Acts 2: 1-11; 1Cor. 12: 3b-7, 12-13; Jn 20: 19-23
Can you say “Jesus is Lord”? I was listening to a program on ETWN with Dr. Ray. He had a guest who had been a prison guard at a maximum security prison in California. His shift was at night and finding little to do he requested to review the files of the prisoners. He noticed that many of the prisoners had histories of “Satanism”. When he went home and told his mother she warned him to be careful and said one thing they cannot repeat is “Jesus is Lord”. Given his curiosity he decided to put his mom’s statement to the test. At night he went up to a prisoner and offered him a nice meal if he would say three words. Incredulously the prisoner agreed. When he told him all he needed to do was say “Jesus is Lord” the prisoner started to attempt the words and he became possessed making evil sounds. The guard quickly closed the solid door in front of the rails that secured the prisoner. The next night he tried again with another of the prisoner and the same thing happened. Soon he found out that all these prisoners with satanic history could not mutter the words “Jesus is Lord”. “Only through the spirit can one say ‘Jesus is Lord’”.
One tragedy of this story is that one of these prisoners is the serial killer who killed one of our youth from this parish. This community has dedicated a school after and she is our goddaughter in heaven. Evil is real and we are in the battle against the “wickedness and the snares of the devil” but we have been given the greatest power to overcome evil. Where does this power lie? It is in the unity of the one body when we come together and receive of the different gifts. Jesus appears to the disciples who are gathered together and “breathed on them and said to them “Receive the Holy Spirit”. When we gather together in prayer and call upon the Holy Spirit, we are given the power to go forth and face our battles with courage transformed to witness our faith in action and we will “renew the face of the earth”.
In the Old Testament you may recall how the people gathered together to build the tower of Babel. They wanted to reach the heavens by their own power. God sent them tongues of confusion that kept them from understanding each other and they were dispersed because of their pride. God is now sending down his Spirit with tongues of fire to bring back the dispersed into unity with God through his Son and the Holy Spirit that we may be one in him. They are “different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit…all baptized into the one body”.
For those who say “I believe in God but I go my own way” listen to this. Our own way is the way of pride and confusion and the evil one knows our weakness to bring us down. In an article in the National Catholic Register (NCR 06/09/2019, by P.J. Smith) it reports a growing trend of “Nones”, that is persons who claim to have no religious affiliation. The percentage is 23.1% of Americans but among Gen-Z, those between 18 and 22 years old it is 40.4% as “Nones” with 16.2% Catholic and 14.4% as evangelical. This separation from faith begins with our youth as they move away to college and find themselves apart from the unity of a church community. Gradually these believers are challenged in their faith. They stop going to church and separated from any affiliation with a group of faithful Christians the evil one finds their weakness. Slowly they move from practicing their faith, to non-practicing and end up as “Nones”.
Our power lies in unity within a community of faith that shares in the different kinds of gifts for the good of the one body of Christ we all belong to. No one person can bear all the gifts except the one from who they come but we can all share in them and in our charity and love draw from them for the greater good. Will there be martyrs along the way who will be singled out for their faith? Yes, history remind us well of all those who gave their life for their faith. They are dressed in white robes to be reminders of the one true sacrifice we all share in. God prepares a special place for them as the book of Revelations makes clear.
Having returned from Italy where thousands were sacrificed as followers of Christ, one place we celebrated Mass was at a cave in the catacombs. There are miles of tunnels and within the walls are carved out spaces where the dead were laid to rest. Within the smell of the dying the early Christians gathered to celebrate life in the breaking of the bread for they had witnessed the resurrection of Christ and believed. Along one of these walls is a mosaic dating back to the first centuries with the image of Peter and Paul. Peter husky with a big head of white hair and beard and Paul slender dark skin and long pointed dark beard. The keys of the kingdom and the spread of the gospel is given to the church in these two men and we are the inheritance of this treasure. Let us remain faithful that is a people of faith, hope, and love. “Come, Holy Spirit, come!”
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