REFLECTION on PENTECOST

Pentecost A (12 June 2011)

Fr James McTavish, FMVD

He breathed fire on them

There is a series of films about Narnia and the latest is “the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.” One of the characters is a little bit of a brat. He is called Eustace. In one point of the movie he is turned into a dragon, a fire-breathing dragon. When he breathes, the fire comes bursting forth from his mouth. Fire is something that is very powerful. It burns, it si hot (of course!) – it has energy and power and many uses. It can be used to provide heat and warmth, to drive a machine, to purify and clean and also to forge, like a sword that needs to be toughened will be put in the furnace as part of the process of forging the steel and making the sword tough.

This image of fire is one way that the Holy Spirit is commonly presented. Sometimes the Spirit is water, or a dove but also fire. In the account of Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles, we find “when the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.” (see Acts 2, 1-11).

The Spirit comes as a strong wind and then appears to the apostles as tongues of fire, which come to rest on each one of them. So the gift of the Spirit is to the whole Church but it is also personal. An interesting question to ask is what is my personal experience of the Holy Spirit? Sometimes the Spirit can remain as rather abstract and mysterious person – we pray to Jesus, of course, and to the Father, yes, but the Holy Spirit? What was the effect of the coming of the Spirit in those first disciples? “They were all filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim” (Acts 2,4). The crowd of listeners were amazed because they heard them speaking in their own tongues of the mighty acts of God (Acts 2, 11). The Spirit gave the disciples boldness to witness their faith. As Christians we need this same boldness to share about what God is doing in our lives. This weekend I went to celebrate a mass in a parish fiesta. I had prepared a homily but when I got there it seemed that they were going to use different readings. There were some details of the celebration such as giving a flower to Mother Mary and I was getting a bit lost and of course was worried how I would adapt the homily with only minutes to go. What to do? Ask the Holy Spirit. Come Holy Spirit and strengthen all believers to be bold witnesses of God’s love. And the homily? It came out fine of course thanks to the previous prayerful preparation and the mighty work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of all the listeners!

With the coming of the Spirit our Lord wanted to transmit fire. In one moment of his earthly life he announced “I have come to set the earth on fire and how it wish is was already kindled!” (Luke 12,49) How is our love for Jesus? Is my heart on fire or has the fire gone out? The Spirit comes to set our hearts on fire. To burn up all our resistances and fears. That is why Jesus comes to his disciples and tells them “Peace be with you!” (See John 20, 19-23) After saying this he breathes on them. I love this moment! It reminds us of the breath of God at the beginning of creation, breathing the life giving Spirit into man (Gen 2,7). Jesus said to the disciples “As the Father has sent me, so I send you." And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the holy Spirit.”

Imagine Jesus breathing on the disciples. It is a gesture of intimacy because you cannot breath on someone unless you are close to them. He breathes the Holy Spirit on them, this Spirit of fire. It is as if Jesus blows fire on them. Have you ever seen someone blowing fire? It is rather dramatic. But this happened to the disciples. This timid group, who were behind locked doors because of fear of the Jews received the fire of the Spirit and everything changed. They started to proclaim the Word of God with boldness. They became crazy fire starters! Setting many hearts on fire for God. There is a song by a band called the Prodigy and it is called “I’m a crazy firestarter!” Those disciples gathered together received the fire of the Spirit when Jesus breathed on them and they really became crazy fire starters.

Each one of us as Christians, receiving the Holy Spirit are also called to set many hearts on fire. As parents, they are the first ones to transmit the faith to their children. But if they are only lukewarm in their task, then often the love of God in the family can grow cold. A young student in a University who is on fire with the love of God can give such a good testimony to others. I remember a Catholic rugby player who did not got rowdy and drunk with his teammates. What a great testimony he was and he inspired me so much.

Let us ask that with the coming of the Holy Spirit we too may be filled with fire! That when we speak about God it will be like fire is coming out of our mouths. Each one of use, when filled with the Spirit can light the fire of God’s love in many hearts, with our words and our actions. Come Holy Spirit and set our hearts on fire for love of God and neighbor. Amen.