The Feast of Pentecost is the culmination, the
fulfillment of the Liturgical year, the outpouring of the Spirit upon us and in
us. The Holy Spirit fills the whole world, coming afresh on this assembly,
empowering us to live more fully our Christian and monastic lives. Pentecost is
the celebration of that presence that enables us to live fully and creatively
the Baptism that has made us children of God.
The gospel we just heard from John tells of Jesus breathing on the first
disciples, even as he breathes on us saying: "Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose
sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."
Jesus breathing on his disciples, on us, is to remind us of God’s continued
creative action in our lives even as took place in the creation of the first
human being. In the book of Genesis we know of how God formed the first human
being out of clay and then "blew into his nostrils the breath of life so that
man became a living being." The breath is about the giving of life. Jesus
breathing on the disciples, breathing on us, reminds us also of that moment when
the prophet Ezekiel was asked to prophesy over a plain covered with dry bones,
the symbol of Israel exiled from its own land. Ezekiel is told to "prophesy and
say to the spirit: "Thus says the Lord God: From the four winds come O spirit
and breath into these slain that they may come to life." He prophesies and "The
spirit came into them; they came alive and stood upright, a vast army." The Holy
Spirit frees us from our alienated selves, restoring us to the paradise where we
may live again in harmony and peace.
Jesus is doing a very powerful and transformative action over us as He breathes
on us and says: "Receive the Holy Spirit." The new life we have in Christ
through baptism is being strengthened and we are made ever more capable of
forgiving one another whatever wounds may be separating us. As past hurts are
healed, our eyes are opened to see the gifts of the Spirit that are at work in
each of us. We recognize the divine life that is in our brother or sister so as
to assist its growth to maturity. Nothing is so divinely inspired as the show of
mercy and forgiveness, the dropping all those defenses that separate us and
prevent our mutual enrichment. A vulnerable and loving people is incredibly
creative of new life. Divine action moves in, opening up infinite possibilities.
You may say: "I can’t live like that!" And the answer is: "No, we can’t out of
our own resources. We fail when we act out of our own effort alone and we fail
miserably. But if we open our hearts to the breathe of Jesus, let ourselves be
filled with His Spirit we become a new creation, made once more in the very
image and likeness of God. With the breathe of Jesus we become a people freed of
our Exile, restored to our authentic place in creation and empowered to truly
love so as to touch the hearts of all around us. When the Spirit of Jesus is
poured into our hearts, we become as St Paul tells us, living members of
Christ’s Body where all the members work together for the building up of the
whole. The Feast of Pentecost brings us to the point of a fresh outpouring of
the Holy Spirit within this community. Acknowledging one another’s gifts and
fostering their growth, the whole community is energized and made vibrant for we
all are being "given to drink of the one Spirit."
But does Jesus really stand in our midst and breathe over us? At the Eucharist
each morning there is an action that is reminding us of what Jesus did with the
first disciples, is doing continually in our world and in our lives each day,
especially as we gather around this altar. It is the prayer of Epiclesis just
before the words of consecration. The priests along with the principal
celebrant, in the person of Christ, extend their hands over the offerings of
bread and wine and call down the Holy Spirit upon them. The bread and wine that
are carried to this altar are representative of our lives. It is through the
Holy Spirit that these offerings become the Body and Blood of Christ and that
the faithful, by receiving them, themselves become a living offering to God. The
breathe of Jesus returns to hover over us, to move, as it were the air and fill
all of us assembled with Christ’s presence. May you know the presence and power
of the Spirit this day, the Holy Spirit that seeks to fill the whole of your
lives.
Michael Casagram, OCSO
Abbey of Gethsemani
May 27, 2007
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