Episode 49 | Come, Holy Spirit

[00:00:05] Hello, my name is Sally Moriarty-Flask. Welcome to: From His Word to Our Hearts, my weekly Bible Study podcast. Together we will explore the readings to be proclaimed at the Catholic Mass on Sunday, June 8, 2025, the Solemnity of Pentecost. [00:00:21] This week's episode is entitled: Come, Holy Spirit, and in these readings, we will mark both the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples birth of the Church. As we journey through the readings this week, consider the following: the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, descended upon the disciples in dramatic fashion - accompanied by a mighty wind and the appearance of tongues of flame. Jesus promises us the same Holy Spirit… not in quite so dramatic a fashion, but through a very real promise and presence, nonetheless. [00:01:01] So let's begin. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:06] Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for this Feast of Pentecost. Through your great goodness, shower the gifts of your Holy Spirit across the face of the earth, prompting all people to pursue lives of compassion, justice, truth, and love. We ask this through your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn from the dead who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. [00:01:35] Now that we've opened our hearts in prayer, let's dive into this week's episode. [00:01:40] Normally I would go right into the Gospel at this point, but before I do that, I want to clarify a couple of things about the Feast of Pentecost itself. The Church opens the Easter Season with the Great Vigil of Easter on the evening before Easter Sunday. The Easter vigil often seems daunting to people because of its length, but it is truly one of the most magnificent liturgies of the entire year and certainly one of my favorites. [00:02:11] I mention that because Pentecost, which brings the Easter season to a close, also has the option of an extended Vigil Liturgy although not every parish embraces the fullness of that liturgy, it is a bit shorter than the Easter Vigil, to be sure, there are just four Old Testament readings in the Pentecost vigil compared to the seven Old Testament readings in the Easter vigil. But regardless of whether your parish observes the entirety of the extended Vigil or chooses to celebrate a slightly simpler version, there are still different readings assigned to the Vigil Mass than are assigned to the Mass during the day. [00:02:53] This episode will only cover the readings for the Mass during the day. [00:02:57] The other thing I want to cover before we get to the readings is the Pentecost Sequence. [00:03:03] If you remember back to the Easter episode, I presented a brief history of medieval Sequences and said that the Church continues to allow the use of two sequences to bookend the Easter season. [00:03:17] We heard the first one: Victimae Paschali Laudes, on Easter Sunday, and now we hear the second one: Veni Sancti Spiritus, on Pentecost. [00:03:29] The sequences are sung in a call and response format between the Cantor and the congregation, and that takes place before the Alleluia. [00:03:40] I will read through the text of the Pentecost sequence in English, but remember that it was originally written in Latin, so the rhyme scheme in the English translation doesn't always hold up and can seem a bit clunky. [00:03:57] Basically, each stanza contains two phrases that rhyme with each other and a third phrase that concludes the stanza and in turn rhymes with the concluding phrase of the next stanza. So here goes… [00:04:12] Come, Holy Spirit, come! And from your celestial home shed a ray of light divine! Come, Father of the poor! Come, source of all our store! Come, within our bosoms shine, You, of comforters the best; you, the soul's most welcome guest; sweet refreshment here below; To our labor, rest most sweet; grateful coolness in the heat; solace in the midst of woe. O most blessed Light divine, shine within these hearts of yours, and our inmost being fill! Where you are not, we have naught, nothing good in deed or thought, nothing free from taint of ill. Heal our wounds, our strength renew; on our dryness pour your dew; wash the stains of guilt away; Bend the stubborn heart and will; melt the frozen, warm the chill; guide the steps that go astray. On the faithful, who adore and confess you, evermore in your sevenfold gift descend; Give them virtue’s sure reward; give them your salvation, Lord; give them joys that never end. Amen. Alleluia. [00:05:33] So now that we've at least heard the Sequence through one time, now it's time to listen to what God is telling us in the Scriptures. [00:05:42] We have a choice of Gospel this week, but both are from John. Choice A is John 20: 19-23. [00:05:52] “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’” [00:06:35] This passage may sound eerily familiar because we just heard it as part of a longer Gospel on the Second Sunday of Easter. So, looking back at that week, we find that the passage we heard then included the verses about Thomas while this reading does not. [00:06:55] This is one of Jesus' post-Resurrection appearances and the most crucial detail for us today is Jesus Christ breathing on his disciples, because that is John's version of Pentecost. It is the way in which Jesus confers the Holy Spirit upon his disciples in John's Gospel. So, let's begin… “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,” [00:07:26] When