1. --
Lanie LeBlanc OP
2. -- Carol &
Dennis Keller
3. --
Brian Gleeson CP
4. –
Paul O'Reilly SJ
5. --(Your
reflection can be here!)
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1.
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Pentecost 2022
As the many readings for Pentecost tell us today, the
Holy Spirit works in many, many ways. For me, the best
understanding of the Holy Spirit lies within accepting the
mystery that surrounds the grace that pours forth each and
every time the Holy Spirit acts. This seems to be true when
I/we can identify that action or grace at the time or I/we
recognize it in hindsight.
"Come, Holy Spirit" has been on my lips and in my heart
much more these past few weeks than usual. Whether it needs
to be a personal cry, a national one, or a worldwide one, it
is clear that all humanity, if not all creation, definitely
needs the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is needed not just to
fill the hearts of the "faithful", but to up-end this
upside-down world of ours so that the will of the Father
again takes precedence in all our lives.
The Holy Spirit has many names, and as such, consequently
many actions. As we are renewed through the liturgical
celebration of Pentecost, let us reflect on how our lives
have been changed by the Holy Spirit already. Let us implore
the Holy Spirit to reveal to each of us how our personal and
communal lives should be changed to align more with the
Father's will for us and for all creation.
And yes, Holy Spirit, please nudge us gently or a bit
less gently if needed, to cooperate in renewing not just the
face of the earth, but all that is within each of us.
Blessings,
Dr. Lanie
LeBlanc OP
Southern
Dominican Laity
lanie@leblanc.one
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2.
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Pentecost Vigil and Sunday June 4 & 5 2022
Vigil of Pentecost June 4 2022
Genesis 11:1-9 (or Exodus 19:3-8 & 16-20)(or
Ezekiel 37:1-14)(or Joel 3:1-5); Responsorial Psalm 104;
Romans 8:22-27; Gospel Acclamation "Come Holy Spirit, fill
the hearts of the faithful; and kindle in them the fire of
your love; John 7:37-39
On all major feasts of our liturgical year, there is
typically a "vigil" set of readings. A vigil is the night
before, a getting ready for the big day. It is literally a
"keeping watch" for the dawn of that new day when the
celebration is better understood and celebrated by the
liturgy, the rituals, and the preaching of the vigil.
Pentecost is a really big deal. The Jews celebrated this
feast based on an agricultural event – the harvest of wheat.
The Passover was as well an agricultural and a herding
feast. The harvest of barley signaled the time of Passover –
the celebration of lambing was the herald of the Passover
for shepherds.
But Pentecost is fifty days following Passover, that is
the meaning of the word ‘pentecost.’
For the Jews, Passover was the celebration of freedom
from slavery. The particular slavery was that of Pharoah. It
is noteworthy that in the Exodus accounts of this
liberation, Pharoah is not named. His name would certainly
have been remembered for a thousand years in story, legend,
and myth. Yet the reason he is not named is that Pharoah is
a type of slave master. That slavery could be in
construction, in the pursuit of power, in the pursuit of
wealth, in the pursuit of domination over others within and
without the nation. In our time we might call those persons,
those substances, those economic structures, and systemic
discriminatory cultural structures Pharoah. We should be
reminded to call upon God to free us from those Pharaohs.
The feast of Pentecost for the Jews was a celebration of
the reception of the Law at Mount Sinai. It was the time
they understood that the law – summarized in the ten
commandments – made it possible for a collection of diverse
tribes to live together in harmony. The laws focused on
personal and collective well-being. Worship of idols, making
idols of the pursuit of economic wealth, of power dominating
persons for one’s own glory, or merely manipulating the
hearts and minds of a people for the purpose of their
worship – all these are contrary to the commandments.
Pursuit of such uses of wealth, power, and fame would
invariably bring corruption robbing individuals and the
nation of vitality, confidence, and integrity. Such theft
always resulted in the nation becoming vulnerable to the
nation building energies of neighboring nations.
