HOMILY for Pentecost Sunday (EF)
“Without your Spirit, there is nothing in man, nothing that is not harmful.” These words from the beautiful Pentecost Sequence hymn, Veni Sancte Spiritus, recited before the Gospel today remind us that without God we can do nothing good, and even the good we start to do can become harmful if it’s not sustained by the grace of God. So, the absence of good, of light, of peace shows us that our actions have turned from God, that even what began well can be corrupted by our inclination to sin, and so, end badly.
The chaos flaring up in various parts of the world, seemingly initiated by a desire for justice, which is a good thing, can, as we have seen day after day, go badly astray because we cannot be sustained in the good without the Spirit of God. Humble prayer, therefore, is the foundation of all good, but we have become activists who often react without thinking let alone praying. But it is a diabolical lie to think that we can restore the good, or build a just society, or create a civilisation of love simply by our political will, or merely through outraged tweeting, or just by sharing memes and videos on our social media accounts. These often create much heat but shed very little light if any at all. If we desire to right the wrong, to overwhelm the evil with good, and restore justice, then we must first return to God. As the Sequence of Pentecost says: “Come, father of the poor, come, giver of gifts, come, light of the heart.”
But do we know our fundamental poverty of spirit? Do we desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Do we seek the light of God? This year, with the whole world still suffering the effects of a pandemic – even if the crowds on the beaches, parks, and streets might behave with wishful thinking as if the virus has just dissipated with the summer heat – and now, moreover, with the spread of violence, rioting, desecrations of churches, looting, destruction of property, and hatred, these are signs and reminders that both the natural order and our human nature, disfigured by sin, are in clear need of God. We need the Holy Spirit to free us from the prince of this world, that is, the devil, who through sin and lies and false promises leads us as individuals and as a society only towards division, destruction, death, and hell.
Pray with me, then, these words from the Sequence of Pentecost: “Come, Holy Spirit, send forth the heavenly radiance of your light… O most blessed light, fill the inmost heart of your faithful… In labour, rest, in heat, temperance, in tears, solace… Cleanse that which is unclean, water that which is dry, heal that which is wounded. Bend that which is inflexible, fire up that which is chilled, correct what goes astray.”
As fires from riots and violent protests flare up in different parts of the world, and as the fire of anger and hatred flares up in numerous hearts, we behold today a different kind of fire. The Holy Spirit who descends on the apostles on Pentecost Sunday is seen as a visible light, as tongues of flame, but this divine fire, alights on their head without burning. Like the fire of the burning bush beheld by Moses, which shed a radiant brilliance without consuming it, so the Holy Spirit sheds light without destructive heat.
Such is the light of grace, which enlightens the darkness of the human mind. Original sin has darkened the intellect, leaving Man to fumble his way forward in the dark, his reasoning hindered by emotion, passions, and sinful desires. So, the Spirit of God comes, we pray, with the light of truth to guide our reasoning minds. The Spirit of God comes to “correct what goes astray”, he comes to heal our wills, our appetites, our desires. This is the light, the divine fire of Love, which burns without destroying. Rather, it purifies, it refines, it transforms. For our human nature, healed of the wounds of sin by the Holy Spirit, is then elevated by grace so that we now reflect the glory of God, we become divinised by grace, we now shine with God’s love.
The love of God, as St Paul reminds us, is “patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.” (1 Cor 13:4-6) Therefore, it is not love if we seek to avenge a wrong by doing still more wrong, by speaking without charity nor kindness nor even courtesy, no matter how right one’s cause might be. Instead, this kind of fire and passion, burning hot and fast, will consume us and we will be burnt out. The fire of divine love, as we see in the Scriptures, is a slow burn but it thus transforms and improves, softens and changes things - anyone who has cooked will understand this. Hence the flames that burn above the apostles’ heads do not catch fire to their hair, but instead, God’s Spirit illumines their minds; he gives them knowledge of things human and divine; and he gives them gifts. Thus they miraculously speak languages they had not learnt; they preach the divine truths of salvation with boldness; and they become witnesses of the Resurrection and the freedom given to us by Christ. Their lives, therefore, are utterly changed, and they see things from God’s perspective. Hence the Sequence of Pentecost prays: “Give to your faithful, those who trust in you, the sevenfold gifts. Grant the reward of virtue, grant the deliverance of salvation, grant eternal joy.”
Pentecost is, as the name suggests, the fiftieth day after Easter. And this number, 50, is Biblically significant. In the book of Leviticus the fiftieth year was a jubilee year, a time of rest, of relief from debt and hard labour, a sign of God’s forgiveness and redemption. Pentecost points to the jubilee, therefore, and it is significant that on the fiftieth day after Easter comes the public proclamation of deliverance from the bondage of sin and vice and even death. The Spirit of God, his merciful love, comes to free us from the debt of sin. God comes to free us from slavery to our limited human ideas, and our wild emotions and unbridled passions. The Spirit of God is present to forgive us, and to redeem us, and to sanctify us. Thus, the Holy Spirit is, as we said in the Sequence hymn, our “greatest comforter, [the] sweet guest of the soul, [and] sweet consolation.”
In the midst of a land, and even among Church communities, who seem lost in chaos and darkness and turmoil, the Holy Spirit comes to us today. And he comes not only as a gentle brilliant flame but also as a powerful rushing wind. For there is much debris and detritus from our old sinful lives that needs to be cleared out; the dust and nonsense fills the air and keeps us from seeing the Truth clearly. So the psalmist says: “Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him! As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before fire, let the wicked perish before God!” (Ps 68:1-2) Yes, let the Holy Spirit come and drive away the enemies of God, all that opposes the good and the true; all those infernal beings who would deceive and lead astray. We human beings have been called to friendship with God, and the Holy Spirit is the Advocate and Guide who comes to make us friends of God. Therefore, he comes first to drive away the Enemy who stirs up rebellion and prideful disobedience; who corrupts the good we begin; and who whispers suspicion and conspiracy in our ears. Thus the 9th-century hymn to the Holy Spirit, Veni Creator Spiritus, prays: “Drive far away our wily Foe, and Thine abiding peace bestow; if Thou be our protecting Guide, no evil can our steps betide.” The Holy Spirit, therefore, comes to bring peace to the soul, peace to the community, peace to the world, for he restores sinners to true justice that comes only from God. Thus Jesus says in the Gospel today: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (Jn 14:27)
The frustrations of our time: frustration with politicians and their works; frustration with the Media and corporations who control our knowledge and information; frustration with our fellow men and with our leadership – even within the Church, sadly – these frustrations will overheat and boil over because there is much heat and little light in these situations. It is evident that we, today, are in dire need of the Holy Spirit, and, in our anger and quarrels, our communities are disintegrating into nothingness. For “without your Spirit, there is nothing in man, nothing that is not harmful.”
What, then, are we to do? Where does the Holy Spirit lead us? Jesus says the Spirit will “teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (Jn 14:26) Therefore, the Holy Spirit leads us, first of all, into prayer. Pray, read the Scriptures prayerfully, and pray again. The apostles had been gathered with Mary in prayer before the Holy Spirit came to illumine their minds and their hearts. And this is what our world, our Church, and each of us need every day: prayer. Only then, with persistent prayer that is insistent on God and on his love, shall we find light, joy, and peace.
If I may make a suggestion: pray the Rosary daily for peace. These were the words of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima. She, our Mother, and the humble Spouse of the Holy Spirit, promises us peace if we pray the Rosary. Start now: join us today at 5pm after this Mass. I will end this Livestream, and start a new one, Live on this Facebook page, at 5pm.
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