we hear the word evening, we think of darkness and that is appropriate since the disciples are still trying to comprehend the enormity of Jesus' Death on the Cross and so are in a very emotionally dark place. “the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews,” [00:07:49] Remember, when John says the Jews, he means the Jewish authorities, because they're all Jews. In this instance, however, I think it may be safe to assume that they are hiding in order to avoid one particular Jew… but as we already know, that doesn't do any good and a mere locked door can't keep Jesus out. [00:08:12] “Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’” [00:08:18] That offer of peace - the Hebrew word is shalom - is always the first greeting offered whenever human beings encounter the divine. And rightly so! [00:08:29] Coming face-to-face with the real person of Jesus - Resurrected, Transformed, and Glorified - would have been frightening for the disciples. [00:08:39] Not just because Jesus was Resurrected from the dead, but also because most of the disciples ran out on Jesus - they deserted him when he needed them the most. [00:08:52] But with those words, Jesus offers his disciples peace, yes, but also the forgiveness they need to bring peace to their hearts and minds. The peace that only Jesus himself can give them. [00:09:11] “When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.” [00:09:16] That is Jesus' way of proving to his disciples that he is the same person they saw hanging on the Cross with the same wounds in his hands and his side - the wounds that he still bears in his flesh in the kingdom of heaven and will always bear, because they represent his triumph over sin and death. [00:09:45] “Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.” [00:09:49] Well, of course they were! Remember, in John 16, Jesus promised his disciples that they would experience sorrow, but their hearts would rejoice when they saw him again. This is the fulfillment of that promise! The joy they feel - after the sorrow of the Crucifixion. “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’” [00:10:19] Meaning that this is now their time! It is now time for the disciples to undertake the mission for which Jesus spent three years preparing them. [00:10:34] “And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” [00:10:42] As I said earlier, this is John's version of Pentecost. That is why it is offered as an option for this week. [00:10:51] “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” [00:11:00] The power to forgive or retain sins is the same power that Jesus bestowed on Peter at Caesarea Philippi in Matthew 16, when Jesus declared that Peter was the rock upon which his Church would be built. Jesus forgave sins and dispensed divine mercy throughout his public ministry - now he is bestowing, upon his disciples, a share of his power and authority so that they can continue his mission on earth. [00:11:37] And we know that Jesus’ mission is still ongoing… we know that it will continue until the Second Coming. [00:11:48] So, that sharing of Jesus' authority has been passed down through the centuries to the successors of Peter and the Apostles through the magisterial priesthood of the Church. [00:12:02] That is why Pentecost is considered to be the birth of the Church. [00:12:09] The way John records Jesus' conferral of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples is much less dramatic than the one we hear from in Luke's passage from Acts. Which may not be a bad thing, because God doesn't always act in extraordinary or sensational ways… sometimes he does, but sometimes he reaches out to us in times of quiet, gentle stillness, which reminds us that we always need to be ready to listen to the voice of God and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. [00:13:02] That takes us to Choice B for our Gospel, which is the choice my home parish will use this year. And it is from John 14: 15-16, 23b-26. [00:13:17] “Jesus [said to his disciples:] ‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever. If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Lord will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’” [00:14:10] This passage is from Jesus' Farewell Discourse at the Last Supper (and that's a lengthy discourse - remember, it takes about three chapters of John's Gospel). This passage may have also seemed quite familiar because we heard part of it just a couple of weeks ago on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. But because we are observing Pentecost, the Church includes two additional verses in this version of the passage, since that's where Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. So, let's listen again to what Jesus is saying to his disciples… [00:14:49] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” [00:14:53] What Jesus really means there is that love and obedience go together. We cannot love God fully without being obedient to his will and we can't obey God's will without his love to strengthen us. [00:15:12] Now, that doesn't mean that there won't be times when we hear God calling us to do something and we run as far and as fast as we can in the opposite direction… because that may happen, depending on how challenging we perceive the call to be, right? [00:15:32] And if you don't believe me, I invite you to read the story of Jonah in the Old Testament… or if you have the opportunity, talk