Sinai, then is the establishment of a way of living, a
way of relating to others, a way of peace that would lead to
prosperity and peace for the nation. This peace was called
Shalom – which always meant more than lack of conflict. This
peace was the hope of the nation – that all would share in
the prosperity and peace of Jerusalem. It signified God’s
justice. And God’s justice is simply that all God’s creation
has what it needs to FLOURISH. This is beyond survival –
this is beyond lack of violence – this is beyond the
abolishment of poverty. This is peace within the hearts and
minds of each and collectively of the nation.
So, Pentecost, as a feast, was the time when the apostles
and the disciples came to a new Mount Sinai. This was one
not wreathed in smoke and fire, in earthquake, in storm.
This came in the form of a wind and tongues of fire resting
on the heads of those followers of Jesus. The fire went into
their hearts and kindled them into a passion for telling the
story of Jesus, of his ministry, of his trails, of his
crucifixion and death and most certainly of his rising. The
wind was reminiscent of the breath of God breathed into the
nostrils of the clay form in the Genesis story of creation
of humanity.
That breathing is the way the ancients understood
themselves as in some way partaking in the life of God. It
was that wind, that breath – perhaps we’d better say that
‘spirit’ – that animates humanity. That story of the
creation of humankind is paralleled in a second story of
humanity’s creation in Genesis that insists as well on the
human connection with the transcendent God. "Let us make man
in our image and likeness. Male and Female, they created
them." There is something about humanity experienced as much
different than animals, rocks, plants, fish, birds, and
reptiles. There is something of God that animates us.
That creates for us a different destiny than all those
other creations. Just as Sinai was a Way to live that would
enhance human life, so this coming of the Spirit is about
that. What is troubling about all this is that we have
difficulty most times finding that Spirit, that image and
likeness, that breath of God within us. Perhaps we are not
looking? The multiple choices to choose from for the first
reading in this vigil liturgy of the Word are interesting.
The first option is the story of how humanity got to the
condition where one person could not communicate with
another. This is the legend of the Tower of Babel. Thus,
divisions were formed that continue even now. The second
option is about Moses going up the mountain to work on the
covenant with God. God says something we should mull over as
it still applies to us now: "You shall be to me a kingdom of
priests, a holy nation." In the Christian/Catholic baptismal
ritual, the priest tells the newly baptized – "you are
priest, prophet, and king(queen)."
The third option is one of my favorites. Ezekiel is a
prophet during a terrible time for the nation. Everything is
pretty bleak, and the future appears non-existent. The Lord
takes him out to a huge plain and places him in the center,
surrounded by human bones in every direction. They are
totally dried out. The Lord asks Ezekiel if these bones –
these metaphors for the people of Judah – if these bones can
come to life. The Lord says to these bones: "See! I will
bring spirit into you, that you may come to life." This
dead, despairing nation will be revitalized, reenergized,
and hope-filled yet again. Then the story goes on and
Ezekiel hears a rattling as the bones come together, bone
joining bone, sinews and flesh coming on them and skin
covering them. But as of yet no spirit – that is no breath
of God within them, no life. Ezekiel is told to prophesize.
"From the four winds, come, o spirit and breathe into these
slain that they may come to life." And so, it happened.
This third reading, I think tells us what happens to us
on Pentecost. The Spirit that is God, who is the glue, the
vitality, and the energy of the Three Persons that is God
comes into each of us. It is for us to welcome and to listen
to the quiet whisperings of that Spirit. And so, we will
come alive!!
The fourth reading is from the book of Joel. I love the
first verses of this as well: "I will pour out my spirit
upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your
old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions." Again, the spirit that comes to us changes
everything. Surely, we are moved to welcome the spirit
within our hearts – but we have to be prepared to listen, to
accept, and to allow the spirit to move us.
The responsorial psalm is so very inviting for us to join
in the refrain. But only if we discover within ourselves a
longing to come alive. The walls of every church should
vibrate into life itself with its response: "Lord, Send out
your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth." It appears to
most that the earth and all it contains can certainly
benefit in our time from the renewal of the Spirit. May it
be so.
