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.
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