Pentecost Sunday (2013)

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we live in the midst of chaotic times as we witness the meltdown of financial markets and the effects of global warming. As crises continue to build, we may find ourselves confused or fearful. We may want to gather in the upper room of our lives with our closest friends and close the door on a troubled world. Yet chaos always calls for creative and brave response, it always beckons us to open to holy surprise and to the grace of God. Today is the feast of Pentecost, that glorious final  day of the season of resurrection. The apostles were together experiencing bewilderment over how to move forward when the Holy Spirit flows among them and breathes courage into their hearts. It says that those who witnessed this event were "amazed and perplexed." Some were confused, others cynical. Peter reminds the crowds of the words the prophet Joel declared, that all will be called to dreams and visions, all will need to be attentive to signs and wonders. So, the story of Pentecost asks us a very important question: How do I let my expectations and cynicism close my heart to the new voice rising like a fierce wind? The start of Lent (February) probably feels like long ago. We began that journey marked with ashes, reminded of our earthiness and our limitations. Hopefully we laid aside some of what weighs us down so that as we moved from the cross into resurrection, we could be more spacious and open to possibility. Pentecost immerses us in the brilliance of fire and the power of wind, calling us to trust in something bigger than we are, to remember that our imagining is always smaller than the divine reality. On this day, together as a family and parish community, let us invoke the Spirit of God, together let us give thanks for the gift of our faith, for the gift of belonging to the Catholic Church and, do me a last favor: help me with your prayer to give thanks to the Lord for my thirteen years of priesthood. Yes: I was ordained as a priest thirteen year ago on a beautiful evening of Pentecost ■ Fr. Agustin, pastor.