Pentecost Sunday---Liturgical Cycle C

Lectionary Readings

Pentecost Sequence

Holy Spirit, Lord Divine,
Come from heights of heav’n and shine,
Come with blessed radiance bright!

Come, O Father of the poor,
Come, whose treasured gifts endure,
Come our heart’s unfailing light!

Of consolers, wisest, best,
And our soul’s most welcome guest,
Sweet refreshment sweet repose.

In our labor rest most sweet,
Pleasant coolness in the heat,
Consolation in our woes.

Light most blessed, shine with grace
In our heart’s most secret place,
Fill your faithful through and through.

Left without your presence here,
Life itself would disappear,
Nothing thrives apart from you!

Cleanse our soiled hearts of sin,
Arid souls refresh within,
Wounded lives to health restore.

Bend the stubborn heart and will,
Melt the frozen, warm the chill,
Guide the wayward home once more!

On the faithful who are true
And profess their faith in you,
In your sev’nfold gift descend!

Give us virtue’s sure reward,
Give us your salvation, Lord.
Give us joys that never end!



Homily
Remember John’s gospel, at the Last Supper, when Philip and Jesus are talking? Philip says, “Lord, show us your God (Father).”

Jesus answers him, “Phil, have I been with you all this time and you still do not know me? Who sees me sees my God. God and I are one.”

We can put ourselves into Phillip’s shoes (his sandals) to say with him, “Jesus, show us the Spirit.” Heaven knows, we would sure like to see a bit of Spirit in our lives. Things can get pretty boring sometimes, even fun stuff, even vacations. Life seems to lead nowhere. Is this all there is?

The Book of Revelation gives us two images: Beast of the Deep and City of God. The woman with the crown of stars and clothed in sunlight, about to give birth to the children of the world. The Beast of Evil ready to devour them. The Child and all who wash their robes white in the Blood of the Lamb, bathed in commitment, are swept up to the throne of God and come down from heaven as the Bride of the Lamb, the City of God. It is God’s reign, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven. It is the vision of Genesis, where all of humankind are in the Eden garden in easy peace with their God. The author of Apocalypse calls Spirit people to be about the building of this reign of God.

So when we, like Philip, ask the Lord, “Show us the Spirit and we will understand,” Jesus, impatiently, must say, “Who sees me sees the Spirit.” Who sees the Body of Christ, sees the Spirit. The Spirit is in all those once committed to the New Way, to the Way of God. The Spirit is in the faces all around you. Look in the mirror. The Spirit is there. We can smother it, we can push it to the corners of our being, but we cannot rid ourselves, or shake the presence from our being. G.K. Chesterson once remarked: “Christianity has not failed; it just hasn’t been tried yet.”

On the first day of Pentecost, Peter quotes the prophet Joel,

It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out a portion of my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy. Your young ones shall see visions and your old ones shall dream dreams.

Jesus was a seer of visions and a dreamer of dreams. Even in the midst of his ill-fated walk to Calvary, Jesus dreamed of a Spirit-filled people, a people who see visions and dream dreams about what can be. A Spirit-filled community of disciples, a new creation, a new reality—the reign of God, here and yet coming, able to be savored now and yet fully to flower. God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

We can see this in the beatitudes of Matthew’s gospel. Here the visionary and dreamer, and all who walk in this Spirit see a new existence, a new kind of everyday life – a life that answers the question, “Is this all there is?” The dream and the vision see a happy people able to live in an imperfect world, amid suffering and evil, and still maintain a deep core of peace in their hearts.

It is a people in which God’s will is done – a world in which people are comforted, needs are met, mercy and forgiveness have primacy, devotion to God and to one another is singlehearted, relationships are friendly and warm as become the family of God. It is the world of the spirit, where God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

I believe we are called by our God to be yeast in dough. I believe that true peace in one’s life is very possible. I believe we are called by our God to live life to the hilt: to be all God created us to be. It is God’s Spirit kindled like fire that keeps this dream, this vision, burning within.

We believe in the Sophia, the Holy Spirit, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son;
is worshiped and glorified
She has spoken through the prophets.
we believe in God the Holy Spirit.

--Fr. Pat

Excerpt from "A Catholic's Companion: Liturgical Cycle C" (c)2000 C. Patrick Creed
Published by Watchmaker Press. Maggie Hettinger, editor