Pentecost Sunday June 5, 2022
Acts 2:1-11; Responsorial Psalm 104; 1st
Corinthians 12:3-7 & 12-13 (or Romans 8:8-17); Sequence –
Veni Sancte Spiritus; Gospel Acclamation "Come Holy Spirit,
fill the hearts of your faithful; and kindle in them the
fire of your love"; John 20:19-23 (or John 14:15-16 &23-26)
What a wonderful day of celebration, this solemn feast
day of Pentecost. It began as a celebration of the wheat
harvest, that most stable of food sources. The barley
harvest celebration in early spring was the beginning of the
celebration of Passover. Passover as well celebrated the
birthing of lambs, yet another celebration of the source of
sustenance, of food for growth, for vitality, for energy.
Isn’t it strange these two feast days – Passover/Easter and
Pentecost the birth of the Nation of Israel/the birth of the
expansive and all-inclusive birth of the Church arose
historically when tribes moved from hunters and gatherers to
farmers and herdsmen? The improved stability of a more
certain food supply allowed humanity to come out of caves
and trees to houses, towns, and nations. This great change,
working itself out over centuries brought with it changes in
relationships. And in that change, there were those who
understood the necessity of focusing on the common good of
the tribe, of the town, and ultimately of the nation. At the
same time arose those who saw personal advantage in
dominating the energies of the tribe for comfort, ease, and
fame. There arose immediately a binary choice of goodness
for the tribe versus the personal good of the individual.
Corruption, slavery, violence ensued between these two
forces. Evil was born and goodness stood in its way. The
seesaw of conflict began. It continues throughout history –
sometimes goodness holds sway and humanity learns, expands
its horizons, raises up its members to new heights. Then
again evil finds a way of suppression, of violence, of
seeking power overall. Wars and devastations of what has
been built up results. Thousands, millions are eliminated,
children are orphaned or become gris for the slaughter. The
struggle to right the ship that is humanity’s vessel robs
everyone of resources needed to flourish.
Now, there is a word! Flourish! Over thousands of years,
humanity experienced a mysterious presence. It was as though
there were a force that undid what evil destroyed. In the
aftermath of conflagration and death, there arose women and
men whose life work was to mend and repair what evil had
wrecked. There appeared new thoughts, new ways of protecting
from evil’s violence. Thoughts never before thought became
the way forward to renewal, to a reborn civilization. For
those who saw beyond the day to day and detected a trend, it
appeared that goodness saw to it that all people had what
they needed to flourish. There came understanding among
those who were sensitive to a quiet force, a transcendent
energy behind this move toward flourishing. They identified
the force as Divinity – a being beyond the physical. This
being they called God and they came to know God though what
was obviously beyond human capacity. They came to know this
God’s work, God’s justice as being the force that worked in
order that all beings had what they needed to flourish.
Humanity’s experience of family, in which the father and the
mother delighted in the successes and growth of their
children – that experience became their understanding of the
heart of God. They understood, those who looked lovingly on
their children, that God had given humanity the ability to
make choices. There was no coercion, there was only
encouragement and possibilities for them to grow. What they
surmised as God was in fact their experience of a real,
functioning, loving Divinity they worshipped as God. This
was no imagination that created a being whose existence
resided only in their minds. This was a real Being, beyond
human understanding and beyond human control. God existed
and humanity experienced that existence.
Despite humanity’s understanding there remained in the
human community those whose personal desires were their
gods. They pursued wealth, power, and status with complete
dedication, running over anyone who got in their way. Some
learned how to manipulate the emotions and fears of the ones
who failed to recognize the presence of the God that most
others understood.
At first humanity needed to be freed from those who
enslaved them. There came an Exodus, an overthrow of Pharoah
by a collection of twelve tribes of persons whose ancestry
came from over the great Middle Eastern River – that is the
meaning of the word Hebrew. These tribes became a nation at
Sinai in the desert when God through Moses presented them
with a way of living that was law. These people came out of
Egypt at the time of the barley harvest and the lambing.
That liberation became the great feast of Passover. The
agricultural and herding renewal of a fruitful year became
understood as a freedom and is celebrated even today. The
Christian experience expanded that into the passing over of
Jesus through death to renewed, resurrected life. Evil
failed to triumph by the murder of Jesus. His mission
continued and was expanded in his Resurrection. What is good
will triumph over what is evil. The food element of this
ancient celebration continues in what we call the Eucharist.
