Congratulations and happy birthday, Church! Today we celebrate the great and glorious feast of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended on a small, ragtag bunch of trembling disciples and transformed them into fearless proclaimers of the Good News. What’s more, they now had the power to live the message they proclaimed.
As you know, last month the teachers gave me this amazing iPad. Because the iPad was so popular, I had to wait two weeks for it to arrive. Even then I found out I couldn’t use it until I activated it and I couldn’t activate it until I upgraded my laptop computer. Next I had to sign up for internet service and only then did the amazing new world of instant communications and knowledge become available to me.
Next week my cousin, who is also my godfather, and his wife will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I considered giving them an iPad but first I checked with their children to see what they thought of the idea. They said it a nice thought but it would be a waste of money because my cousin has a brand new Apple laptop computer that he only uses to check email. An iPad would just become a very expensive paperweight.
You can have the most hip, most up-to-date, most technologically advanced piece of computer equipment in the world, but if you don’t know how to use it or even want to learn, what good is it?
You can have the most perfect, most profound, most spiritually enriching religion in the world, but if you don’t know how to activate it or how it really works and don’t care to learn, what good is it? Just as none of our electronic gadgets, from TVs to DVDs to computers, can work long without a power source, so too our religion requires more than just knowing the rules and saying prayers. Do only that and before long you too will run out of energy.
What is Pentecost? For the Jews and for the apostles who, after all, were Jewish, it was the holiday that occurred 50 days after Passover. Passover commemorated their deliverance from slavery; Pentecost commemorated the giving of the Law to Moses in Mount Sinai.
Passover made them free; Pentecost made them a people. The Law of Moses helped them live in a way that showed their special relationship with God. The trouble was, try as they might, it seemed almost impossible to obey all 613 commandments. But on this particular Pentecost, which we just heard about in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, something wonderful happened. They received the very Spirit of God to energize them and fill them with wisdom and knowledge and the power to live holy lives. They spoke in new languages and this message of Jesus Christ became available to the peoples of the world.
Pentecost is the birthday of the Church because, unlike every other feast throughout the year, this is not just something that happened in the past. It is an on-going miracle. Since that day in the Upper Room the Holy Spirit has not ceased to pour down upon the earth. Every year we celebrate Jesus’ birth; we commemorate Jesus’ Passion and death; we contemplate his Resurrection; but we participate in Pentecost. Every day. You’ve all seen pictures of that terrible oil spill ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico? Well imagine the Holy Spirit pouring down on us for 2,000 years. Hopefully with better consequences.
That same Spirit which hovered over the waters at creation, that same Spirit that filled the Temple with God’s glory; that same Spirit that covered the Blessed Virgin Mary and allowed her to conceive the Son of God; that same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead; that same Spirit that descended on the Apostles; that same Spirit that changes simple bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ at every Mass, is given to us now at this very moment in this church.
We no longer need to force ourselves to obey the commandments which come from the outside. Now we feel inspired to keep the commandments because the Spirit of God dwells in our hearts.
In a marriage, if the only thing holding a couple together is the law or force of habit, and if the husband and wife need to be told when to communicate, when to apologize, when to forgive, when to sacrifice and when to celebrate, the marriage soon runs out of steam. It becomes routine, it falls into a rut. It becomes work. But if love dwells in their hearts, they don’t do things for each other because they have to; they do it because they want to. They do it because it brings them joy.
Has religion become too much like work? Have you fallen into a rut? Do you come to Mass because your parents or spouse or friend force you to come? Or worse, your conscience? Do you read the Bible or say the rosary only as a penance? Then your faith will soon run out of steam and your religion will be heavier than a paperweight.
But if you allow the Spirit of God to fill your life, that Spirit which you received at Baptism and which was strengthened in your hearts at Confirmation, then you will have access to all the mysteries and wonders of the world around you.
Religion will be exciting because your life will be exciting. You won’t wonder if God is really out there because you will experience God in here. You won’t need an iPad or a special app to connect with the world. But it helps. And sure is fun.
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