Homily for
Pentecost
June 9, 2019
Sent on a Mission
This is
graduation season – I attended two just this past week. And graduations always
have the feel of being sent on a mission. We call graduation ceremonies “commencements”
– because they begin something new –
it’s not the end, but the beginning. The people graduating have received two
things: a mission, and they are equipped for that mission.
Jesus,
too, sends His Apostles on a mission. We hear those words in the Gospel, “As the
Father has sent Me, so I send you.” He gives His Apostles the marching orders
for that mission at His Ascension when He says, “Go and make disciples of all
nations.” But even though they have the mission, they do not yet have the tools
to make that mission a reality.
Until
today. Pentecost is where they have received the tools to carry out that
mission. The Holy Spirit has equipped them with His seven gifts and we see a
radical transformation – Peter is no longer cowering in fear, denying that he
even knows Jesus; rather, because of the Spirit he is boldly proclaiming Jesus
as Lord. Peter knows his mission – and he now has the Spirit which stirs him to
carry it out.
This
mission is given, not just to Peter, but to the whole Church. The Church has a
mission to bring the world to Christ, and it has the spiritual weapons to
fulfill that mission. This is helpful to remember when we are shocked by
scandals in the Church. Yes, individual members are sinners and some even
betray the mission through their sins and crimes, but the Church has been
filled with all the gifts of the Spirit to accomplish its mission.
You and
I are part of this Church, so we have received that mission as well! We live in
a world where Satan’s kingdom has a powerful stronghold – not just in the world
“out there” but far too often also within our own hearts. We have not yet fully
allowed Christ to win the victory in us, to rescue us and let His Kingdom reign
in us.
So this
is our mission – to allow Christ to win the victory in our souls, and to bring
that victory to the world. Our mission is to become saints and to help others encounter
the Lord Jesus. Have we been equipped for that mission?
Yes! We
have received His Spirit! If you have been baptized, and especially if you have
been confirmed, you have received His Spirit – in the same measure that Peter
and the Apostles received it! How does His Spirit help us accomplish our
mission?
First,
it is His Spirit living in us that inspires every good work. If we have a
desire to pray, that is the work of the Spirit in your life. If we can call God
our Father and Jesus our Lord, that is the gift of Faith given by the Spirit.
If you are inspired to say a kind word, that is His Spirit putting the good
thought in your mind. If you feel passionate about your faith and want to share
it with others, that is the Spirit working in you! If you have a gift or talent
that can be used powerfully to serve others and build them up in Christ, that
is a work of the Spirit!
Just
like someone building a house can always go and get more materials, and like an
army that requests more weapons, we can request an increase of the Holy Spirit.
He came to us in Baptism and Confirmation, but that wasn’t the end of His
gifts! We should ask Him frequently – daily! – to “stir into flame” the Spirit
we have received.
St. Philip
Neri did just that, and he experienced a unique miracle because of it. He was a
priest in Rome in the 1500s and had a habit of visiting the catacombs to pray.
One day he was praying for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit when he saw a
globe of light float through the dark catacombs, enter his mouth, and settle in
his chest with intense heat. He was filled with such a deep joy and peace and
the experience of God’s love that lasted a long time that day. When it finally
faded, he felt that his heart had expanded within his chest – and, after his
death, an autopsy revealed that his heart was so seriously enlarged that two of
his ribs were broken! He literally received a physical miracle from a fresh
outpouring of the Holy Spirit!
We can –
no, we must – do the same. We must
ask the Spirit daily for the power to live out our mission. For Christ’s
Kingdom will not come in our souls or in our world unless we take up our
mission and fight with the weapons that the Spirit gives us.
Seventy-five
years ago this past week, thousands upon thousands of men stormed the beaches
of Normandy; seventy-five years ago was the largest seaborne invasion in
history; seventy-five years ago was D-Day. That was the day that the US and
England began a dangerous invasion into enemy territory to win it back for the
Allies. This Pentecost, I urge you to imitate them and begin to take back
territory – in your own life and in the world – that has been under the
dominion of Satan and evil for far too long. Fathers, mothers, young people,
all Christians here, we have a
mission – to fight the good fight of faith, to win the prize of Jesus Christ.
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “I ask you to fight in your homes, to fight in
your schools, to fight in your workplaces and in your neighborhoods, I ask you
to fight in your own hearts, I ask you never to surrender.”
You have
a mission – to bring Christ’s Kingdom to your life and the lives of those
around you. The Spirit has equipped you for that mission. Now, go out and claim
the victory that Christ has won for you!
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