Weekly HOMILY for May 27, 2012: The Holy Spirit: Who? What? How?

Feast of Pentecost, Cycle B

St. Mark Parish, Fallston

May 27, 2012      

 

The Holy Spirit: Who? What? How?

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

Powdered Milk and Eggs

Back in the 1940’s, during World War II, many American soldiers were stationed on islands in the Pacific Ocean.

They lived in tents and did not have refrigerators or any conveniences at all.  The challenge was that nutritionists wanted our troops to have food like milk and eggs.

These foods obviously required refrigeration and that was not possible for our soldiers on those islands.  So, in response to this, a new form of food was developed: powdered food.

Eggs and milk were powdered, put into packages and sent to the Pacific.  Then, simply by adding water to the powder, the soldiers had eggs and milk in a form that could be served every day and without refrigeration.

Who the Holy Spirit Is

Now, it may sound strange, but the development of the powdered eggs and milk helps us to appreciate who the Holy Spirit is in our lives.

The Spirit is God with us in a new way or, you might say, under a new form.  For thirty years, God was with us in the person of Jesus, but because Jesus was truly human, his presence among us was limited in time. 

And so, if God were going to continue to be present among us, it would have to be in a new way, in a new form.  This is what Pentecost is all about. 

Pentecost marks the moment when God began to be with us not in the physical body of Jesus, but in the spiritual presence of the Holy Spirit.  Changing regular eggs and milk into a powder helps us to understand the change in the way God is present with us. 

So Pentecost marks the time when God begins to be present not as someone standing alongside us, but as someone living inside us.  This is who the Holy Spirit is.

What the Holy Spirit Does

And this leads us to the question: what does the Spirit do?

Today’s passage from the Acts of the Apostles describes the Spirit “as a strong, driving wind that was heard all through the house where the disciples were gathered.”  We all know that wind is beyond our control and perhaps that is why it tells us something of what the Holy Spirit does.

Like the wind, God is beyond our control.  The wind signifies God acting, God doing something independent of us. 

The Book of Genesis describes God’s action as a wind blowing and bringing about all of creation including human beings and human life.  Here at Pentecost, the wind speaks of God creating persons of faith and a community of faith.

So the wind, the Spirit, makes us alive in God and alive in Christ Jesus.  This is what the Spirit does even today through the sacraments and personal prayer, through the Scripture, and even through wisdom and compassion of one another.

How the Holy Spirit Affect Us

In doing this, how does the Holy Spirit affect us as persons?

Today’s reading from Acts says that “tongues as of fire appeared which came to rest on each one of them.  All were filled with the Holy Spirit.

“They began to express themselves in foreign tongues.”  In other words, the Holy Spirit enabled them to communicate with others, regardless of who they were.

The Spirit creates a restlessness within us that almost drives us – like a driving wind – to overcome divisions and hostility.  The Spirit drives us to seek oneness with others and not to rest at peace unless we have done all we can to accomplish this.

The Spirit moves us to build bridges and seek common ground with others.  This restlessness and this quest for oneness is how the Spirit affects us as persons.

Conclusion

So, who is the Holy Spirit?  The Spirit is God with and within us in a new way.

What does the Holy Spirit do?  The Spirit creates us into persons of faith and a community of faith. 

And how does the Holy Spirit affect us?  One primary way is that the Spirit moves us to experience our oneness in God with all persons.

Weekly HOMILY for May 20, 2012: The Revelation of Rock, Pebbles and Sand

Wedding Ceremony

Sean and Rebecca Ward

B-8, D-2, F-6

May 19, 2012

Holy Trinity Church, Georgetown

The Revelation of Rocks, Pebbles and Sand

By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

The Mayonnaise Jar

One day a philosophy professor stood in front of his class, holding up a large one-gallon mayonnaise jar.

Without saying a word, he took out a box of rocks, each about two inches in diameter.  He carefully put as many of these rocks into the jar as it would hold.

He then asked the class if the jar was full.  The class agreed that it was.

Then, without saying a word, the professor brought out a box of pebbles.  He gently poured them into the jar, gave the jar a few easy shakes, filling the open spaces between the rocks.

Again, he asked the class if the jar was full.  And again, the class agreed that it was full.

Then, without saying a word, the professor brought out a bag of sand.  He poured the sand around the rocks and pebbles until he had emptied the entire bag; another gentle shake.

All the little spaces between the rocks and pebbles were now full.  The professor then held up the jar.

Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand

He proclaimed: “This is your life.

“The rocks are the important things you experience, things like health and family – whatever means the most to you.  The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job and your house.

“The sand is everything else, the small stuff, if you will. 

Now, consider the fact that, if you put the sand in the jar first, there will be no room for the rocks and pebbles.

“That is, if you focus on the small things in your life, there won’t be any room for the important things.  So pay attention to the things of the heart that really matter and make those your most important and lasting choices.”

