Today we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the twelve Disciples, and the beginning of the Church’s mission here on earth. This reception of the Holy Spirit by the gathered twelve was indeed a metamorphosis. It took twelve rugged individualists who were living in fear and transformed them into twelve who sought only to do the will of God and gave no thought whatsoever to their own wellbeing or safety. On this very day, Peter spoke out boldly against those who were gathered and whom they had previously feared would kill them as well. He not only rebuked what they had done to our Lord, but called them to conversion as well, and some three thousand souls were added to their number that day.
The transformation that took place in Jesus’ disciples was profound, and it was this change that He had told them to look forward to receiving right before his ascension back to the Father. There was a collective change of priority that shifted from self to the will of God, and the well-being of His people. The self was no longer their focus, but the expression of agape love, the love that is concerned with the well-being of all, even at the cost of our own time, attention, resources, and comfort. It is the love that surpasses all understanding because it is seen to make no sense to this world. It is not understood by many and mocked by those who refuse to acknowledge the way of God. This way of living and of caring is what we are called to, and if we are also mocked for it, that is to be seen as a privilege. Our Lord told us, that we would be hated for His sake, so to my way of thinking, the more objections and ridicule we encounter at times, perhaps the more effectively we are fulfilling His command.
There is nothing easy about the path that we are called to. Each of us, like the disciples, have things that we will need to resolve in order to be as effective as possible in serving our Lord. Yet we are not without the hope of being able to experience changes within ourselves to allow that to happen. In our second reading, we hear that “To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit”. The Spirit can work within us, just as it did within the disciples.
None of us has the foreknowledge of what God’s plan is for us, our task is to simply remain open to whatever His will is. When we pray, we need to pray for the grace of His Spirit to fill us, and so guide us and provide us with the graces we will need to accomplish His will. Our focus, like that of the disciples needs to be on Him, and not so much on ourselves. The interesting thing is that while this would seem very counterintuitive by the world’s standards, and on the surface might seem like we are giving up a lot, it is in fact the complete opposite. It is our natural state to want to serve God, and it is actually the key to peace and happiness, both in this life, and in the life to come.
The Deacons Bench 