to anyone who has an authentic vocation to either the priesthood or the religious life, because they will often admit that that they spent a significant amount of time and effort trying to avoid that very call. [00:15:59] But God is persistent, and there's a big difference between delay and refusal! And God is also patient… he can wait for us to come around. And when Jesus does call us to achieve something, rest assured he will be there walking alongside of us. [00:16:24] He goes on… “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you for ever.” [00:16:33] Jesus says: another Counselor there, right? Jesus is one Counselor - that's why he says: another Counselor. And who is that other Counselor? Well, we know it is the Holy Spirit, who will be with the disciples (and us) until the end of the age… until Jesus comes again at the end of time. [00:16:56] “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” [00:17:08] That is Jesus’ way of reiterating what he said at the beginning of this passage - love and obedience go together. [00:17:20] Then he makes an additional promise - that they (Jesus and the Father) will make their home with whoever keeps the divine word… they will dwell with that person. [00:17:36] That is the promise of a genuine sharing in the divine life of God in heaven given to anyone who obeys God and keeps his word. And the promise is freely offered to all, then and now, even down to this present time. That is a spectacular promise! [00:18:03] We don't always deserve it, we aren't always aware of it, but it's there and it's real. [00:18:12] And notice Jesus says: “we will come” meaning after the Resurrection, after the Ascension, the Father and the Son will dwell in the disciples - in all of Jesus' disciples, even us - through the Holy Spirit. [00:18:32] “He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you.” [00:18:48] Jesus doubles down there on the importance of his message by stating it in negative terms… meaning that our failure to obey God is a sign of our lack of love for him. [00:19:04] Then he goes even further by saying that the words he speaks are not his alone, but they are the words of the Father. [00:19:15] What Jesus means is that everything he has revealed to the disciples during his time on earth is exactly what the Father wished him to reveal. And remember, this Discourse takes place at the Last Supper, so the disciples haven't yet experienced the fullness of that revelation - because they haven't yet experienced Jesus' Passion, Death, and Resurrection. We already know the end of the story, but that's still in their future at this point. [00:19:49] That's what Jesus means when he says: “while I am still with you”… he's alluding to Good Friday. [00:20:00] “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” [00:20:15] And that is why this passage is another option chosen for Pentecost. [00:20:21] Jesus Christ promises that the Holy Spirit will come to the disciples to help them fully understand everything Jesus taught while he was with them throughout his public ministry… throughout the times he was around the crowds, and all of the times that it was just Jesus and his disciples. [00:20:47] That promise continues to hold true today. We are living in the Age of the Church, certainly, because the Church was brought into existence by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. [00:21:07] That takes us to our First Reading, which is from Acts 2: 1-11. [00:21:13] “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were amazed and wondered, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Par’thians and Medes and E’lamites and residents of Mesopota’mia, Judea and Cappado’cia, Pontus and Asia, Phryg’ia and Pamphyl’ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre’ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them and telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.’” [00:22:47] Last week we heard the first 11 verses of chapter 1 of Acts, this week we hear the first 11 verses of chapter 2. What we missed in the intervening verses was that the Apostles decided to restore their number to 12 since that was the number of disciples Jesus initially called. [00:23:11] They chose two men from among Jesus’ followers, men who had been with them for the entirety of Jesus’ public ministry, and the disciples cast lots to choose between the two, selecting Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot. [00:23:33] So let's find out what the now Twelve Apostles are up to… [00:23:39] “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.” [00:23:45] Pentecost was also called the Feast of Weeks. And it was a Jewish pilgrim feast that occurred seven weeks after Passover and commemorated the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. It is THAT Pentecost that the disciples had gathered together to celebrate (not the Christian Pentecost - this is the institution of THAT feast). [00:24:14] “And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” [00:24:24] Given that this Feast was intended to commemorate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai, the disciples would have absolutely equated the mighty wind rushing through the house where they were gathered with the thunder and lightning that appeared at the top of Mount Sinai and was seen by the Israelites. [00:24:44] That is not a coincidence! God is letting them know that something momentous is about to happen. [00:24:53] “And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on