• Acts 2:1-11. The Awesome descent of the Spirit, so that all are caught up in wonder and hear the marvels of God spoken in their own tongue.
• 1 Corinthian 12:3-7, 12-13. There are different gifts but the same Spirit. In the one Spirit all of us were baptized into one body [and] have been given to drink of the one Spirit.
• John 20:19-23. Jesus breathed upon the disciples, gathered together in a locked room; he conferred the Holy Spirit and the power of forgiving sin.

 Thoughts for your Consideration:

This week is Pentecost Sunday. The lectionary readings focus on the awesome power of the Holy Spirit as it descends upon the disciples and as it is expressed by members of the early Christian community. In the Acts of the Apostles the event is described in the midst of powerful and richly symbolic natural events. The manifestation of the Holy Spirit produces great confusion among the Jewish bystanders who happen to witness this event; some are curiously impressed while many scoff at what they perceive as an apparent drunken stupor.  Peter is left defending himself and his colleagues from this accusation by suggesting that it is too early in the day to be drunk and then he places this confusing event within the context of the prophetic tradition by citing the words of the prophet Joel. The conclusion of this citation ends with a salvific message for all of God’s people, “and it shall be that everyone shall be saved who calls on the name of the Lord.”

In his letter to the Corinthians St. Paul describes the great gifts of the Spirit that is shared to the various members of the early church. St. Paul makes a very clear point in highlighting the supreme unity of the One Spirit in the midst of this great diversity of gifts and talents that emanate from it. St. Paul cannot seem to emphasize this point enough. It is suggested in scripture commentaries that the Corinthian church had begun to establish ethnic and social discrimination in its early community. In this passage St. Paul needs to emphasize the unity that exists between the Jews and Greeks as well as the free people and the slaves. In the Gospel reading Jesus prepares his disciples for this event by establishing a culture of peace on them. He keeps emphasizing that they be at peace before they receive the Spirit.

While the first reading describes the event of Pentecost the next two readings remind us that the great and awesome gifts of the Spirit can only serve the mission of promoting unity and it can only be received and utilized through a culture of peace.      

Many of us who are Catholics have gone through the Sacrament of Confirmation. For many of us the wondrous natural events that we read about in Acts did not accompany our own reception of this Sacrament. We may end up spiritualizing this sacramental event or dismissing it altogether. I have come to admire a medieval Catholic theological formula that helps explain our own growth into the gifts of the Holy Spirit and our own orientation towards the supreme good that is God.

Medieval theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas believed that we have an aspect of God within each and every one of us, this divine spark was called synderesis. It was thought (and continues to be studied in contemporary moral theology) that an essence towards the orientation towards God was built within our own DNA structure. This element is what allowed us to believe that some actions and judgments were self-evident in all of humanity. Through synderesis all humanity had deep within themselves an orientation on what was called the first principles of the natural order. The general concepts that most codified laws including the Ten Commandments had, such as regulating against murder and thievery and promoting values of charity and mutual respect, emanate from some kind of self-evident principles that come to us directly from the divine source. Our own American Declaration of Independence suggest three self-evident principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, if these principles are self-evident then they are known to us through the divine knowledge of the good that we have through synderesis.

But synderesis is only one habit within our conscience that judges for us the actions we must take. Our actions towards the good are often clouded by our own self-interest and passions. Thus we require the Holy Spirit to make its impression felt on us so that we can awaken the divine spark within each of us and recognize that divine essence in all others. To do the supreme good (rather than our own good) we must allow the Holy Spirit to affect us. As a sacrament Confirmation offers us the grace to receive the power that will awaken the divine spark in us. The power of the Holy Spirit will then give strength to our own existing orientation to do the supreme good. It will also awaken in us the particular gifts that we are given to fulfill the supreme good. While Confirmation grants us the moment to allow ourselves to be open to this reception we must always pray that the Holy Spirit continue to nurture us with this grace since our other social and personal distractions will continue to cloud our judgments.