Just as the barley came to fruition from the work of human
hands and the lambing was overseen by herdsmen and women, so
also the food that is ours in the Eucharist is the work, the
joys, the sufferings, and the daily living of those who
place those mundane workings on the altar. Those sacrifices
we place on the altar in offertory are the "stuff" that the
Holy Spirit transforms into the body and the blood of the
Christ, the dead but newly risen one.
The Hebrews became a nation under the working of the Law
Moses brought down from God at Sinai. This Pentecost – the
agricultural celebration of the gathering in of wheat – we
receive the next iteration of that Law of Sinai. This new
law does not eliminate the old law but adds to it. The old
law instructed humanity to love their neighbors as they
loved themselves --- really this sounds like a law of the
common good. This new law goes a final step. Not only are we
to love others as we love ourselves, we are now to love them
as God loves us. That is a very tall order. That is how evil
will ultimately be overthrown. Evil and selfishness only
serves self. This new order serves all humanity. The
nourishment that this new harvest brings us is shalom – that
is the peace in which everyone has what they need to
flourish.
This Pentecost, as in all previous ones, we welcome the
presence of the Holy Spirit, that third person of the
Trinity. That Spirit brings us seven gifts that are ours to
use, to apply, and to grow in our hearts. For all of us who
begin the pathway of loving God, this may seem contrived,
some magical, superstitious endeavor meant to control
behavior. We do not see, hear, smell, touch, taste God’s
presence. As a result, childhood piety often devolves into
adult doubt or outright agnosticism. We behave ourselves out
of fear of some future eternal damnation. Heaven sounds like
a boring place.
However, the presence of God is available to us if only
we see, hear, smell, taste, touch that presence. Our senses
need fine tuning. Just as a radio only receives the station
to which it is tuned, so also if our senses are only tuned
to secularistic, materialistic, consumeristic input, then
that is all we receive.
This Pentecost the suggestion is that we choose one of
seven aspects of the Spirit’s presence and practice that one
aspect for this whole year. That means prayer and focus on
the application of that aspect. Choose only one of these.
Within the year, if faithful to that practice, we will
develop an awareness of the presence of the Spirit. The
seven choices are: wisdom, knowledge, counsel, piety,
fortitude, and fear of the Lord. This last one is terribly
misunderstood. God as Father, Revelation in Word and Deed as
Son, and Energy and vitality as the Spirit that makes us
live is not to be cause fear. Our God, all three persons,
are our friends – their transcendence, their divinity is so
awesome that we can only stand, like the apostles on
Ascension Day, with our mouths wide open in wonder. That
fear is the awe we experience when we comprehend the wonder
and complexity and interrelatedness of creation. That is the
awe this father experienced when hovering over the crib of a
newly born son. I was overwhelmed with that new life. This
is the fear of Thomas who finally sees the Risen Jesus and
can only exclaim, "My Lord and my God." If we practice just
one of these gifts, our attitudes and the peace of our
spirits will improve. That is how evil is overthrown, that
is how Pharoah, and his army are eliminated. That is how we
come to know shalom and practice it with all we meet. May it
be so!
Dennis
Keller
dkeller002@nc.rr.com
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3.
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PENTECOST: HOW THE HOLY SPIRIT HELPS US
Acts 2:1-11; Romans 8:8-17; John 14:15-16, 23b-26
All through Easter time we’ve been reading and listening
to that great book, the Acts of the Apostles. While it’s
about all the apostles of the infant Church, all the
missionaries of God’s love at that time, it’s also about the
love of God in person. I’m speaking, of course, about the
Holy Spirit, who in the Book of Acts is both God’s love in
person (Grace) and the chief apostle. Again. and again, the
Holy Spirit speaks to people and their needs through other
human beings. Again, and again, other human beings act as
agents, instruments, and missionaries of the Spirit. That’s
very significant, for it is still one of the main ways the
Holy Spirit gets through to us - enlightening and healing
us.
