Blog Post 6/05/2022 - Homily for Pentecost Sunday – Cycle C

 

 

 

Homily for Pentecost Sunday – Cycle C

Readings[for the day]: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/060522-day.cfm

 

St. Brendan prayed, "Help me to journey beyond the familiar & into the unknown.  Give me the faith to leave old ways & break fresh ground with You."  An appropriate prayer for Pentecost Sunday.  

In 1988 a short movie called “Umbrella Jack” was released. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUYPHAngykg

A boy named Billy befriends an eccentric old man, “Umbrella Jack”, who was a W.W. II veteran suffering from P.T.S.D. [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder].  He carried a tattered old umbrella, hence his name.  Several youngsters taunted him as a weird old man.

Billy was one of them, but he stopped participating in the taunts and befriended “Umbrella Jack”.

As we celebrate Pentecost, we remember that the Holy Spirit filled the disciples, & they were thought to be “eccentric.”  Some people are afraid of the Holy Spirit, some people make fun of the Holy Spirit, some people try to ignore the Holy Spirit, & some allow the Holy Spirit to guide their lives.  Where do you fit in?  We were Baptized & Confirmed in, with and through the Holy Spirit.  Teihard de Chardin, S.J. said, “We are not human beings on a spiritual journey, we are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

We just heard from Acts of the Apostles that “… the devout Jews …. Were astounded, & amazed….”  Then in our Responsorial Psalm we sang, “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.”  The face of the earth means how we live and love one another; how we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our actions and our thoughts.  Society at large should experience us as “eccentric”, as people who walk to the beat of a different drummer.

 

St. Paul tells us, there are different kinds of spiritual gifts given to us to build up the Kingdom of God.  Gifts given to us to share with the world, the message of God’s discipleship, where our true joy is found.

Cardinal Dolan offered this insight into our three most recent Popes – St. John Paul II, [Emeritus Pope] Benedict XVI and [Pope] Francis.  He said all three "are all giants," yet each "has particular talents."  John Paul II emphasized the soul, with his eloquent call to prayer & the revival of the spirit.  Pope Benedict XVI emphasized the head, renewing the Church's vast intellectual heritage, reminding us  that faith and reason allies.  Pope Francis emphasizes the heart: warmth, mercy, joy, tenderness, outreach, acceptance and love.

Does being Catholic make a difference?  I firmly believe it does because “Catholicism resists any move that reduces Christ to only one facet or moment of experience.” 

[John Kavanaugh, S.J., Sunday Web Site/Saint Louis University]

 

The Holy Spirit gives the Church, gives us the Fire of Divine Love to share with the world.

Think about the Holy Spirit praying with you inside the Trinity, Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

As Catholics we believe that the Holy Spirit bestows on us the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, reverence and fear of God [an awareness of God’s grandeur].  Those gifts are given to us to use for the Glory of God.

Sir Christopher Wren the architect of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, was walking through the Cathedral one day & he stopped & asked two stone cutters what they were doing; one said, “I’m cutting stone!” the other said “I’m building a Cathedral!”  Our life guided the gifts of the Holy Spirit, will direct our soul to guide our head and heart to build a cathedral, that cathedral is the Kingdom of God.

 

Please join me in singing our Responsorial Psalm Refrain, “Lord send our Your Spirit & renew the face of the earth; we will sing it twice with as much gusto as we can.

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on how you are using the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on how you are using the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

 

May God Be Praised!