• Proverbs 8:22-31. God exist in relationship. The Holy Spirit, “The Wisdom of God,” Describes her intimate relationship with the Lord God and their working relationship during creation. The wisdom of God is especially delighted with the human race.
• Romans 5:1-5. We are justified by faith. Through our faith we have been given the Holy Spirit and as a result we are aware of the Love of God and that gives us the greatest hope.
• John 16:12-15. The disciples are not able to bear the ultimate truths that God has for humanity. But with the Holy Spirit they will be able to discern these ultimate truths more clearly. The Holy Spirit will speak the truths directly from God and Christ.

Thoughts for your reflection: By John Gonzalez

Judaism, Islam and Christianity share a common religious heritage. We are all rooted in the firm belief that there is One God. Furthermore we also acknowledge the same historical origins beginning with Creation and we each acclaim Abraham as the founder of all our faiths. After that we begin to diverge within our separate doctrines as developed by Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. One of the greatest distinctions that we have with our monotheistic cousins is that while we honor the Supreme oneness of God we have also come to understand the Creator in terms of existing in relationship. For us Christians God’s very existence is defined in terms of the relationship of the Holy Trinity. The readings for this week express for us this mystical truth. This truth is cited early on in our Sacred Scripture when God creates humanity saying “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness,” from the beginning God’s own existence is understood in the plural form. What a powerful image of God that we are privileged to have. It reminds me of a famous American motto “E Pluribus Unum,” Out of many, One.   

Prophets are great people who have been able to serve God faithfully in expressing the message and wisdom of God to us throughout human history. The other great faiths identify Jesus as one such Prophet but we see him quite differently. In a very unique way Jesus shares an intimate relationship with God as a member of the Trinity. We too are invited to share in this deep and incarnate relationship that Christ has with God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit. While many of the great religions comprehend salvation in terms of relating with God we Christians have been offered an intimate relationship to “share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” I honor the great religious traditions that have emanated God’s holy wisdom through their own prophetic tradition. But this intimate union strikes me as a special privilege indeed. With privilege however comes great responsibility.

In the second reading Paul identifies this unique relationship to share in the Love of God as a great opportunity for hope that does not disappoint. But this hope and privilege calls us to build our character in a manner consistent to the Love that we in faith know that God has for us all. Paul starts not by boasting of the privilege itself but of the afflictions that we can expect to have from this faith based condition. Through the example of Jesus we know that the Love of God is an unconditional Love, an unconditional love that sacrifices itself for the sake of relationship. The ultimate expression of this love was demonstrated by Christ on the Cross. He would not compromise the love that God had for all humanity and which was initially directed to the poor and marginalized members who suffered greatly. When society sought to stop him he accepted death on a cross. This non-violent example of Jesus is taught to us also by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. … Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.”

Catholic social teaching has raised the principle of the common good as a social value that helps explain our faith based goal to promote a supreme and unconditional love that surpasses social limitations. As Christian we are all called to share with each other the great love that God has for us all. For us to apply this we cannot be limited to our own personal good or even our own national good. We are called to support the common good which is “noble in the sight of all.”           

The privilege of being called to share in an intimate relationship with God calls to live a life of self-sacrifice. This is the message that Jesus thought would be to much for the disciples to bear. On our own we cannot hope to achieve this privilege. That is why we must learn to quite ourselves in contemplative solitude so that we can hear the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Divine truths offer us great joy coupled with great afflictions. Our ability to express this relationship with each other will stand in stark contrast to the worldly relationship that we are used to. Only through prayer and solitude will we be able to hear the “Spirit of Truth” which will guide us in expressing an order based on the common good.

• Acts 2:1-11
• 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Galatians 5:16-25
• John 20:19-23 or John 15:26-27; 16:12-15

Thoughts for your Consideration:

If you happen to be in the new St. Gabriel’s church in Toronto (Canada) and turn towards those reading the Scriptures during the liturgy you will always look beyond them into the large garden exposed by the passive solar curtain wall.  That vista could be important for understanding an important meaning of Pentecost for contemporary generations, old and (especially) young.

In ancient times, long before the apostles, this was a Feast in early Judaism that was completely sensitive to what was happening on the land.  What it signaled was the harvesting of food, a gift of the land and a gift of the Creator.

Other layers of meaning were grafted onto this basic religious awareness. First the gift of the Law, allowing for inner growth of righteousness, then celebrating the further gift of being chosen to make God’s presence evident among the nations.  But the on-going context of Pentecost was harvest time, feasting on the nourishing crops — and tasty, even heady wine adding to the spiritual celebration.

