Interpretation / Pentecost Sunday (2015-06-08)

[__01__]    “We hear them speaking in our own tongues –- in our own languages] -- of the mighty acts of God.”  (Acts 2:11)

[__02__]       Intepretation – or translation – into new languages - is action of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Perhaps, at one time or another, we have had the experience of giving someone instructions through a translator or through an interpreter.

This does not only happen at the White House or the United Nations during meetings of diplomats, presidents, and prime ministers.

We might rely on an interpreter at a doctor’s office for a diagnosis or in Penn Station for directions. In such a situation, a person – makes sense of our sentences and words, makes sense of what we are saying. Or, the interpreter would make sense of what someone is telling you and me.

[__03__]    At the same time, the interpreter or translator does not necessarily want to be recognized or noticed…

I recall a situation, years ago, in which I made the faux pas – the error of social grace – in a formal setting by turning all of my attention to the interpreter …. When I should have been focusing on the listener… I was a guest in someone’s home.

The interpreter reminded me to turn my attention to my host…

Of course, this would not happen at the White House.   Who would notice the interpreter on the 11:00 news broadcast of a meeting between the President or Secretary of State and an official from Japan or Argentina?

The interpreter in such a case probably is not even on camera. The interpreter is in the background.

[__04__]       Is the Holy Spirit in the background ?   The Holy Spirit, as interpreter – as Advocate – seems to make a different entrance on Pentecost Sunday.

What we read in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, is the surround-sound and special-effects arrival of the Holy Spirit, high audible volume, bright visual illumination.

[__05__]      Though fire is present, this fire is not an emergency call.

We read that the Holy Spirit came as tongues of fire to rest, to rest gently on each one of them.

[__06__]     Is it not a relief – a reason to rest and trust – knowing that a person fluent in another language can interpret our thoughts and words?

In fact, the opposite is quite exhausting.

Perhaps, some of us had the experience of being immersed in an entirely new language. It is physically exhausting to spend oneself in such an environment.

It may take months or years until we feel comfortable. The interpret makes life easier.

[__07__]       Pentecost Sunday invites us to be at peace and at prayer, knowing the Holy Spirit can help our words – and our intentions be known to others.

Consider that the disciples were not learning a new language… they were simply being heard in a different language.

They were not being forced to change their beliefs …but were simply communicating these beliefs to people otherwise unable to understand.

[__08__]     Pentecost Sunday reminds us that even the words we cannot say perfectly to another person… may not necessarily be lost … or be a dropped call.

Even at times, when we feel rejected, there may be some element of our goodness – and good intention – still translated and transmitted.

We are called to trust that the Holy Spirit will make our love, mercy, intentions heard in the languages that others can understand – whether is this the language barrier between … 2 spouses, parent and child, neighbors …

The Holy Spirit helps us to be heard, even while we speak in our own particular way, in our own language.

[__09_-PRE CANA_]    Today, we also make this prayer for couples preparing for the Sacrament of Matrimony.

This morning our Pre-Cana team including married couples from both St. Joseph’s and Our Lady of Lourdes hosted a day of Pre-Cana for engaged couples in Connor Hall. They join us at Mass tonight for prayer.

We pray that the Holy Spirit will also be their interpreter, their guide, to make their love known to each other, in both spoken and unspoken ways.

[__10_-Sisters of Charity_]      This Sunday, we also welcome, Sister Geraldine O’Brien – from Convent Station, from the Sisters of Charity. This weekend, we take a special 2^nd collection for the retired Sisters of Charity who have served as teachers and religious at Our Lady of Lourdes school and parish … for many of us, have also been our first teachers… of grammar, words, sentences … on paper, on Pentecost, and in prayer – to trust the ways of God and the Holy Spirit.

Sister Gerry….