every each one of them.” [00:25:00] Again, this is no coincidence… God descended on Mount Sinai as fire in Exodus 19, so the disciples would have recognized this as a theophany. And remember, a theophany is a manifestation of God. [00:25:20] “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.” [00:25:48] This dramatic account of the descent of the Holy Spirit is often considered to be the birth of the Church because the Holy Spirit strengthened the Apostles to boldly take up the mission Jesus entrusted to them. [00:26:04] Back at the beginning of this episode, I mentioned that parishes may choose to celebrate a simplified version of the Pentecost Vigil… well, if that is the case, the Old Testament reading proclaimed at the Vigil Mass is the story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11. [00:26:22] That story is also included in the longer Pentecost Vigil, but that's typically the one chosen if a simplified version is celebrated. [00:26:33] Now, why is that the reading that's chosen? Well, because in that reading, we hear that God confused the languages of mankind because of their presumption and their hubris in attempting to build a tower for themselves to heaven. [00:26:53] This passage in Acts counteracts the effects of Babel, allowing the disciples to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to the crowds gathered for the Jewish feast of Pentecost, in spite of their varied languages. [00:27:13] “And they were amazed and wondered, saying, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?” Understand, that comment was likely intended as an insult. [00:27:31] Calling the disciples Galileans was akin to saying they were uneducated rustics or bumpkins. [00:27:39] And this next section, when all of these unfamiliar names are listed one after the other, that passage is one of the most difficult and most nightmarish passages for Lectors to proclaim out of the entire year. [00:28:00] So let's go through it… “Par’thians and Medes and E’lamites and residents of Mesopota’mia, Judea and Cappado’cia, Pontus and Asia, Phryg’ia and Pamphyl’ia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyre’ne, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” [00:28:30] There is a word there - in the RSV translation - that I want to explain before we move on and that word is proselyte - it simply means a convert… and in this case a convert to Judaism. [00:28:44] All the countries named in that section were nations that surrounded Israel geographically. [00:28:52] But despite their different countries of origin, they were all Jews, all gathered for the Jewish festival of Pentecost. And when they traveled to Jerusalem, they didn't leave behind their cultural identity… they were people of different backgrounds, different languages, different cultures, yet they were somehow all hearing exactly the same message. [00:29:23] The Feast of Pentecost marks the birth of the Church because it was the day, the occasion, that the disciples received the promise of the Father and were clothed with the power of God, enabling them to boldly preach the good news of Jesus to any and every audience. [00:29:49] Despite whatever barriers may have initially been in place… language, culture, distance, whatever those barriers have now been overcome by the gift of the Holy Spirit. But the Church was not born until the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples because the Holy Spirit animates the Church. [00:30:20] We hear from St. Augustine: “What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the body of Christ, which is the Church.” [00:30:32] And that holds true even today. The Holy Spirit is always with us - always with the Church - just not always in such dramatic fashion. [00:30:49] That takes us to our Responsorial Psalm, which this week is Psalm 104, and the refrain is: “Lord send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” [00:31:00] This refrain, like so many Psalm refrains, is actually paraphrased. The original verse is: “When you send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.” So you can see, to make that into a repeatable refrain, it's paraphrased just a bit. [00:31:21] And here are the verses: [00:31:23] “Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! O LORD, how manifold are your works! The earth is full of your creatures.” [00:31:36] “When you take away their spirit, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the earth.” [00:31:49] “May the glory of the LORD endure for ever, may the LORD rejoice in his works. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in in the LORD.” [00:32:02] This Psalm is a Hymn of Praise to God, and the Psalmist marvels at the varied assortment of living things created by God and the fact that they are all animated by God. [00:32:21] The Psalmist sees God's glory reflected in his work of creation and offers praise and thanksgiving and gratitude in the hopes that those prayers will be acceptable to God. A fitting Psalm for this week. [00:32:42] That takes us to our Second Reading, and we also have a choice of New Testament readings for Pentecost. That choice is between either 1 Corinthians or Romans. [00:32:55] 1 Corinthians is actually assigned specifically to Cycle A, and it is the only reading assigned to Cycle A. In Cycles B and C, the Church offers local parishes the option to always use 1 Corinthians (if they prefer to do so) but it also offers other New Testament readings