Keep in mind however that this can only happen within the context of a couple necessary dispositions. First, we must be aligned under a spirit and culture of peace. Second we must only use these gifts to build up the Kingdom of God in unity and without imposing any barriers of discrimination to the love that we are all entitled to. We all already exist within the supreme unity and orientation to God. We all share a supreme equality with each other through the divine dignity that exists in our very nature. In the spirit of peace and unity let us be receptive to the power of the Holy Spirit in awakening this orientation to do the supreme good and to live in harmony with each other.

• Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10. Ezra reads and explains the Torah to all the people. While the people were weeping, he told them that “rejoicing in the Lord must be your strength!”
• 1 Corinthian 12: 12-30. Just as the body is one, but has many members… so it is with Christ. Each member has need of the other, each with different gifts.
• Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21. Luke introduces his gospel and then concludes his solemn introduction with Jesus’ initial preaching at Nazareth, a summary of his entire ministry.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

In the second reading the theme of unity in the midst of diversity is again offered to us by St. Paul the Apostle. This theme surfaces fairly regularly with St. Paul who tries to challenge his gentile community on the absolute oneness of God, Christ and the Spirit to a pluralistic society. But if we look at the first reading and the introduction of the Gospel of Luke we also find these two writers discussing the theme of interpretation.

Christians have one common Bible with a number of different versions. But if we look at how the Sacred Scriptures have been interpreted to offer a position on any social issue we can see a variety of positions used to promote a political or social agenda. The issue of slavery in the United States points out that fact very well where both the abolitionist and the slaveholding community used the Bible to defend both positions. In the current culture war that is debating economic globalization, climate change and humanitarian intervention we see the same thing happening. Whether people are using the Bible, the Quran or the Torah any faith-based group can come up with any number of positions with regards to these issues using their own Sacred texts to defend these positions.

Both Ezra and Luke are dealing with tensions of interpretation. They both come out of a tradition build on the Spirit of unity but fractured by social violence. For Ezra the Hebrew community has just returned from their exile in Babylon and is trying to again make sense of their post-exilic identity. For Luke’s early Christians that Apostolic community has brought the salvific message of Christ throughout the Roman Empire but after the persecution of the Apostles Luke is struggling to maintain this unified tradition and for that purpose he has written this Gospel account.  In both cases they are struggling to offer a common understanding so that the Word can take root in all of us with our different experiences, talents and personalities while maintaining its authentic singular message that is based on God’s love and common relationship with us all.

For us Catholics the Church is the institution from which we continue to comprehend the challenging Word of God in the context of our ever changing world. While the Church continues to pronounce on issues of faith and dogma the Church also addresses new social issues that had never surfaced in the ancient world. It is the duty of our Church to offer its guidance based on its reflection on revelation and tradition to help develop us into a community that can respond to social issues that confront us. In this manner the Church has made its position felt on economic globalization in the Papal Encyclical Caritas in Veritate. The Pope has also offered a teaching on the issue of climate change in his recent World Day of Peace Message. With the great catastrophe that affected Haiti last week the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops has also offered its social position to protect in any way the devastated Haitian community by asking us to donate at the Sunday Mass and by advocating to the President to grant Haitians in the United States temporary protected status. These are social issues and they are not of themselves dogmatic objects of revealed faith such as our belief in the Resurrection or in the mystery of the Eucharist but they are themselves social doctrines that are related to the faith and morals of our revealed tradition.

As American we are fond of saying that people have a right to their opinion and of course they are. Even in our own Catholic Church we also assent to this individual right insofar as our God given conscience is regarded as a prominent vehicle from which we come to discern the decisions we must make. But let us keep in mind the struggle that Paul reminds us of whereby our individual parts must ultimately serve one body. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored; all the parts share its joy.  