One of our biggest needs as human beings is to grow up
and mature. Becoming mature-thinking and mature-acting
people involves moving away from selfishness and
self-centredness, reaching out to others with interest,
care, concern, and compassion, and working with others to
make that better world that is God’s Kingdom. We learn to do
this through our association and contact with other human
beings. What’s particularly useful, helpful, and important
in our dealings with others, and especially with close
family and friends, are our conversations. This is
especially the case when our chatting to one another gets
beyond the superficial, and has to do with what matters
most. On both sides, the sharing which takes place is not
just listening to the other’s words, but also responding. By
sharing our insights with an open mind and an open heart, we
help one another grow and develop as good, sensible,
responsible, and warm-hearted people.
Again and again, if we are to make progress and change
our ways of living, it may be necessary to hear and heed
from those we talk to, things which are challenging, things
which are perhaps even quite painful, but which turn out, at
least in the long run, to set us free to become better
people. In fact, through the journey of a whole lifetime, we
may hear ourselves being called to face many challenges and
make many changes.
There’s another dimension to all this. In fact, there’s a
third party in all this. In the words of others, even
unintended remarks and chance conversations, God’s word may
be addressed to us, God’s word of truth, the truth that sets
us free, delivers and encourages us.
The word of God as it comes to us from others in
conversation can be painful. We need strength to reply to
the call and challenge which God speaks to us through
others. Perhaps what we hear from others stirs up certain
fears. Can we, e.g., take the risk of listening to them,
even when they are on our side? Isn’t there some danger that
if we listen to them, our self-esteem may shrink? Isn’t
there some danger that if we listen to the truth coming from
another person, we may end up being psychologically
dependent, even under that person’s spell?
Faced with such risks, it takes considerable courage to
engage in the kind of conversations that will challenge us
to become more mature, more responsible, more caring, and
more generous people. We find the courage to face the truth
only if the other addresses us sensitively, i.e., with
respect, with care, and with love. Love is the only way that
works. Were we to be brutally confronted with what may be in
us, e.g., our anger and superficiality, our resentment and
self-rejection, we might crumble to pieces? But the gift of
the acceptance, encouragement, and support of the other
person creates in us the strength we need – to listen, to
know ourselves better, and to accept ourselves as we are,
not only with our weaknesses but also with our strengths and
possibilities. The gift of the other’s care and concern, the
friendship and fellowship they offer us, creates in us a
deep sense of freedom – freedom to become a better person,
freedom to open up and share with others the love and care
which has been given to us.
Faced with the risks involved, the freedom to take those
risks and let ourselves enter into a life-giving
conversation and share with others, is experienced as both a
power and a gift. It’s a gift, not something self-generated,
a gift given to us by people who love us and care for us.
Yet should we start to state what they have done for us and
express our thanks, this would be too much. For typically,
those significant others we talk to and support us, simply
don’t realize just how much they mean to us. They may cut us
short, or say something like ‘it was nothing,’ or ‘what are
friends for?’ The strength and support which they
communicate to us go beyond what they see themselves as
giving. This takes us beyond them as God’s instruments to
God’s self, the ultimate source of that understanding and
support that another human being communicates to us.
So, in the conversations, friendship, love, and support,
through which we grow and mature, the Holy Spirit of God,
the ‘Spirit of truth’ (John 14:17), is also present as the
deeper dimension of the meetings and conversations which
change us for the better. This is so true that we can truly
speak of certain people who support us and keep us going, as
‘Godsends.’
On this feast of Pentecost, then, let us give thanks to
God for sending us the Holy Spirit, day after day, the
Spirit who comes to us whenever a friend or family member or
some significant other tells us what we need to hear,
reaches out to us with support and friendship, and helps us
live lives that are more meaningful, fulfilling, and
fruitful!
"Brian
Gleeson CP" <bgleesoncp@gmail.com>
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4.
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Year A, B, C: Pentecost (The Spirit of
Enniskillen).
"Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you
forgive, they are forgiven."
What exactly is a ‘Spirit’?