Priorities in Marriage

That professor gives us all a valuable lesson today, and a lesson pitched especially for Sean and Rebecca.

ROCKS: Into the jar of your marriage, first place the solid rocks of your relationship as spouses – the qualities Sirach speaks of in describing a gracious wife and a loving husband. Such a relationship will make time for prayerful listening and heartfelt communication; it will allow for a quiet sacred space to share joy and accomplishments, as well as sadness and disappointments. 

It is such a relationship that has allowed you to first get Sean’s company off the ground and in a few years to turn to your career, Rebecca.

PEBBLES: Then, into the jar of your marriage, place the pebbles of careers, money, house, car – we can’t forget motorcycle – and country.

Realize that these material goods are very helpful in building and cementing your marriage, yet they remain the pebbles; they remain secondary.

SAND: And then, with these rocks and pebbles in the jar of your marriage, you will be able to see the sand of extra comforts and luxuries for what they are – as sand, as relatively unimportant.   

And with this perspective of sand, you will also see preferences, petty differences, disagreements and even hurts for what they are – as rather small in the larger scheme of life and as things that can be dealt let go of.

Conclusion

Sean and Rebecca, in our skyping together the past six months, I have come to believe that you already value this sense of priority. Let your vows to each other today confirm that valuing.

The gospel you chose for today admonishes spouses to “Leave father and mother to be joined as one” and it assures us that, “The two of you shall become one flesh.” That union of hearts is on-going and you have made an extraordinary beginning. 

So with these priorities of rocks, pebbles, and sand, and this gospel thought in mind, I invite you now to come forward and exchange vows that will join you to each other. 

Weekly HOMILY for May 6, 2012: 5th Sunday of Easter -- The Revelation of the Circle

5^th Sunday of Easter, Cycle B

Terranuova Hermitage

May 6, 2012

The Revelation of the Circle

(Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato

 

 

The Circle

One of our early Christian writers proposed an interesting image for understanding our relationship with God and with each other.

He suggests that we imagine a perfect circle (Use arms to create a circle.) The center point is exactly the same distance from all points on the circumference or ring of the circle, say right here at my nose. 

So, no matter where you are on the circumference, you are exactly the same distance from the center.  Now make a mark on the circumference and imagine that this is you. 

Then, make a second mark and imagine that this is someone dear to you – perhaps your mother, father, husband, wife or best friend.   And then make a third mark and imagine that this is someone whom you dislike or with whom you have disagreements, politically or religiously.

Now draw a line from each of these marks or persons to the center. 

Explanation of the Circle

The Christian monk who came up with this image also explains it this way. The center point of the circle is God.  The circle itself is the world and everyone in it.

Everyone is on the circumference of the circle.  So God is equally accessible to everyone in the world.

It is we who need to move closer to God to be fully one with God and, as we do this, notice a very important point, we also move closer to one another.

Of course, we can also move away from God.  And, conversely, as we do so, we also move away from each other.

The Vine and the Branches

This image of the circle can help us appreciate Jesus’ image today where he says: “I am the vine, you are the branches.”  So Jesus is like a grapevine, something like the center of the circle.

We are the branches on that vine, something like the people on the circumference of the circle.  Jesus is in the same relationship with all of us.

As in the circle, he is equally close to all of us.  What we need to do is to “remain” in him, that is, move closely to the center. 

In the gospel passage, he uses the word “remain” seven times so it is a very important thing to do.

He says, “Remain in me, as I remain in you.  Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me.”  

1. Remain

So first we need to “remain” in Jesus. It is something like the person on the circumference or ring of the circle needing to draw closer to the center, to God. 

There are a number of things we can do to “remain” in Jesus.

For example, receiving Holy Communion, as so many of our children are doing for the first time today on these Sundays of Easter, and as we do every Sunday.

Praying personally on our own is also a very important way to “remain.” Whether it is dedicating the day to God, asking God’s help when we wake up in the morning, thanking him before we go to bed at night, or simply sitting in God’s presence are all very good ways to “remain.”

They help us “remain” in Jesus and allow him to “remain” in us and they are ways to move closer to the center of the circle.

2. Bear Fruit

A great insight here is that as we “remain” in Jesus, we also begin to “bear fruit,” as the branches on a grapevine do.

The image of the circle helps us to see more clearly what “bearing fruit” really means: we see ourselves in relation to others, to all of God’s children in the world, moving closer together as we move to the center.

And in a similar way the branches of a grapevine are all connected and are all related through the vine.

We are connected to one another through God – in the image of the circle.  So, the “fruit” that Jesus wants us to bear is: respect for one another, helping those in need, working for peace and reconciliation, building bridges and seeking common ground among people.

Conclusion

Our “remaining” in Jesus, like the branches on the vine, or our drawing closer to God as the center of the circle, draws us closer to one another.  It makes us aware of how connected we are.

It moves us to live out of this relationship and, as Jesus says, “By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and be my disciples.”