them and set them free. 

            Filled with the same power of the Holy Spirit, you and I have that same courage to proclaim our faith.  To tell those around us what our Lord has done for us, how He has set us free, forgiven our sins, raised us to new life.     

            And the Holy Spirit is love.  In the Nicene Creed we profess faith that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son.”  We believe that the Holy Spirit is the very self-giving, life-giving love that flows forth from that intimate love relationship of the Father and the Son.  And is the very same self-giving, life-giving love that flows forth from Christian men, women and children. From you.  From me.  Into our marriages.  Into our families.  Love that shines forth and enlivens our communities and workplaces.  Our nation and our world.  Self-giving love for each other, especially the neediest, the poorest, the most forgotten among us.  That is the love the Holy Spirit breathes into us.

            The power and love of the Holy Spirit can be summed up in a simple, two-letter word, a word that I as deacon proclaim at every Mass I serve.  And that word is “go.”  The Holy Spirit prompts us to go and shows us where to go.  The last line of the liturgy is “Go.  In peace.  To love and serve.  To glorify the Lord by your life.”  Go.  It is the Holy Spirit that makes you and me “go.”  To go forth from the friendly, comfortable confines of this Church and to bring the Word and Love of Jesus Christ out into our world.  We “go” only with the power, the courage and the love of the Holy Spirit.

            May the Holy Spirit that flood us with the Spirit’s gifts, that our lives may shine forth the Spirit’s fruits, that by our Words and our lives, many may come to know our Savior, Jesus Christ.

            Let us pray:  Come Holy Spirit.  Fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in us the fire of Your love.  Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created and You shall renew the face of the earth.  Amen.