Fired Up for the Message!

 

Deacon David Previtali · Fired Up for the Message!

Homily for Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2021. Reading: Acts 2:1-11. Theme: Fired Up for the Message! 

Today, Pentecost Sunday is called the birthday of the Catholic Church. Up to that day the Church existed of course, but in a kind of unseen way, much like a child in the womb. Jesus had spent a few years gathering his disciples and nurturing them in his Gospel way of life and teachings. But with the sending of the Holy Spirit, this Church-in-the-womb burst forth out into the world, preaching the message that Jesus is Savior and Lord of all people. It was and remains a pivotal point in human history.  

We can easily imagine the scene of that first Pentecost Sunday that was described for us in today’s first reading from the Book of Acts. The apostles and other disciples were gathered together in a large room in Jerusalem. United with Mary the Mother of Jesus, about 120 of them were praying for the Promised Gift of the Father, the all-powerful and truth-bearing Holy Spirit! And suddenly, without warning, that Spirit came upon them, transforming them from the inside out and empowering them to live as witnesses to the Person and Message of Jesus. 

The Scriptures today speak about three powerful and even strange symbols of the Holy Spirit: Wind. Fire. Tongues. 

Wind...is a symbol of the invisible presence of the Spirit who urges us on to share in Christ’s mission us and keeps us going even in difficulty so that we do not tire of spreading the Message of Jesus. 

Fire...is the symbol of the zeal and devotion that should burn within our hearts urging us on to know, love and serve God better and to demonstrate this love by living the Message of Jesus in our daily lives. Tongues...is the symbol of our Spirit-supported ability to speak about God’s Word and explain the Message of Jesus to others, especially when they ask what it is that gives meaning and purpose to our lives. 

There’s a lot of talk in the Book of Acts about the Message of Jesus so that might make us ask: What exactly is this Message that those newly energized apostles proclaimed with these signs and wonders? What was that Message of Jesus that they taught the people on that first Pentecost that was so powerful that the Bible tells us that over 3,000 were converted to Christianity that very day? 

It’s a Message that we have come to call the Good News or Gospel, and here is a short easy 4-step way to recall it, memorize it, and share it with others... 

1. God is love, unconditional love, who desires to live in an intimate personal relationship with every human being. 

2. At the beginning of our history, we humans rejected this offer of a relationship with God and as a result, we are all born into this world with a spiritual hole in our hearts, a void where God should be. 

3. But this God who is love freely chose to become human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, so that he could personally and in the flesh, fix this relationship. His teachings show us how to live and death and Resurrection have healed the rupture caused by our sins.  

4. Anyone who wishes to live in this healed relationship with God can do so by believing and trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Following Jesus begins with baptism and is expressed in our lives by living his Gospel. For those who choose this pathway in life, death no longer has the last word over them and sin can no longer hold them captive. 

This is the Message of Jesus. This is the message of Pentecost. It’s the message of Christianity. It’s the Message each one of us are called to proclaim by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit within us. 

The Book of Acts shows the Holy Spirit coming down in a rush upon the disciples with power and force. It seems like his strong invisible hands are pushing them out of the room and into the streets! And you know, sometimes it still happens that way and we find ourselves witnessing to Jesus and serving others in ways we thought we could never do. But I think that many of us the Holy Spirit nudges more than pushes. Maybe we get an idea to do something or to say something to someone, and it turns out to be what they really needed to experience or hear. Or perhaps the thought comes to us to pray intensely for a person or a situation and later we find out that there was truly a need to do so. 

So, let’s ask this Holy Spirit to make today - and every day really - become our own new personal Pentecosts! Let’s form the habit pf praying to him daily saying, “Come, Holy Spirit! Fill me with the fire of your love! Lead me. Guide me.” Let’s beg him to come upon us like wind and fire so that we can give witness by our tongues - and even more so by actions - that Jesus is Lord. It’s a Message everyone needs to hear!