There are indicators of these layers of meaning in the texts of our own liturgy today.  The responsorial psalm is a paean to the mystery of on-going Creation:  “The earth is full of your creatures … When you take away their breath, they die…When you send forth your spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth”.  In our day we readily translate “face of the earth” as a global image, usually meaning human habitat.  But in ancient times, it meant the “face of the soil” — that kind of earth. That is precisely where God does the creating.  To feast on the harvest is also to acknowledge that God’s Spirit is active in the soil.  It is not by accident that St. Paul refers to the “fruit of the Spirit”.  Fruit arises from the very dynamism of a plant or tree’s growth.  It is the continuing dynamic of the gift, not some product of our discipline or invention.  St. Paul also uses the interesting phrase: “we were all made to drink of one Spirit”, maintaining the context of harvest feasting, while grafting yet another dimension to this liturgical celebration.

What is predominant for Christians, of course, is the coinciding of this ancient observance and the spectacular emergence of the apostles and disciples on the Jerusalem scene, drawing the interest of peoples from everywhere in the known world to a new creativity of God’s Spirit.  On that Pentecost a new community was born that recognized and honored the gifts of God’s creativity within human relationships:  Saint Paul says “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good”.  This is a whole new vision of human life, breaking down the barriers of race, slavery, sexism, even languages.  And it was bold.  This little group had been closeted away in fear, but now, experiencing a kind of tsunami of Divine creativity, went about very publicly proclaiming that creativity.

St. Paul immortalized the generativity of this fruit of the Spirit’s creativity:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

While these could be recognized by anyone as positive virtues, now they are identified as the way in which the Spirit is generating the very presence of Christ in the human community.  “For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit”

The special hymn for today’s liturgy (the Sequence) describes the very down-to-earth ways we can detect and respond to that Spirit:

Father of the poor; of consolers — wisest, best; in our labor, rest… pleasant coolness in the heat; light…shining with grace in our heart’s most secret place.

And the hymn points to specific targets of the Spirit’s creativity in our lives:  “Arid souls refresh within; Wounded lives to health restore… Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill; Guide the wayward home once more!”

The Feast of Pentecost we have inherited is rich with all these meanings.  It can be celebrated in a restrictive way, however; rejoicing in the earliest moments of the community we call the Church, and the promise that in the Holy Spirit we have an Advocate who will guide the it through the ages, while neglecting the myriad dimensions of the Spirit’s creativity.

But what if we really pay attention to the garden back-grounding these scriptures?  Today can be a day of heightened sensitivity to all aspects of Divine creativity. Through the awe-inspiring insights of today’s science, we can observe the new spring growth for the miracle that it is. In our contemplation we can savor so much more of what we imply when we ask the Spirit to “take up rest” in our hearts. That “rest” is imaged much better by fire and fierce wind than by repose. Like the first disciples, we might be able to shed our fearfulness and exhibit a bold attitude of trust in the Spirit who renews the face of the soil.  That attitude will fortify us for the demanding work of healing the wounds we have inflicted on the Earth.  Pentecost then, regaining its ancient authentic link to the sacredness of the land, will demonstrate its creativity in hope for future generations.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:

• When have you been surprised by the creative work of the Spirit in nature?
• Recall a moment when you open yourself to the creative power of the Holy Spirit in your own life and in relationship with others?
• What happened? What were the results? What did you learn?

• Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48
• 1 John 4:7-10
• John 15:9-17

Thoughts for your consideration:

This week’s readings tell us that God is very active, and the source of his action is Love. In all three readings we are made aware that God is the active agent that creates the moments of possibilities for us to love him and in return all of humanity. Our active option is to respond to these moments. This image of God is one that is very different from the traditional metaphysics of God as a watchmaker who creates the Universe, winds it up and sits back to see how things go. These reading tell us that God does not sit back at all but rather he is front and center shaping the world like a potter. According to the readings we are being actively shaped by God to be a reflection of that divine Love to ourselves and each other.

In the first reading the Holy Spirit is intervening in bring Peter and Cornelius together and to begin the Gentile integration of the early Christian community. This is a stretch for Peter who has only understood his experience with Jesus within the parameters of the Jewish community. Yet he allows himself to be moved by the Spirit and to accept (perhaps with some trepidation) this development. With powerful visions the Holy Spirit guides Peter to an awareness that he “should not call anyone profane or unclean.” Amazed at the reception of the Holy Spirit by the gentile household of Cornelius Peter exclaims, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” With this event that was clearly guided by the Holy Spirit the Christian community begins its mission to spread the Gospel to all members of humanity because “What God has made clean [we] must not call profane.”

