[__01___] We believe that the Holy Spirit gives us a
home, a place, a reunion with God.
When we
strive to be patient, to be honest, to be courageous, to be compassionate, we
make a house a reunion with God.
When we
confess our sins, admit our faults in the confessional to a priest.
This
allows the Holy Spirit to reignite, to light the fire within us.
And, we
remember that the Holy Spirit is always entering the room, filling the space in
which we are right now and calling us to open the door so that this gift can be
shared with others.
[__02___] On
this PENTECOST SUNDAY, what we read in the Acts of the Apostles is the
earth-quaking and wind-blowing presence of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.
The
Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples in a particular place and time, in the
room where they had gathered for the Last Supper.
Does a
spirit – or spiritual presence – exist in a place after the event has taken
place?
I think
we would say YES, because we associate certain places with significant and
life-changing events in our lives.
Would
we not recall certain emotions, simply by returning to certain places? For
example, if we were to return to …
·
SCHOOL,
CLASSROOM, CAMPUS where we studied
·
HOME
or APARTMENT where lived or visited someone
Moses
in the Book of Exodus, when he encountered the Lord in the burning bush was
told that the place where he was standing was holy ground.
Father
Ronald Knox, in a sermon about Pentecost observes that there are places that
will remind us of our history:
In a
mid-twentieth century sermon about sacred places and about the sacred place of
the upper room at Pentecost, Father Ronald Knox writes:
“The material surroundings
[the environment] of the places in which we have [experienced anything significant]
possess the power of carrying us back into the past, of impressing on our minds
an echo, as it were, of the feelings we experienced long ago.” (Ronald Knox, Pastoral
and Occasional Sermons, Book VIII. Feasts & Seasons / “Pentecost” p. 471)
[__03___] The
Good News of Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit filled the entire house in which
they were. (Acts 2:2)
However,
it is also true that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were not confined to this
house or place or one moment in time.
Just
our sacramental baptism, or matrimony, or confirmation, may remind us of a
particular church or altar …and of being filled with emotion and energy …. And
this grace filled us and filled the room… this grace was not confined to this
moment.
We are
called to share what we have been given.
For
this reason, the disciples were called, later, to leave the room to go to their
families, to their friends, to their neighborhoods, to their schools, with the
Good News of the resurrection.
Yes, the room was sacred, made holy …but the fire of the Holy Spirit was not confined to that room or space.
[__07___] In
this way, the Holy Spirit filled up a place, a room, at Pentecost so that the
early disciples would not and could not remain locked away.
They
could not remain locked away in secret.
The
Good News of Pentecost is also about the abundance of God’s love for you and
for me.
This is
possible when we do as the early disciples did, when we bring our fears and
anxieties to our prayer, when we gather together as one body,
one
spirit, one faith, one Church, one room and we go forward in faith, hope and
charity.
[_fin_]
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