[candles representing the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit before the liturgy]
Two threads always leap out from the readings for me on the Feast of Pentecost: language and its diversity, and the Holy Spirit, its representation and the gifts we receive from the Holy Spirit.
The reading from the second chapter of the Book of Acts, typically read on the Feast of Pentecost, always lets the imagination run wild with its colourful description of languages and peoples. The lucky reader who manages to get through this list of names — Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamhylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Jews, Cretans and finally Arabs — deserves a prize for tackling the unfamiliar. And yet that is how it must have seemed on that fiftieth morning after Easter, an out-of-control situation with the unfamiliar.
As a lover of language, and one who has been graced with the ability to listen and communicate in two other modern languages, I delight in this annual reminder of the complexity of human communication. My mind still remains amazed that humankind has found so many diverse ways to communicate. According to Wikkipeadia, not the most scientific source, there are 898 languages in the world.
Experiencing this diversity even on a small scale, such as I did three years ago about this time at a hostel in southern France, at the foot of the Pyrenees, was wondrous. Thirty-two tired pilgrims came together for dinner. The host of the evening, a Basque, alternately sang Basque songs for us and led us in song. Part of the evening also consisted in having people from different countries sing a song from their land… in English, French, German. It was a bit crazy at times, for some a bit of a shock after the solitude of the quiet day of solitary walking. But the activity underlined our diversity, at the same time that we engaged in a universal human (and creaturely) activity — eating.
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Isn’t it surprising that Christian iconography has depicted the Holy Spirit — that energising force that first created the world at the time of first beginnings and then at second beginnings turned the world upside-down — as a dove? This Spirit that sighs too deep for words, this Spirit that is the truth that guides us into all truth, this Spirit that endows us with manifold gifts is cast as something so gentle as a dove. Yet this icon is readily recognised right off as the Holy Spirit.
On the same segment of our pilgrimage walk, on a day when we could find no church that offered a mass because there are so few Catholic priests, we stopped at a little church along the way. Many churches in France have their doors open, a lovely gesture of hospitality.
This church was very simple with relatively little adornment. What was so remarkable about it was its painting of the Holy Spirit in dove form over the altar. The dove, flying surrounded by clouds, in a blue, starry sky evoked peacefulness. Indeed, a pilgrim, who had passed through the church’s doors earlier on in the day, wrote in the little book that many churches have for pilgrims to note their prayers, how steadying it was to see the Spirit flying over the altar in the church. Its pictorial evocation underlined the Spirit that imbued that holy space. One could feel that this was a church that was loved and where God was loved.
Maybe iconographers instinctively knew that the Spirit needed to be depicted in calming imagery, rather than tongues of fire because of the sheer power and force of the Spirit when it is unleashed on the church and Jesus’ followers. The Spirit is still very active in our lives, lo these millennia later.
It is dangerous to ask for the gifts of the Holy Spirit but those gifts have already been given to us through baptism. And what are the gifts of the Holy Spirit? Strength, knowledge, piety, awe and wonder, counsel, understanding, and wisdom. They are represented by the seven candles burning by the font. Think of which gifts are your strongest today and which ones you would like to encourage. And then, as you return from communion, you are invited to light a candle.
Sharing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit — all the varieties and differences of gifts — ties everyone together in the work of God. Sharing in the gifts of the Holy Spirit unites us in the call to be children of the beatitudes, to imagine a life and community and actions filled with the spirit of Jesus with his simplicity, his humility, his prophetic courage, the will to serve and the witness he shared of his unique and intimate relationship with God.
All of us have been given individual and specific gifts. They are for us to use and decide whether we use them in a private or corporate way. Does the artist paint for the sheer enjoyment of it all, or does he or she design works that can bring healing to people? I think of the architects who designed the memorial at Oklahoma or the then-young Maya Ying Lin who created the Viet Nam memorial. Their talent could have been a private matter; they chose, instead, to create something for a greater cause.
In what way is the gift given each one of us used to serve the common good? For, as Paul says, the ‘manifestation of the Spirit is for the common good.’ How does the Spirit work in us for the rest?
Can we truly believe that everyone has a gift to share? Don Helder Camara said, perhaps speaking of monetary wealth, ‘None are so poor that they cannot give, none are so rich that they cannot receive,’ but surely his wisdom also applies to the gifts each one of us has received. Some of us think we don’t have much to give but the Holy Spirit surprises us into recognizing that we do have something to offer.
The Holy Spirit also helps us discern what those gifts might be. That process of discernment is life-long. What gifts you have today may be different tomorrow. It can change. The discernment can only take place if one’s heart is open, though. The Holy Spirit helps you keep your heart open.
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This morning, the feast on which we celebrate the power of the gift of the Holy Spirit, the priest will not be the only person invoking out loud the descent of the Holy Spirit. Together, as a congregation, with one voice, we will say the epiclesis as printed in the bulletin. Let the power of those words said in your own voice fill you. Receive the Holy Spirit and feel the Spirit entering into your soul.
Let your soul be open — as a person with open hands, palms up, as the celebrant’s outstretched arms — to receive the Holy Spirit and whatever gift comes with the Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit descend upon you and fill you. Do not be afraid, because if you are, the Holy Spirit cannot do anything in you. Trust. Feel God’s presence indwelling in you, helping you remember Christ’s teachings. Know that receiving the Holy Spirit, while life-changing and potentially chaotic, while turning your life upside-down and bringing new languages of heart to you, enables you to do far more than ever thought possible. As you receive that Spirit, give thanks for the Spirit working in us who is infinitely more powerful than we can possibly imagine.
Candles at the end of the service
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