I remember once hearing a child of 11 being asked that
question. It was a Holy Communion catechism class and she
was meant to give the answer that the class had been told
the previous week. The only problem was that she had not
been there the previous week, so she had to make it up. She
said: "The spirit is the bit of you that lives on after all
is rest is dead and gone."
I thought that was pretty good on the spur of the moment.
As you may be able to tell from my accent, I am
originally from Northern Ireland. And over the last 20-odd
years, my work has taken me to many different countries all
over the world. And in all of those countries, all over the
world, the one thing which EVERYONE knows about Northern
Ireland is that for the last 40-odd years, there has been a
war in Northern Ireland between two groups of people who are
divided along ethnic, social, cultural and – let’s face it -
to some extent religious lines.
So it has been my joy to be able to tell all of those
people that, over the last ten years or so, things have
gradually been getting better. There is less violence, less
loss of life, less injury, less suffering. Peace is coming
to places where people did not expect to see it in their
lifetimes. And the greatest joy is to be able to tell them
why. Because the Holy Spirit of God is at work. There is a
peace process which, very slowly and very tentatively – two
steps forward and one back – really is gradually bringing
peace to Northern Ireland.
They say that life can only be lived forwards, but can
only be understood backwards. It is only by looking back on
where we have been and on what we have done, that we can
understand why we are where we are now.
One thing that many of the political analysts have
noticed is that, with the benefit of hindsight, it is
possible to look back and see clearly that there was one
really critical moment in the recent history of Northern
Ireland when everything changed and the level of violence
started finally to decline. That moment happened on the 8th
November 1987 when a bomb exploded at a Remembrance Day
parade in Enniskillen - a small town of about 10,000 people.
Eleven people were killed and many more were injured. Among
those who were killed was a young woman called Marie Wilson.
That evening there was played on the news an interview with
her father Gordon Wilson who was a shopkeeper and Methodist
minister in the town who had also been injured in the bomb.
The interview had been recorded about an hour after the bomb
exploded and just a few minutes after he had been told of
his daughter’s death. With all the tact and sensitivity one
might expect of a professional journalist speaking with a
grieving father, the interviewer asked her father what he
felt about the people who had just killed his daughter on
her 21st birthday. I really cannot imagine what words went
through the man’s mind, but without a moment’s hesitation,
he described his last conversation with his dying daughter
as they both lay buried in the rubble. These were his words.
I have them memorised, but I have written them out to make
sure that I get them exact:
"She held my hand
tightly and gripped me as hard as she could. She said,
‘Daddy, I love you very much.’
Those were her
exact words to me, and those were the last words I ever
heard her say.
But I bear no ill
will. I bear no grudge.
Dirty sort of
talk is not going to bring her back to life.
She was great wee
lassie.
She loved her
profession.
She was a pet.
She’s dead.
She’s in heaven
and we shall meet again.
I will pray for
these men tonight and every night."
It was a moment which touched the nation. He only spoke
softly but his words echoed around the country. There was
something in his voice which told you that he meant it just
like he said it. What many people admired the most was the
use of the words "I bear no ill will. I bear no grudge." As
if there was no real alternative. As if turning the other
cheek was the only possible response to hatred & violence.
Since that moment the momentum towards peace in Northern
Ireland has been unstoppable. With the benefit of more than
thirty years of hindsight, we can now see that one moment of
faith and forgiveness has been a turnaround moment which has
changed the history of my entire country. After Marie Wilson
is dead and gone, her spirit has lived on, not only in the
next world, but in this because of her father’s incredible
capacity for forgiveness.
That, I believe, is the Spirit of Pentecost, which Jesus
sent upon his disciples and upon the World, approximately
one thousand nine hundred and eighty something years ago -
TODAY.
"Receive the Holy Spirit. For those whose sins you
forgive, they are – they really are - Forgiven."
Let us stand and profess our faith in God – Father, Son
and Spirit.
Paul
O'Reilly SJ
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5.
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Volume 2 is for you. Your thoughts, reflections,
and insights on the next Sundays readings can influence the
preaching you hear. Send them to
preacherexchange@att.net. Deadline is
Wednesday Noon. Include your Name, and Email Address.
-- Fr. John Boll, OP
