Homily: Pentecost – Cycle C
Many of us, I dare say, remember the
events surrounding the death of Saint John Paul II in 2005. It was really extraordinary how, from the
moment that news broke that he was approaching death, up to and through his
death and his funeral, the world became fixated on the life of this man. Those extraordinary few weeks also gave us a
brief glimpse of mankind somewhat united as men and women throughout the world
watched with and prayed for this man who had had such an impact on the world.
It was counted that more than three
thousand foreign journalists descended upon Rome as John Paul II was dying;
and, almost overnight, hundreds of media broadcast tents sprang up on the
outskirts of Vatican City. This worldwide
media gave around-the-clock coverage to viewers across the globe, to people of
every age and ethnic group. Then, during
the week before the funeral, it was estimated that 2 million pilgrims paid
their last respects in person to the pope as he lay in state: some of them waiting
in line up to 24 hours to do so.
On the night before the funeral, more
than 800,000 pilgrims spent the night praying and waiting in the streets and
plazas of Rome. Most of these were young people who had come to the
Vatican from all five of the continents.
All night long you could see them waiting in line for confession at makeshift,
outdoor confessionals that Rome's priests had set up on doorsteps and under
lamp posts.
The funeral itself was followed
closely by millions via television and radio and the amount of world leaders
who were present was extraordinary. It
included four queens, five kings, seventy prime ministers or heads of
government, and more than 100 other recognized dignitaries. Dozens of Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish leaders
joined them, as well. Yes, one wouldn’t
have been exaggerating if they would have said that the funeral of Saint John
Paul II looked and sounded like Pentecost.
Many of us might be surprised to discover
however, that Pentecost is not a Christian festival in origin. Rather, it was a Jewish festival (which is
why it is named as if it already existed in the Acts of the Apostles). For the ancient Jews, Pentecost was one of
the top three religious holidays (known as “pilgrimage feasts”, because
believers were expected to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in order to celebrate
it). Pentecost was known also as the
feast of “weeks” because it falls seven weeks (or 50 days) after Passover. (The word “Pentecost”, in fact, comes from the
Greek word for “50”.) For the Jewish
people, this feast celebrates two important things: things that make it fitting
to be the day on which the Holy Spirit descended from heaven to give birth to
the Church.
First, on Pentecost, the first fruits
of the spring grain harvest were offered to God in a special sacrifice at the
Temple. Now, that may sound strange to us, because we live in a climate
that has only one harvest each year. In
Palestine, however, they have two yearly harvests: one in spring and one in
fall. In this sense, it is appropriate
that God sent the Holy Spirit to his Church in a public way on Pentecost. This is because the Holy Spirit is the first
fruit of the harvest of the New Covenant; and the New Covenant is Christ giving
us a new, redeemed life of grace; and this life begins here on earth under the
action of the Holy Spirit; and, just like the first sweet corn to come off of
the stalks does not make the harvest, but is enjoyed and offered to those we
wish to honor the most, so, too, the action of the Holy Spirit, which came as
first fruits nearly 2000 years ago, will only reach its fulfillment—i.e. the
full harvest—in heaven.
The second thing that the Jewish
festival of Pentecost celebrates is the commemoration of when God gave Moses
the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. Soon after the Israelites had
miraculously escaped from Egypt, God sent them the Law, which would be a guide
for them on how they should live now that they were freed from slavery to
Pharaoh. And so, in this sense, too, it
was appropriate that God sent his Church the Holy Spirit during Pentecost. This is because the Holy Spirit is the bond
of unity between the Father and the Son; and the Law of the New Covenant, that
is, the Law of the Church, is unity.
Thus, the unifying power of the Spirit is the new “Law of the Covenant”,
which descended upon the Church at Pentecost.
In a way, the descent of the Holy Spirit fulfilled the old covenant Law
by making it universal. For this reason,
Saint Paul could write to the Corinthians and say that the Church is a body that
has many parts yet remains one, united body.
Bringing unity, in Christ, to the divided human family; this is the work
of the Church, which began on Pentecost and won't stop till history ends.
If we think back now to the funeral of
Saint John Paul II, we see a further illustration that this effort of the
Church to reunite the human family continues today, symbolized by the
architecture of the Church's most famous plaza, the place where Saint John Paul
II’s funeral was celebrated: that is, Saint Peter's square, in Rome. Almost a hundred thousand people can fit
inside that plaza, which is as wide as three football fields and located in
front of Saint Peter's Basilica. It is
constructed in the shape of a rectangle connecting the basilica's entrance with
a huge oval space surrounded by almost 350 massive columns and pilasters. If you look down at the plaza from above,
those curved lines of columns surrounding the oval look like huge arms spread
in welcome. The artist who designed the
plaza, Gianlorenzo Bernini, described this as a symbol of "the maternal
arms of Mother Church".
As we know, the arms of a mother are always
ready to welcome all her children, both the ones who are already full members
of the family, and those still looking for their spiritual home. And these arms of Mother Church have indeed
welcomed pilgrims from every continent, age group, and walk of life for the
last 500 years—ever since this expanded plaza was first constructed. And the crowds are still coming. Every
Wednesday the Pope welcomes pilgrims to the plaza, and in the last two years
the number of pilgrims in those audiences has averaged 20,000 per week. The unity symbolized by this space even goes beyond
the limits of time; because lining the columns and walls around the plaza are 140
taller-than-life-sized statues of saints: men and women, peasants and kings,
hermits and housewives, who come from every period of history and every corner
of the globe. Again, this is the
Church's work—reuniting the divided human family with God and with each other—a
work that began on Pentecost.
Now, there are many people, many of
whom are non-Christians, who would agree that uniting mankind is a worthy goal. In fact, there are many international
lobbying groups who are dedicated full time to noble causes like achieving world
peace, eradicating poverty, and reducing the sale of military weapons. Indeed, the modern world is full of creative
initiatives for unity.
As Christians, though, our efforts are
different. This is because we aim not only
at the symptoms of disunity, but at its cause.
The Church has taught us throughout its history that the fundamental
cause of disunity in the human family is sin, the rebellion of the human heart
against God. “How can we all be united
in one family,” she argues, “unless we all love and obey one Father?” Now, we know that it wasn't the Apostles' human
brilliance that enabled them to speak in foreign tongues on that first
Pentecost, but rather that it was God's grace—the Holy Spirit—working in and through
the Church. And so, if we are to fulfill
our role as members of this Church whose mission is building unity—that is, if
we are to be active, efficient, and effective builders of unity in our families,
schools, communities, and workplaces—then we must, first and foremost, be men
and women of prayer.
Prayer, my brothers and sisters, binds
us firmly to God, so that through us his strength can bring together the
scattered pieces of fallen humanity; and a mature prayer life makes us partners
in the work of the Holy Spirit in the world.
Today, therefore, when the Holy Spirit renews his presence in us and in
the world during this Mass, let's renew our commitment to becoming mature men
and women of prayer, so that we can then become mature men and women of action
and boldly advance the Church's beautiful and urgent mission to bring true
unity to the human race: the unity in God’s Spirit that we hope one day to know
fully in heaven.
Given at All Saints
Parish, Logansport, IN – May 14th & 15th, 2016
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