Thoughts from the Second Floor Front
Pentecost Sunday
May 31, 2020
Veni, Sancte Spiritus
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!
Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.
Today on this feast of Pentecost, the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the early followers of the Risen Jesus, we echo those words from the Sequence of the Mass. Traditionally referred to as the birthday of the Church, this day saw the start of the Jesus movement beyond the confines of the Upper Room, into the streets of Jerusalem and into the world. Reflect on the significance of this day. St. Thomas Aquinas asserted that Pentecost should be celebrated with the same solemnity and majesty of Easter. Our faith experience is all about transformation - the change that is necessary as a disciple of Christ. We are called to walk from darkness to the Light, from sin to Salvation, from self-reliance and self-interest to Grace and Service. We are continually moving towards the ultimate transformation.
In a very few days we will be moving beyond the confines of our own Upper Rooms where many of us have been seeking refuge from the possibility of infection and the subsequent sickness. Now we emerge into the sunlight, squinting and adjusting our vision to the world we once occupied so carefree and unconcerned. Now we re-enter the world cautiously. We cannot quite pick up where we left off so many weeks ago, but we are called to move into the future. Today marks the end of the Easter Season and we begin what the Liturgical Calendar ironically identifies as Ordinary Time. It will be anything but Ordinary, regardless of how you use the term.
One of my least favorite phrases, which I believe people tend to use as a sort of verbal hamburger helper, is a catchphrase that people think reflects on them in a positive way. Using it indicates a sort of amorphous status as a planner and an organizer. The phrase is: “Moving forward…” after which one may insert any idea that now appears to have been well thought out and valid simply because it has been prefaced by that wonderfully facile phrase. The reason I have such disdain for the phrase is that it allows for nothing to be done now but simply accepts the status quo which will somehow mysteriously change “Moving forward.” The phrase allows for inaction now because action will take place later.
The original band of believers that seminal group of disciples did not stay in the Upper Room planning what their next step was going to be. Depending on the presence, prompting and power of the Holy Spirit they began to act boldly. That is the first definition of the Holy Spirit in Sacred Scripture – Power. This group of believers, hiding in fear after the Resurrection, emerged from their isolation emboldened by the power that they have received and began to spread the word about The Word. They moved beyond the confines of the Upper Room and onto the streets of Jerusalem, preaching, healing, forgiving and speaking with power. As we move from the confines of our own Upper Rooms and move into the streets of our neighborhoods, eventually coming back to those places we have missed for too long a time, may we do so with Grace and Power. May we be so transformed as to be able to announce the Good News by the way we live and speak and act. Go gently. Speak kindly. Do not judge. Be grateful.
Faithfully,
Msgr. Diamond