The Church offers many social teachings and many of us may struggle with some of the Church’s social positions, I know I do. Paul, Ezra and Luke are not calling us to mindless zombies. We are called to embrace our own dignity but at the service of all creation which comes from God. It will be impossible for us who experience our own lives from only one vantage point to be able to see and value the dignity and experiences of all God’s creation. For that reason it is important for us to be challenged by the position of a global Church that happens to share in the experiences of people throughout the world.

In Haiti, one part of the human community is suffering greatly. Our Church has called us to action so that we can respond to the suffering of one of our members. This now is the opportunity for us to embrace the one body and to heal a section that has been devastated.            

• Isaiah 62:1-5. Jerusalem will no longer be desolate and forsaken but will be overflowing with life. The Lord will address her as “My Delight” and her land will be called “Espoused.”
• 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. There are many gifts and ministries, but one and the same Spirit who accomplished each good action in everyone.
• John 2:1-12. The marriage feast of Cana where Jesus works the “first of his signs” and reveals his glory.

Thoughts for your consideration: by John Gonzalez

In the Gospel of John the first action of Jesus’ public ministry is recounted to us as the miracle that took place at the wedding feast in Cana. The account has a number of curious details, such as the odd interaction between Jesus and Mary his mother and the manner in which Jesus reluctantly conducts the miracle of turning the water into wine. But another detail which deserves our contemplative attention is that venue of the wedding itself. Indeed, if you consider the three readings that have been chosen for this Sunday, then this opening act by Jesus reveals a powerful symbol with regards to Jesus’ purpose.

In the realm of social institutions none is prioritized by the Church above the family unit. A marriage is considered the basic building block of society. In these readings however this prominent social unit is used to symbolize a divine relationship. In the mystery of the incarnation, Jesus embodies the intimate marriage of God with humanity. How appropriate for Jesus to begin engaging publicly at a wedding feast, thus placing this mystical marriage in the context of a conventional marriage.

Isaiah reflects on Jerusalem as a bride of the Lord. Paul does not specifically use the image of marriage but he certainly suggests an intimate union that exists with the Trinity (“One Spirit,” “one Lord,” “One God.”) From this intimate Divine union Paul integrates the human community as individuals who share in this mystical union and who obtains a unique gift that comes from the “One Spirit.”  

The readings ask that we contemplate the mystical union of God with humanity within our own social experience of marriage. Begin by considering your own marriage or one that you have experienced through your family and friends. Consider the love, passion and joy that this interaction brings about. Also consider the challenges, sacrifices and anguish that also has been part of this dynamic. Consider how love has both shaped and challenged those unions.

Then, as you hear these readings, consider the love that God has for all humanity. In the story of the life of Christ himself do we not see the joys and happiness that he brings to humanity as well as the suffering and challenge that his life also presents. Love is not only that warm fuzzy feeling that happens when a couple first lays eyes on each other. Love is all that happens when two are engaged in a mystical union. Love can also be that gut wrenching feeling when you feel betrayed or let down by the other. God’s love for humanity was experienced at the Christmas moment when Christ came into this world and was celebrated by Kings and shepherds alike. But Divine love was also experienced when Christ agonized on the Cross feeling betrayed and abandoned by even his closest friends.

As Christians we are called by Christ to live out this union of God and humanity but many times we may not know what this means. To talk about God’s love for us is to talk about a joyous social reality as well as a great social challenge. Those of us who are married may have considered some great and joyful possibilities before we entered into this union and chances are we may have also considered some theoretical challenges without really knowing what they were going to be like. In the end the only thing that could have prepared us for the joy and sufferings of marriage was the experience itself. In becoming a married couple the two individuals allow themselves to be shaped by a union that pushes and pulls them in all directions. If the couple allow themselves to be directed by a holistic love for each other then this union will be a great gift for their marriage and each other. We Christians are also called to engage with the greater society in a similar way. Ultimately, like Christ, we are called to love and serve one another. Perhaps the wisdom we experience from our own marriages can help us as we struggle to engage in this greater union.