as options if they choose to do that. In Cycle B, that option is from Galatians, and in Cycle C, which is this year, that option is Romans. [00:33:28] My home parish has chosen to use Romans this year, but I will cover both readings here. [00:33:36] Choice A, as I said, is from 1 Corinthians 12: 3b-7, 12-13. “[Brothers and sisters:] No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” [00:34:46] I know I've said this many times, but 1 Corinthians is an Occasional Letter written to address a large number of issues that had arisen in the Corinthian community. [00:34:59] In this particular passage, Paul focuses on inappropriate levels of arrogance and conceit that had been developing among certain factions within the community. [00:35:14] Not that there are ever appropriate levels of arrogance or conceit, but these levels had really kind of gotten out of control because some people felt they deserved more respect and deference than others, because those individuals felt their gifts from the Holy Spirit were more important than gifts given to others, but Paul says - NO, that response is never appropriate! And he opens his address this part of the passage by reminding the Corinthians that everything begins with faith. [00:35:58] “[Brothers and sisters:] No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.” [00:36:07] Okay - obviously, anyone with a voice can say whatever they want. Paul isn't suggesting that people aren't free to speak openly about whatever they want to say. What he is saying, however, is that people cannot effectively proclaim anything about Jesus absent the gift of faith. [00:36:31] And it is the Holy Spirit who empowers everyone to witness that faith to others. [00:36:38] Then Paul goes on to address the heart of this particular issue. He says… “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one.” [00:37:05] In that sentence, Paul - for the first time uses a specific Greek word: charismata to describe the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit. [00:37:19] That Greek word is the root of the word charisms that we still use in the Church today to describe the gifts people offer in service to the Church, either locally or globally. What we miss in this version of the passage is Paul's recitation of those gifts. [00:37:42] Those verses are left out because the number and variety of those gifts is not the focus of this particular day… our focus - for Pentecost - is on the Holy Spirit not on the gifts. [00:37:59] And notice Paul points out that there are different gifts, but that they all originate with the same Holy Spirit. [00:38:10] Those gifts, in turn, enable the recipients to either perform some service or accomplish some type of work. [00:38:19] Paul tells us, though, that it is not the service rendered, nor the work completed that is important… what is important is that everything begins and ends with God. [00:38:32] “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” [00:38:38] In other words, every gift bestowed by the Holy Spirit is given specifically to so that it can be given back… given for the common good. Gifts are not for individual gain or personal pride. Every gift originates with God and must be returned to God - must be given back to God - through service to his people, to the Church. [00:39:12] At this point in the passage, the Lectionary omits the verses that cover the recitation of gifts. I already said that because, as I said, the gifts themselves are not the focus of Pentecost, but God is the focus. [00:39:27] “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” Jesus Ascended into heaven, where he is seated at the Father's right hand. We heard the accounts of that event last week on the Feast of the Ascension. What Paul is referring to here is not the physical body of Christ, but the Mystical Body of Christ… the Church. [00:40:02] And in the verses that follow after this passage, Paul presents that masterfully reasoned argument about the parts of the body. [00:40:13] Not every part of the body can be an eye or a foot, an ear or a hand, because then where would the sight be? Where would the hearing be? How would we be able to walk, right? That is that beautiful argument. And yet every part of the body is absolutely necessary and has its own unique place and function. And Paul reminds the Corinthians that God arranged everything according to his plan. [00:40:50] So it's not up to mankind, it's not up to us, to decide that one part is more or less important than another. [00:40:59] And by extension, that one gift is also not more or less important than another. [00:41:07] And why is that? Well, Paul says… “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” [00:41:25] That one body that Paul says we were all baptized into is the Mystical Body of Christ. [00:41:33] And regardless of the position we occupy in the Mystical Body or the gifts we receive as part of that Mystical Body, we are all nourished by the Holy Spirit. [00:41:47] No one who receives a gift, a charism, from God deserves that gift… no one! [00:41:57] It is only our own arrogance, our own pride, that leads us to think so. Just as it was the arrogance developing within the Corinthian community that led them to the same erroneous conclusion. [00:42:15] Some people's gifts are to proclaim sacred Scripture. [00:42:20] Some people's gifts are to clean up the trash. [00:42:24] One is not more important than the other. They are both necessary! [00:42:30] Just as in a