A Homily for Pentecost Sunday

​+ How are we to understand this great feast of Pentecost? How can we begin to comprehend the Gift of God Himself, poured out upon the Church on that day, and given equally to each of us in our Baptism and Confirmation, and anew today?
 
As ever, our Holy Mother the Church presents us with sublimely rich fare in the texts of her Sacred Liturgy that have come together in Tradition to form the Mass and Office of Pentecost, beginning yesterday afternoon with its ancient Vigil. And, as always, we can do no better in seeking to contemplate the meaning of this feast than by taking these texts and pondering and praying them today and throughout the Octave before us. In particular I recommend revisiting – as does the Mass of each day of this week - the beautiful Sequence of Pentecost. If we but open ourselves to these treasures by immersing ourselves in their riches, this Pentecost will have a greater impact upon us than heretofore.
 
And this is all to the good. A greater appreciation of the gift of Pentecost, the gift of God Himself, indwelling in us, Who will teach us everything, is assuredly vital. Entering more deeply into the mystery of God’s saving action in human history is an important part of prayer and contemplation – for monks, laity and others alike.
 
In doing so, however, we must avoid the heresy of quietism. For if the feast of Pentecost invites us to ponder anew the mystery of the Gift of God Himself given to us anew this day, it does not do so in order to produce smug, inert contemplatives. No. God the Holy Spirit is given to us in Pentecost so that we may have the power and the force and all the gifts necessary for heroic witness and final perseverance as faithful disciples of Christ in this life. Just as the tongues of fire transformed sinful men into eloquent apostles, so too the flames of Pentecost must fire us into action – action which will itself take us deeper and deeper into the mystery of God.
 
This is not to say that monks should become mendicants, or that parents should assume the roles of priests. In the one Body of Christ there are many members with distinct functions. And as for the human body, so too for the Church, it is essential that each different part of the body is in good health and serves according to its God-given function – fuelled by the fire of God the Holy Spirit. Contemplative “activity” is as essential to the Body of Christ as is apostolic “activity”. Any monk knows how apostolic an observant monastery in fact is, just as anyone immersed in the apostolate knows how essential prayer and contemplation is. Should any part of the Body of Christ become infected with quietism, the whole would suffer from the infection.
 
At this period in the Church’s history it seems that in many places the fire of Pentecost burns dully and low, somewhat like a dying candle. The Church sometimes seems more concerned studiously to avoid any criticism from the world, and to be more in a hurry adopt its agenda, than to be on fire with the joy of courageously announcing the wonders of Almighty God in every known language. Often the Church seems more preoccupied with the internal management of its own decline than with announcing with joy that the Spirit of God is alive and active in the world for the salvation of all. We, naturally enough, can feel inhibited and oppressed when our Apostles themselves seem to be thus distracted or depressed. It can seem that there is little left that we can do in the face of such quasi-institutional malaise.
 
That is true enough. We are powerless. We are tired. We are sinners. We are weak. We are few. The forces against us are simply too great.
 
My brothers and sisters, the apostles suffered from these same realities. They were as inadequate as ourselves. Their fear and depression were real. The threats they faced were altogether of another order.
 
And yet these flawed and inadequate men were transformed by the Gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and became the very pillars with which the One True Church of Jesus Christ was built, not by virtue of their own merits, but by the singular outpouring of God’s grace – of God Himself – at Pentecost. If that same Church stands in need of rebuilding today – and who can doubt that it does! – the fact is that same Gift is given to us this Pentecost to that very end.
 
When we begin to understand this, when by our revisiting of the liturgical texts of this feast we begin to penetrate its incredible implications, when we open ourselves to the Power Whom Almighty God gives us in the sacraments of His Church, there is no room left for distraction or depression. Rather, we come to live in hope – indeed we come to live by and for Hope Himself. And we come to realise that there is much, very much indeed, to be done – in conforming ourselves ever more to Christ and in opening ourselves to that which He, by the power of the Holy Spirit, wishes to do in us and through us – as much in the monastic enclosure as well as in the world.
 
If we understand this, we have begun truly to understand – and to live – this great feast of Pentecost.
 
Veni Sancte Spiritus, give us the gifts of joyful and faithful perseverance in the Faith so the Church on earth may witness to the wonders of God with a fidelity and zeal that is truly renewed this day! +

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