PENTECOST SUNDAY Year C MAY 15, 2016

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1 PENTECOST SUNDAY Year C MAY 15, Today, we celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles and gave birth to the Church the Mystical Body of Christ. In this powerful drama, there are some central characters we need to take note of. First, and foremost there s the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Spirit of truth, light, and love Who fills the souls of the Apostles with His Truth, His Light and His Love. Then, there are the Apostles themselves who were empowered by the Holy Spirit to preach and bear Christ to the world with courage and with power. 02. But there s one more important character in the Pentecost drama that needs to be emphasized a character who often doesn t get noticed or mentioned in the recounting of this decisive event in salvation history. In the full account of the Pentecost story, as recounted in the Book of Acts, it says that the Mother of Jesus was there with the Apostles when the Holy Spirit came down upon them. 03. It s always puzzled me why Mary was there, and why the author of the Book of Acts (Luke the Evangelist) mentions Her presence at the Pentecost event. It s always puzzled me because Mary would not have had any need for the Pentecost experience having already been completely filled with the Holy Spirit so much so, that it is not possible for a human being, or any creature, to be more filled with the Holy Spirit than Mary is. For even from the moment of Her Conception, Mary was so filled with the Holy Spirit that She is referred to as the SPOUSE of the Holy Spirit. And so, in my mind, there was no real need for the Mother of God to receive further what She already possesses so completely. 04. But upon further reflection on this curious detail in the Pentecost event, it became clear to me why Mary was there. In fact, the reason for Mary s Presence at Pentecost became clear to me in a very unexpected and surprising way. One day, a couple of years ago, before I was ordained to the priesthood, I was in a chapel preparing to

2 go to daily Mass. There was an icon there depicting the Pentecost event. I had seen it many times before, but for some reason, that day I couldn t take my eyes off it. It s almost as if the image was calling out to me and speaking to me or rather, that God was speaking to me through the image. Because again, that day, for some reason, I couldn t stop staring at it. 05. And so, I kept looking at the image intently, when suddenly, it hit me like a thunderbolt almost as if God was screaming in my ear. Mary was there at Pentecost because She was giving birth to the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ just as She had given birth to the Physical Body of Christ at the Incarnation. In other words, just as the Holy Spirit, through Mary, brought about the Physical Body of Christ so too did the Holy Spirit, through Mary, bring about the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church. 06. And so, this is the very reason why Mary was there because She truly IS the Mother of the Church and because She truly gave birth to the Church, just as surely as She had given birth to the Head of the Church, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, once again, it is through the Power of the Holy Spirit that this accomplished. Because just as, through the power of the Holy Spirit, she had conceived and given birth to the human nature and the Physical Body of Christ so too She now gives birth to the Mystical Body of Christ in the same way through the power of the Holy Spirit. 07. It s hard to overestimate the importance of Our Blessed Mother in the history of salvation. She is always present at all the key moments in salvation history, cooperating wholeheartedly with God s plan of salvation, including this most pivotal moment in the history of the Church the Pentecost event. For just as She was present at the Incarnation, and the Birth of Christ, when through Her humble submission to God and the power of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God assumed human nature and became flesh in Her Womb so too She is present at the Birth of the Mystical Body of Christ, cooperating with

3 the Holy Spirit to help give birth to the Church through the power of Her intercession. 08. What this means for ALL of us is that we are equally children of Mary as we are of the Church. And to be a child of the Church IS to be a child of Mary and to be a child of Mary is to be a child of the Church. In other words, the Holy Spirit, through Mary, makes us a child of the Church just as the Holy Spirit, through the Church, makes us a child of Mary. And so, Mary makes it possible for us to fully embrace the Church as our Mother and the Church makes it possible for us to fully embrace Mary as our Mother. 09. Apart from Mary s crucial role and presence at Pentecost, at the heart of the Pentecost story is God s great desire that we know Him in a way that is intensely personal. God desires that we know Him in this way, because He Himself knows and loves each and every one of us in this way in a way that is intensely personal. 10. The religious leaders of Jesus time didn t really know God in this close and intimate way. They knew a lot of things concerning God, but they didn t really know God Himself. And there s a world of difference between knowing things ABOUT God and knowing God Himself. The religious leaders of Jesus time knew well the traditions, teachings and practices of their religion, but they really didn t know the God of their religion. 11. What Pentecost shows us, and more importantly, what Pentecost promises us is that it s possible to have a profoundly personal experience of God and to have an intensely close and intimate relationship with Him and that God very much desires this for each and every one of us because, again, He Himself knows and loves each of us in a way that is deeply personal. 12. The Pentecost event also shows us that the Holy Spirit and Mary are the keys to this type of intimate knowledge of God this type of intimate relationship with Him. For just as Mary and the Holy Spirit brought forth Christ into the world, so do Mary and the Holy Spirit

4 bring forth Christ into our lives, into our hearts in a way that is profoundly personal. 13. And so, to know God like we know our own spouse, our own parents, our own children, and our best friend (and to experience God in a way that is THIS personal) is the hope and the promise of Pentecost and the very desire of God Himself. Because this is the kind of intimate knowledge of God that we are all invited to, and this is the kind of intimate knowledge of God that is available to all of us all those who are open to knowing God in this way all those who genuinely desire to know God in this way. 14. The Church is full of people who know a lot of things about God. But what the Church really needs is people who truly know God Himself people who can bear authentic witness to Who God is and not just to the things concerning Him. The Apostles, through the Pentecost experience, were able to bear witness not only to the things concerning God, but, more importantly, to God Himself unlike the religious leaders and authorities of their time. 15. Like Mary, the Apostles became so filled with the Holy Spirit, so filled with the knowledge of God, that they were able to bear Christ Himself to the world. But this experience, this gift of God was not reserved only for Mary and the Apostles. And so, the invitation God puts before each of us today is to be SO filled with the Holy Spirit that, we too bear Christ to the world just like His Mother and the Apostles did to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that people no longer see us, but only Christ in us. 16. And so, on this the great Feast of Pentecost, let us invoke the Holy Spirit and ask Him to fill our souls with His Truth, His Light and His Love so that we too, like the Apostles, can bear Christ to the world with courage and with power. And let us look to Our Blessed Mother, and ask Her to lead us into a closer and more intimate relationship with Her Son. For it is through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, that Christ truly becomes present in the world, in our lives, and in our souls and it

5 is through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the intercession of Our Blessed Mother, that we come to an intensely personal experience and knowledge of God.