physical body, not everybody can be an eye, not everybody can be a stomach. They're both necessary. [00:42:40] We are all sinners, and yet God loves us and gives us gifts anyway… in spite of ourselves. [00:42:54] No gift is either inferior or superior to another - each gift originates with God and is bestowed by the Holy Spirit. [00:43:07] To devalue any single gift is to devalue the Holy Spirit. [00:43:15] And by extension, no person is either inferior or superior to another person - we are all precious in God's eyes and beloved of his heart. [00:43:38] To devalue any individual person is to devalue God, who created that person. [00:43:48] And it is the love of God and the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit that allows us to understand that. [00:44:00] And if we don't, then we need to listen harder. We need to open ourselves to those lessons because they're right there… they're in Scripture. [00:44:14] All we have to do is open ourselves to those lessons. [00:44:20] That takes us to the second choice for our New Testament reading. As I said, this is the choice that my home parish will use this week, which is from Romans 8: 8-17. [00:44:35] “[Brothers and sisters:] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” [00:46:26] Romans is classified as an Ambassadorial Letter because Paul uses it to introduce himself to the Christian community in Rome, explain to them his theology, which he hopes will convince them to aid him as he launches a new Missionary Journey to Spain. [00:46:50] Few scholars believe that journey ever actually took place, but that was his intent. [00:46:58] In this passage, Paul uses two Greek words, sarx and pneuma, to argue a specific point he is making about humanity and its relationship to God. [00:47:15] There was a movement - a heretical movement, to be sure - but a movement that was gaining ground in the 1st and 2nd centuries that proposed that all flesh was bad… it was nothing more than a prison for the Spirit, and only the Spirit was good. Within that movement, those who held that viewpoint were called Gnostics, and they believed that only a select few individuals were granted the hidden knowledge (or gnosis) needed to escape that physical plane - that trap where the Spirit was stuck - and rise to the freedom of the spiritual plane. That is not what Paul is suggesting here! [00:48:10] As is always the case, Greek words have a much greater depth of meaning than their English equivalents. Let me kind of dive into that a little bit. [00:48:24] Sarx, in this passage, is translated as flesh, and pneuma is translated as spirit. But there's so much more there. [00:48:35] Sarx doesn't just mean the fleshy part of our body… it actually means the entire human person focused solely on the self and turned completely away from God. [00:48:55] Pneuma, on the other hand, doesn't just mean breath or life or spirit - it means God's presence in us and in the world, and how we are able to express God's actions toward the world, no matter how imperfectly we may do so. So armed with that deeper understanding of the words sarx and pneuma, which we will hear translated as flesh and spirit, let's go into this week's passage… [00:49:34] “[Brothers and sisters:] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” In other words, if we are focused solely on ourselves, we don't… we can't - know God's will, so we are unable to please God by doing his will. [00:49:54] Then Paul says… “You are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God really dwells in you.” What Paul is really talking about here is Baptism - he is saying that through Baptism, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, really does dwell within us. And when Paul says we are in the Spirit, he means that we are then focused on God. [00:50:28] We are trying to know and understand God's will for us, and we are sharing what we know of God with the world. When God's Spirit dwells within us, we are open to the actions, the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives. [00:50:53] Now, those words were addressed to the Christian community in Rome, certainly, but they are just as vital for us today, and perhaps in our divided and contentious society, maybe even more so. [00:51:11] The Holy Spirit is unifying… it is a unifying force which we need in our world today, and not always just in the broader world. But we need that same force in our Church, our country, our communities, and sometimes even our own families. [00:51:39] The Holy Spirit proceeds from the eternal exchange of love between the Father and the Son, and in turn, the Spirit invites us into that love - into that unity. [00:51:59] It's hard to imagine a force that is more necessary or more needed in today's world. [00:52:06] Paul goes on… “Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness.” [00:52:25] If we belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will dwell within us… Christ made us that promise - we heard that in the second choice for our Gospel this week: John 14. [00:52:39] And Paul is saying that our physical bodies are subject to death and decay because of sin. Absolutely, that is a reality. [00:52:50] But the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross has put us in right relation with God, so our spirits can be alive because of righteousness. [00:53:06] “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you.” [00:53:22] Paul's words are a promise, a foretaste, of the end