Some years ago, back at the turn of the millennium, I watched a news show in which the host asked a historian to name the most important person in human history. I don’t remember the historian’s name, but he made a point of calling himself an agnostic. And then he said something very interesting.
"As an historian," he said, "I’d have to say that the most influential person in human history was Jesus Christ. The problem is, I can't understand how he came to be so influential. He really was a nobody, tucked away in a little corner of the world. He didn't write anything. He didn't go anywhere or do anything very important. He was executed for treason. And his followers? Just a handful of simple peasants. He should have been forgotten in a matter of days or weeks. It's truly inexplicable. But, that's history."
Yes, Mr. Historian, that is history. And this history, viewed from the perspective of the Church's teachings, becomes very explainable. You see, the three most influential events in the history of humanity all centered on the person of Jesus Christ, events that took place within eight weeks of each other. Another thing they have in common: they were actions, taken not by men, but by God Himself.
These events are true history — perhaps we should say, His Story — the story of the Creator of all things doing the most remarkable things in an almost unbelievable, inexplicable way. It’s the story of a loving Father sending His Son to suffer and die at the hands of those He created, as a perfect offering for their sins.
Our historian was at least partially right: Jesus Christ is inexplicable, until we plumb the depths of God's Love for us. And His Story doesn't end with the first event on the cross at Calvary. If it had, our historian's instincts would have been correct and Jesus would have been a mere footnote.
The Father wasn’t content to let it end there. He wanted us to know, to accept the truth. And so, three days later, the 2nd event occurs. Jesus rises from the dead, to prove His Divinity, and to give a foretaste of what lies in wait for those who love Him and keep His commandments. But even the Resurrection is insufficient, for the Father wants His Truth, and the knowledge of His infinite Love, to spread to the ends of the earth. He sacrificed His Son, not for a handful of followers, not for the Jewish people, His Chosen Ones, who for centuries preserved His Law, even if they didn’t always follow it too closely. No, this act of redemption was for all of humanity, for every person is a child of God.
Today we celebrate this third event, a relatively brief event in the history of salvation, but an event of such impact that it permanently and profoundly altered the very history of the world. For what took place in Jerusalem on that Sunday morning almost 2,000 years ago is God's lasting gift to His children. He had sent His Son to suffer and die as a redemptive sacrifice, to free us from the slavery of sin and death and to give us the hope of eternal life. Now He sends His Holy Spirit, the giver of life, the personification of the Divine Love between Father and Son.
And what power the Spirit has! Suddenly, 120 men and women, this fearful little band of followers, are transformed. If someone’s never been afraid – really afraid, afraid that he might suffer a violent death any moment -- the kind of fear that those who’ve survived combat know all too well – then he probably doesn’t know how the disciples felt that day. They had seen what happened to Jesus, and they feared it might well happen to them.
But as they gathered in prayer around our Blessed Mother in the upper room, the mighty breath of God and the fire of the Spirit’s presence engulfed them and they were changed forever. The Holy Spirit manifested in them the new, eternal covenant with God, the covenant Jesus instituted at the Last Supper. And so the Spirit formed them into the Church through which they would bring God's message of salvation to the world.
How had Jesus put it just ten days earlier? "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always until the close of the age." Now, for the first time, they began to understand what this mission entailed. And just as suddenly, all of Jesus' teachings, all of His promises, the words of the Word of God that had seemed so cryptic, became perfectly clear. Inspired by the Spirit with this new understanding, and overflowing with enthusiasm for the mission He’d given them, they poured into the crowded streets of Jerusalem to share the Good News.
But the Holy Spirit had only just begun, and from those 120 disciples, He calls one in particular to lead the way. For in the second chapter of Acts, it is Peter, the fisherman -- full of bluster and human weakness, the man who’d betrayed his Lord in those final hours…It’s Peter who now leads the way. And so, Peter, the Rock upon whom Jesus promised to build His Church, is confirmed by the Spirit as the first Vicar of Christ on earth. For on that first Pentecost Sunday, the Church is born.
What happens that first day? Miracle followed miracle and three thousand were baptized. For the work of the Spirit can’t be stopped. And so it was no accident that this all occurred on the Jewish feast of Pentecost, a day when Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims from all over the empire – pilgrims who would return to their homes carrying their new Faith and the Holy Spirit with them. It wasn’t’ the local church of Jerusalem that was born that day; no, it was the universal Church, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Brought into being on that first Pentecost, it remains with us today, still guided by the Holy Spirit, still led by Christ's Vicar, still committed to the apostolic mission of bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.
But it’s not a mission reserved solely to the apostles and their successors, the pope and the bishops. No, this is a universal mission. Each one of us is called and this is our great challenge as Catholic Christians. Why this mission? Just look around you. It’s in all our lives…the sadness and hopelessness and confusion and sinfulness that plague so many. These are God's children. They don’t need our condemnation or pity;they need evangelization, for the Father wants to bring them to Himself, and He calls each of us to take part in this holy work of His.
Does this call, this mission, frighten you? Are you basically terrified of the idea of evangelizing others? You shouldn’t be…because just like Peter and the disciples, you won’t be alone. Just like them, we can’t do God’s work without the Spirit. How did St. Paul put it in his Letter to the Romans which we heard earlier? “…the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness.” And later Paul told the Corinthians: "There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service, but the same Lord...To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit."
And brothers and sisters, this mission isn’t an option, something we’re simply encouraged to do. It’s a command from God Himself, an essential element of our lives as Catholic Christians. Now there’s nothing wrong with finding comfort in the midst of our family or parish community. Just don’t get too comfortable, for on Pentecost God took the disciples by the hand and turned their little circle inside out. Suddenly they faced not each other, but a world waiting to hear the Good News.
Yes, this can be a frightening thing. But remember, when we carry God’s love and truth to others, we will never, ever be alone. For that’s God’s promise: the Holy Spirit will be with us, guiding us, his wisdom flowing through us…if only we will invite Him into our lives. How did Jesus put it in? “Rivers of living water will flow from within him who believes in me.” Let us welcome the Spirit into our lives…and through us, through you and me, He will renew the face of the earth. Do it today, and experience the wonders He will bring about.
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