What is going on in our first reading today?
Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Well, then, what is going on in our gospel reading? The same thing: Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Why are there two versions of the Pentecost event? Because the Spirit can come either in a loud, dramatic way, or in a quiet, gentle way. In fact, there can be many ways in which the Spirit can come upon a person. As Jesus says in the gospel of John: “The wind blows where and how it chooses . . . and so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3: 8). You cannot control the Spirit, nor should you want to do so. The Spirit is untamable, unpredictable, a wildfire at times, and we don’t like that, it threatens to disturb our nice, comfortable, predictable way of life. But you know what, brothers and sisters, Christians are not called to live nice, comfortable, predictable lives here on earth. It is not what a life led in the Spirit of God is meant to be like. Such a life can be like a wild-water ride, a rollercoaster ride, if it is truly the Spirit who is leading us, and we are letting ourselves be led by him. “A ship is safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships are built for “
Think of the surfer being pulled along by a speedboat, taking the occasional spill into the water, and getting up again. Think of a skier riding down the side of the mountain, or a handglide sailing through the clouds of the sky. We probably shrink from trying any of these extreme sports, but something deep down inside us admires and envies the people enjoying the thrill of the experience. I read the story of missionaries preaching the gospel in far-away places, living the lives of the tribes they are ministering to, and seeing miracles of healing and provision happening all around them, simply because they have no other recourse but to turn to God for help, and God is always showing up and doing stuff. Or I read about evangelists going into dark and dangerous streets in cities and having encounters with evil as they fight to win prostitutes and drug addicts and criminals to Christ and out of the clutches of the And I think of my nice, comfortable life here in nice, comfortable Canada, with everything provided for me , and so I don’t seem to see God doing much around me, because most of the people here are also living nice, comfortable lives , and seem to be doing very well without God, thanks very much, and, thus, evangelizing is so difficult as a result. Which is why it has been good for me and others to go on mission to Peru over the years, into the poorest areas of the city, because their people are hungry for God, thirsting for the gospel, they snatch up any bibles or rosaries or other spiritual objects we bring. And we are able to see miracles and healings taking place because there is real faith there. And that stirs up our faith as well, and we are more willing to be bolder in our evangelizing than at home. For the person truly willing to be led by the Spirit of God, faith is spelt R I S K!
But, having said all that, it is still true that the coming of the Spirit is usually much quieter and gentler than that, for most of us who have been baptized and confirmed. And that’s ok too. After all, we are not seeking the revival of God, but the God of revival. The continuous cry of our hearts and our lips should be “We want more of you, God, more of Jesus, more of the Holy Spirit. Increase our capacity to receive more of you” Because the problem is not with God’s giving. It is about how much of him we are willing to receive. Sin and what St John calls “the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches” (1 John 2: 16) can so stuff our hearts that there is not much room left over for the desire for more of God.
So there is a Pentecost in which we receive God into our lives to inwardly transform us into children of God who strive to live godly, holy lives, which serve to attract others to know God and receive God into their hearts. And there is a Pentecost in which we are given the boldness and strength to go out to others and evangelize them by witnessing to our faith and putting our gifts into practice by serving our brothers and sisters in their need. Baptism corresponds to the first Pentecost; Confirmation to the second. St Luke describes the first kind of Pentecost in our first reading; St John describes the second sort of Pentecost in our gospel. Maybe you or I need more of the graces of our baptism to be stirred up within us so we lead lives more dedicated and desiring of God. Perhaps we need the fruits of the Spirit to be more evident in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. These are described in the alternate second reading that you will find in your missals, from Galatians 5:16-25.
Or maybe we need more of the graces of our confirmation to be stirred up within us so we can be bolder in sharing our faith with others. Perhaps we need more of the gifts of the Spirit, or charisms, that are not mentioned in our first second reading, but are there nonetheless, because the editors have left them out of our missals. They are found in verses 8-11 of chapter 12 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians – gifts like tongues, discernment of spirits, healing, miracles, prophecy, etc. These are gifts that give evidence of the power of God and Jesus promises to provide those kinds of signs to accompany and give strength to our witness as we go out to preach the gospel, as we read in the gospel passage from the end of Mark’s gospel last Sunday.
Or maybe we need both sorts of graces, both sorts of Pentecost experience to be stirred up within us. No matter, the Holy Spirit can give us whatever we need, and, as Jesus promises us in Luke’s gospel: “If we know how to give our children good things, how much more will our heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13).
So, let’s ask him, shall we brothers and sisters?