Holy Spirit moments. When was the last time you noticed the Holy Spirit at work in or around you? This could have been a beautiful moment that brought you to tears of joy because of God’s goodness, or it could be a moment that produced goosebumps, or maybe it was an experience the world would dismissively label as a coincidence, or it could be a moment where you felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to do or say something.
If it was recently, take this moment to give thanks to the Holy Spirit for the Spirit’s presence in our lives and the way the Spirit is leading us. If, on the other hand, we are having a hard time remembering when the last time was we noticed the Holy Spirit at work in or around us, we should take an honest look at ourselves and why this might be.
I know in my own life, there have been seasons where I have felt a drought of Holy Spirit moments and other seasons that have been filled with Holy Spirit moments. You see, for the first three decades of my life, I largely neglected the Holy Spirit. All too often, the Holy Spirit was the neglected person of the Holy Trinity to who I just occasionally gave a nod of recognition.
Up until that point in my life, I hadn’t done much more with my faith other than attending Mass on weekends. I had never attended Catholic elementary school or high school. I had never been an altar server. I had never participated in a Bible study, in fact, I rarely read the Bible. I didn’t even pray that much. And a theologian I was not.
If becoming a Deacon was a paid job, that resume would not have got me hired. Apparently, volunteer roles have lower standards, so here I am. You poor people. Despite this less than stellar resume, I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me to become a Deacon.
Nothing about this made any sense … and it wasn’t just my wife who felt this way. One of the first steps in the process of becoming a Deacon is for the husband and his wife to attend a Deacon informational meeting at the Diocese. My wife somewhat reluctantly agreed to come along for the ride. As we went around the room and introduced ourselves, my wife, Julie, mentioned that we had two young daughters and that she was pregnant with our son, Becket. One guy who was in attendance that night later told me that he took one look at me and my pregnant wife and said to himself, “never gonna happen.” And yet with the help of the Holy Spirit, it did happen, showing we should never underestimate the power of the Holy Spirit.
When I think of the last time I noticed the spirit at work in or around me, I think of right now. Each time I get up here to preach, it may be routine for you, but for me, it is a miraculous act of the power of the Holy Spirit being made manifest in my life. The Holy Spirit has something to say and it is my job to get out of the way and make sure it gets said.
In today’s Gospel reading and first reading, we hear stories about incredible Holy Spirit moments that the disciples experienced. In the Gospel reading, the disciples are hunkered down on Easter evening out of fear, but fear of what or who? They are fearful of the Jews, their own people. This story of being hunkered down and trying to avoid contact with our own people may hit pretty close to home for us people in the pandemic.
Then, Jesus comes to them and what does Jesus do? Jesus does we have been trying to avoid having others do for the last 15 months out of fear something bad will come of it. Jesus comes and he breathes on them and he says to them “receive the Holy Spirit.” The same breath of life that animated Adam in the Garden of Eden, Jesus breathes on the apostles in the same upper room where the Last Supper took place.
Fast forward to Jesus ascending to heaven. It is after this the other Holy Spirit moment happens we heard about in today’s first reading where the Holy Spirit came down as tongues of fire upon the apostles in the upper room and they were filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.
Pentecost was not an isolated event in the life of the Church, something over and done with. Even today, every place where disciples of the Lord gather, yes, including here at Corpus Christi University Parish, is an extension of that upper room where the Last Supper took place and where Jesus’ disciples experienced an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We often tell and listen to stories of the saints, like the apostles, who have gone before us and that is certainly well and good, but the unintended negative consequence of this may be that it leaves some of us wondering if the Holy Spirit is active in the saints in training living today among us. Our tendency might be to hear these stories about the Holy Spirit being active in the lives of the apostles 2,000 years ago and be quick to dismiss their relevance to our lives today. We may say, “That was then and there, this is here and now.”
I believe there are Holy Spirit moments from our own lives that some of you have been pondering in your hearts and may feel compelled to share. Share these stories. This is what we Christians do, we tell and listen to stories. Our stories are meant to connect us to our God and one another. These stories leave us wanting more of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we want to experience more Holy Spirit moments, our first reading and Gospel reading teach us we can do so by receiving, believing, and perceiving the Holy Spirit.
Receiving: If we say we want to receive the Holy Spirit, we must first honestly ask ourselves if we want to do the will of the Holy Spirit. If we do not genuinely want to do the Spirit’s will, then why should we ask for the Spirit’s presence at all? I realize this is a real struggle for many of us. We honestly may not want to be led by anyone but ourselves.
The fact is that the Holy Spirit is going to ask us to go somewhere or do something we normally would not want to do. The Holy Spirit is going to ask us to do something that makes us uncomfortable. When we receive the Holy Spirit, there will be moments when we have to let go of the fear and believe and trust that we are going to be led by the Spirit, come what may. While giving up control of the big and small in our lives can be terrifying, giving up control is key to experiencing the Holy Spirit’s presence more fully in our lives.
Believing: Imagine the Holy Spirit coming here to you today and saying, I want to give you the Maumee River, the whole river, and all the water it contains. At least initially, we tend to only be willing to let go of a little control to the Spirit. So, we believe and trust in the Spirit with one little aspect of our lives. It is as if we have just a small thimble-sized container of faith we bring to the Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit to fill from this river. The Holy Spirit fills our thimble-sized faith container so much that it overflows. As we let go of our grip of control of more aspects of our lives, we bring a gallon-sized container of faith for the Holy Spirit to fill so much so that it overflows. If we bring a swimming pool-sized container of faith, the Holy Spirit will fill it so much that it overflows. When we surrender every aspect of our lives to be led by the Holy Spirit our faith container becomes a river-sized container to be filled with even more of the life-giving water the Holy Spirit wants to give us from this ever-flowing river.
Perceiving: Who is the most spirit-filled person you know? There is something about this person that makes them come to mind as the most spirit-filled person you know. For me, one of the first people to come to mind is a person who I first met here at Corpus Christi who smiles a lot. Some of you may know who I am talking about. You may know him as, Danny the Drummer. He is the guy who smiles a lot and used to play drums at the 11 a.m. Mass. This guy exudes joy with his genuine smile which seems to be ever-present on his face. His joy is contagious and perceptible. It is easy for anyone who has eyes to see that the Holy Spirit has filled him with the gift of joy so much so that this joy is gushing out of him. Friends, after being with Danny, I think to myself, “man, I am tired of living a life that in all too many ways still looks exactly the same as people who do not have the Holy Spirit living in them.” I look at Danny and think to myself, I want to live like that.
This is the way each and every one of us who has the Spirit of God dwelling in us is meant to be. We are an Easter people whose Lord has risen from the dead, conquering death once and for all. Death has no more power over him and us who rise in him and with him to eternal life. And until that day comes, we have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We are meant to have a joy that runs as deep within us as the Spirit fills us. When someone says the person at Corpus Christi University Parish who smiles a lot, that shouldn’t just describe a few of us, that should describe all of us.
Our lives are meant to look different today than they were yesterday as the fruits of the Spirit become more manifest in us. As St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading, we are meant to be more joyful, more loving, more peaceful, kind, generous, gentle and to have more self-control today than yesterday. Who you receive, believe, and perceive determines how you act. May we come to experience more of these moments as we receive, believe, and perceive the Holy Spirit. Every single moment is an opportunity to become a Holy Spirit moment.
Pentecost Sunday of Easter Cycle B – May 23, 2021
Mass Readings:
Reading 1: Acts 2:1-11
Psalm: 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Reading 2: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13
Gospel: Jn 20:19-23