times… when we will be raised, when our bodies will be resurrected by Jesus. And we profess that in the creed, right? We believe in the resurrection of the body. [00:53:41] “So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh for if you live according to the flesh you will die,” [00:53:51] Paul means that we are no longer limited to this earthly realm alone. [00:54:00] Because of our Baptism, we are no longer bound to live solely in a selfish manner… to live our lives turned toward the self and away from God, without the hope of eternal life. [00:54:19] Because if we do live that way, that is our destiny. We will not live forever with God in heaven, right? That's what Paul is reminding us. [00:54:31] “but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body” Again, through Baptism we are now free to live for God, to have God dwell within us, to be animated by the Holy Spirit, so that we turn our back on deeds of selfishness and self-centeredness. [00:54:56] When we do that, Paul says… “you will live.” Meaning we will be welcomed into God's eternal kingdom in heaven. [00:55:12] “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” [00:55:17] When we are baptized, we receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and we are adopted into God's family. [00:55:29] “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” The Holy Spirit bestows many gifts, but the spirit of slavery is not one of them, neither is fear. No, instead we receive freedom and love. [00:55:57] And remember, our Baptism enables us to address God as Abba. That is a Hebrew word… it is a term of closeness and intimacy. [00:56:14] It is actually better translated as daddy rather than the more formal word Father. [00:56:20] “When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,” [00:56:41] The Holy Spirit bears witness to each of us - and with each of us - making us children of God and heirs to the kingdom, meaning we have a place prepared for us in heaven. Jesus made that promise in John 14 as well: “I go to prepare a place for you.” [00:57:09] And what condition does Paul place on that? [00:57:14] He says… “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” [00:57:27] We, imperfect humans that we are living in a fallen and imperfect world, we experience suffering all the time. We don't suffer in the same way that Jesus suffered on the Cross, but we do suffer… because of misfortune, worry, injury, illness, grief, any of a whole host of circumstances just waiting to cause suffering. [00:58:01] And when we suffer, we need to unite our sufferings to those of Christ. [00:58:12] He was fully human as well as being fully divine. And he understands what we're experiencing. [00:58:25] And he walks with us through that experience, even when we aren't aware that he's there beside us. [00:58:37] And just as Jesus was glorified in his Resurrection, we will share in his glory in, the kingdom of heaven. [00:58:50] We are given a foretaste of that glory through our Baptism when we first received the gifts of the Holy Spirit. [00:59:00] And the Church teaches that when we are Confirmed, we receive the same special outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was granted to the apostles on the day of Pentecost, although not in such a dramatic fashion, thankfully. I'm sure most Confirmation candidates have enough to worry about without being concerned about dealing with a driving wind blowing through the building or having tongues of flame flying around the Church. Regardless of our personal, individual experience of the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation (and let's face it, most of us who are what are called Cradle Catholics were Baptized as infants, and so we don't remember our Baptism). [00:59:58] And we may or may not have strong memories of our Confirmation again, depending on what age we were Confirmed. [01:00:07] So regardless of the age at which we received those Sacraments, regardless of what we've done - or haven't done - with them since we received them, we have all been gifted the same Holy Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples before his Ascension. [01:00:29] And the same Holy Spirit that descended upon the disciples at Pentecost. [01:00:37] The very same Holy Spirit that gave birth to the Church and continues to guide her today. [01:00:48] Even when we don't always listen to that Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit remains a gift beyond measure. [01:01:03] And because it is, we need to open ourselves to listen, to hear, and to receive the promptings of the Holy Spirit. [01:01:19] So let us pray… [01:01:23] Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the f fire of your love. Grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise. [01:01:43] If you would like to reach out to me with questions or comments, send me an email at [email protected] Thank you for spending this time with and until next we meet, may God shower his blessings upon you like a soft and gentle rain and may he hold you, safe and secure, in the palm of his hand. [01:02:13] From His Word to Our Hearts is produced by SFS Audio Solutions. The content of the show was assembled by me, Sally Moriarty-Flask. Our music was composed by Jimmy Flask and is used with the permission of the composer. All rights reserved. Information regarding references used in preparing the exegesis for this podcast is available upon request. [01:02:36] Thank you for listening and God Bless.