PENTECOST SUNDAY A. 11 May 2008

Acts 2: 1-11 Psalm: 104 1 Cor 12: 3-7,12-13 John 20:19‑-23

1. As a little child, I was always fascinated with Pentecost, and as a grown up I still am intrigued. It is the birthday of the Church. There were fireworks quite different from what you and I see on Canada Day. But there was Strong winds and fire no less. However, if we meditate on the reading from the Acts of the Apostles and the one from the Gospel, they seem to be two opposite pictures of what we can imagine about Pentecost.

The picture we get from the Acts of the Apostles about the beginning of the Church is one Noise, Wind and Fire. There is air and energy, force and a newness. There is flame and heat, light and passion. These transform the Church. The apostles were a frightened group of men hiding in an upper room. Now they come out in the town square. They are not afraid any more. They talk about a man called Jesus who died at the hands of their own religious leaders. But this Jesus has risen from the dead. He will come again in glory. He will judge the dead, he will judge those who are still walking the streets of Jerusalem. This was totally unheard of news. Strangely enough the same Spirit, the same Wind and Fire made the listeners accept the good news.

Much later, another great Apostle, Paul of Tarsus would preach the same message in Athens in Greece. He would talk about Jesus who died and had risen. But the Holy Spirit had not opened the hearts of the Athenians and they laughed and scoffed at Paul and his message.

2. Pentecost is not a monopoly of the Christians. It was one of the three great feasts of the Jewish People. Jews from all over the world would come to Jerusalem, just like the Muslims come from all over the world to Mecca. And so at that first Christian Pentecost there were Medes and Parthians and Elamites, there were people from Turkey and Iraq ( we are told there were people from Phrygia, Pontus, Asia and Mesopotamia); there were people from Egypt and Libya.

These people heard these simple Fishermen speak about Jesus in their own native tongue, yet these Turks and Iraqis, Egyptians and Libyans could understand their message as if they were speaking the language of these different nations. It was the reverse of the story of Babel. At that time, the people spoke the same language but no one could understand his neighbour !

3. In the Gospel we have a totally different picture from the one in the Acts of the Apostles. It does not take place at Pentecost: 50 days after Easter. It takes place on Easter Sunday itself.

The Apostles are gathered int he Upper Room. They are afraid. They had hoped that Jesus was the one that the Jewish People had been eagerly awaiting. But he had been crucified. He had died. Some had even left the group and gone to Emmaus discouraged and disheartened.

Jesus appears among them. The doors had been shut tightly but there he was in their midst. He says, “peace be with you.” They really needed that peace. They received it joyfully. They soaked in it. Then Jesus said, “RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT.” There is no Wind, no Fire as described in the Acts of the Apostles. But they are no longer afraid.

4. That was the story 2000 years ago. What is the story today. I look at my mother she is 88 years old. Her hair is white, she moves more slowly than she did 20 years ago. But she still retains her beauty. I think of all of you living in retirement homes, I think of seniors, especially those celebrating their birthday today. We do not like the aches and pain of age. We do not like to slow down.

Imagine our Church as she is 2000 years old. She does not age like we human beings. The Church is still a thing of beauty and a joy forever. She has room for everyone.

Some people would like the Church to stick to things they consider religious. They want the Church to minister the sacraments, preach the Gospel, visit the sick and dying in hospitals and homes. The church is the Pope, the Bishops, the priests, the sisters.

There are others who would like the Church to go out to the whole world and witness the good news. Like Jesus they want the Church to eat with Tax Collectors and sinners, with outcasts like lepers and Samaritans. They want the church to be a voice for the poor and the marginalized and the down trodden. They want more Jean Vaniers and Mother Teresas.

5. That is the richness of our Church as we celebrate this feast of Pentecost. Outsiders label us liberals and conservatives. But we are like the people of the first Pentecost. We are the Parthians and Medes and Elamites, we are people from Asia and Pontus, from Phrygia and Pamphilia, we are from Egypt and Libya. In a word from all nations. Toronto like no other city in the world is a mirror almost literally of the Church at the first Pentecost.

This is our Church, we are Companions of Jesus and we are proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord.