Homily: Pentecost Sunday (Video and Text)

Readings: Acts 2:1-11; 1Cor 12:3b-7,12-13; Ps 104; John 20:19-23

I've posted the video of my homily for Pentecost Sunday below. The complete text follows.

Homily Text:

Back in the year 2000, with the advent of the new millennium, I heard an historian, who claimed to be an agnostic, say something remarkable in a television interview:

"As an historian, I think 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 was really a nobody, tucked away in a little corner of the world. He didn't write anything, or go anywhere, or do anything very important. He was executed for treason. And his followers were just a handful of simple peasants, riffraff really. 

"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 - but a history, when viewed from the perspective of the Church's teachings, that becomes very explainable. 

For you and me - indeed, for all Christians - the most influential events in human history centered on the person of Jesus Christ. If we exclude the Incarnation itself, we can focus on three events that took place within eight weeks of each other. And all three were actions, taken not by men, but by God Himself.

These events are true history -- His Story -- the story of the Creator of all things acting in a most remarkable way, and from a strictly human perspective, in an 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.

You see, our agnostic historian is at least partially right: Jesus Christ is inexplicable, until we plumb the depths of God's Love for us. And His Story didn't end on the Cross at Calvary. If it had, the historian's instincts would have been correct and Jesus would have been a mere footnote. Fortunately the Father wasn't content to let it end there. He wanted us to know. He wanted us to accept the truth of His love for us. 

And so, after three days, Jesus rose from the dead, not only to prove His Divinity, but also to give a foretaste of the glories that await those who love Him and keep His commandments. 

But even the Resurrection was insufficient. For the Father wanted His Truth, the knowledge of His infinite Love, to spread to the ends of the earth. Because God created every person in an individual act of love, the sacrifice of His Son, this act of redemption, was for all of humanity.

Today's first reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes this 3rd event in the history of salvation: an event that permanently and profoundly altered world history, the event we celebrate today. For what took place in Jerusalem on that Sunday morning almost 2,000 years ago is God's lasting gift to His children. 

He'd 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. To spread this message of His love, He gave us the gift of His Holy Spirit, "the Lord and giver of life," the very personification of the Divine Love between Father and Son. 

And what power the Spirit has! Suddenly, those 120 men and women, that fearful little band of followers, were transformed into something very different. 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. They were forever changed.

The Jews had long celebrated their feast of Pentecost, a commemoration of the Mosaic Covenant as God's Law descended on Mount Sinai wreathed in holy fire. But now, in that upper room, the Holy Spirit descended once again, and ushered in the new and eternal covenant with God, the covenant instituted by Jesus at the Last Supper. In doing so the Spirit formed them into the Church through which they would bring God's saving message 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 behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age" [Mt 28:19-20].

But now, for the first time, they understood what this mission is really all about. And just as suddenly, Jesus' teachings, 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 had given them, they poured into the crowded streets of Jerusalem to share the Good News.

But the Holy Spirit had only just begun to act. Out of those 120 disciples, He called one in particular to lead the way. For later, in this same second chapter of Acts, Peter stepped forward in faith and began to preach.

Peter, the fisherman, a man full of bluster and full of human weakness, a man who had betrayed his Lord in those final hours, now led the way. In doing so, Peter, the Rock upon whom Jesus promised to build His Church, was confirmed by the Spirit as the first Vicar of Christ on earth. For on that first Pentecost Sunday, the Church was born. And with that, miracle followed miracle. For the work of the Spirit cannot be stopped.

Because it was the Jewish feast of Pentecost, and the city was filled with Jewish pilgrims from throughout the Roman Empire. On that day the Apostles baptized 3,000 new Christians who would return to their cities taking their new faith and the Good News with them. Yes, indeed, the Church was catholic - it was universal - from its very beginnings. 

The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, brought into being on that day so long ago, remains with us - still guided by the Holy Spirit, still led by Christ's Vicar, still committed to the Apostolic mission of preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world.

In our Gospel passage, the risen Jesus breathes on the apostles saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit" [Jn 20:22], giving them a first taste of the Spirit's gifts. But this mission to evangelize isn't reserved solely for the Apostles and their successors, to the Holy Father and the Bishops. 

We are all called, clergy and laity alike. When Father Cromwell chanted the Collect at the beginning of Mass, he prayed that God would "pour out...the gifts of the Holy Spirit...and fill...the hearts of believers." And that's you and me. You see, Pentecost is God's reminder that we have work to do.

Just look at the sadness and hopelessness and sinfulness that plague so many in the world today. Brothers and sisters, these are God's children. They don't need our condemnation; they need our evangelization. The Father wants to take them to Himself, and calls you and me to join in His work.
An impossible task? For us, yes. For we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit. How did St. Paul put it in today's second reading?

"There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good" [1 Cor 12:4-7].

Do you see what He's telling us? We all have the same mission, "the common good," but we carry it out in different ways and at different levels, using the particular gifts God has given us.

Today is a good day for you and me to invite the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Love, to fill us with His grace, to pour out those gifts, so He can dwell within us. Indeed, we should issue that invitation to Him every day of our lives. 

When we let the Holy Spirit enter our hearts, when we let Him guide us, and fill us with His gifts, He will teach us, just as He taught those first disciples, to listen humbly to others and to speak to others filled with God's Love.

Welcome the Holy Spirit. Enter into communion with Him. And then through Him, with your spouse, your family, with the others in your life, you can build a home that will manifest the Spirit's presence in your little corner of God's world. 

Can there be a better way to celebrate Pentecost?