John declares that true love comes from God. It is too simple these days to say that we are called to love one another. Overall we take this for granted under the rubric that we tolerate each other and show random acts of kindness from time to time. The love that John invites us to express is a mystical love that transcends our own desires and interest. To love with the capacity that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit has for all of creation is to love God and all creation with such intensity that we lose ourselves completely in becoming love for others. In our own limited mortality it is difficult to truly comprehend such an existence where we, like Jesus, can “lay down one’s own life for one’s friend.” This is the love of self sacrifice.

Jesus puts it all together when he offers the Great Commandment, “that you love one another as I have loved you.” Through the self sacrifice of Jesus in the Passion narratives God again acts with love towards creation. We however are not merely passive recipients in this mystical dance. Scripture constantly reminds us that we are expected to follow the way that Christ has opened for us by following his example. We are to engage in a mystical self sacrificing love for all members of humanity and creation. Within our own society this calls us to look at policies from the perspective of those who are being affected by them. There are no artificial borders or walls that the Spirit will respect with regards to the great love that God has for all creation, Peter became aware of this truth. We are called to love with the same openness where no artificial border such as nationality, culture, language or creed can keep us from honoring the dignity of others. God made all things; nothing God has created should ever be called profane or unclean.

Questions for Reflection with your faith sharing group:

• How have you witnessed God as an active agent in your own life or in society? How have you responded to these moments?
• Consider your own experience of Love. How does it mirror the love that Christ showed his disciples in life and in death? How do you consider the challenge to love all members of humanity with the same openness that Peter showed Cornelius?
• Identify artificial borders that exist in our society. Have you ever witnessed these borders limiting the creative work of God’s love? How do you respond to these borders?

• Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 or Isaiah 55:1-11
• Acts 10:34-38 or 1 John 5:1-9
• Mark 1:7-11

Thoughts for Your Consideration:

This week’s readings center us on the wondrous event that took place when Jesus was baptized by John. In the Gospel reading by Mark we notice that the highlight is not so much the physical baptism by John as much as the divine affirmation by the Spirit. This is the moment when Jesus is commissioned to begin his salvific ministry.

In Isaiah we get a glimpse of the job description for this mission: “He will bring forth justice to the nations… (he will be) a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon.” The mission of Jesus is about serving those in need, caring for those who are poor, and promoting political and economic justice. Isaiah also reminds us of Jesus’ spirit of nonviolence which he will use to bring forth justice, “a bruised reed he will not break.”

An important point in this reflection is the role of the Spirit. Jesus’ mission of justice does not come directly from his baptism by John. The function of the baptism seems to place Jesus’ emerging ministry within the prophetic tradition. The true source for this life mission is the Spirit of God itself. God affirms the sacred dignity of Jesus in his life and mission. Whereas Jesus is the incarnation of God with Humanity, this event seems to signify the incarnation of Jesus’ ministry both within an historical human tradition and a divine commission.

But a further point is also made in these readings. This sacred dignity does not end with Jesus. Isaiah again tells us, “I have given you as a covenant to the people.” Furthermore Peter explains how this mission of Jesus now is expanded to “us who were chosen by God as witnesses.” If this is not enough consider also how the salvific mission of Jesus is itself a community building mission of, “doing good and healing all who were oppressed.” We are recipients of this sacred dignity that was bestowed on Jesus and passed onto us as his witnesses and followers.

There are many principles to Catholic social teaching. But the one principle that is fundamental to all is the dignity of all creation. Catholic social teaching proclaims that all life is sacred and we all share the dignity of being sons and daughters of God. By sharing in this sacred dignity we also share in this sacred mission of building the human community by promoting Justice and Peace which both Isaiah and Peter remind us is our sacred obligation. As we hear the story of Jesus’ baptism we should not be passively accepting an historical moment, rather we should be celebrating our own divine commission.

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group:
•    Isaiah talks of the call to bring justice onto the earth.
•    We have a vocation to work for justice.
•    How are you called to do that today?
•    How are we called to do that today?

•    When were you baptized?
•    What does being a baptized Christian mean to you?
•    What are the values that it commits you to live by?

Peace,

John