Weekly THIS AND THAT for May 23, 2010: Pentecost = Jesus is Everybody's

This and That:
Pentecost = Jesus is Everybody’s


Today we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost, traditionally called “the birthday of the Church.” During the 50 days of Easter, we have celebrated Jesus’ triumph over death and his gift of eternal life to each of us. Pentecost reminds us that our mission is to spread this good news to anyone and everyone. Following is a reflection by Father Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who is the founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation is Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Accepting Our Acceptance

God has chosen us. That is simple and clear. But for us to accept that we are chosen or beloved is actually quite difficult, just as it was for Israel. It demands major freedom from self. (Only the "nobodies" seem to be ready for chosenness. Meanwhile God has to lead most of us on long 40-year journeys before we get to that place.)
God chooses each of us—not to "raise us up a notch," but to lead us through necessary and transformative journeys so we can allow ourselves to be beloved, and to relish a mutual relationship. At Pentecost the Spirit is poured out on "all humankind" regardless of status.

The election of the Jews, God's "chosen people," eventually becomes a message for the whole world, and not something to keep them superior, satisfied or apart. It will take the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Jonah, Jesus himself, the rest of the Book of Acts and the fierce ministry of Paul to resolve God's universality. Because the implications of "one God who created all things" gradually became clear, they soon called this new religion "catholic." Our attempts to limit this election have often made us more ethnic than catholic. Not only does God end up looking very small and scarce, but we do too.

We are ready for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit only after 50 days of enjoying the wisdom of the risen Christ. It takes a while to move from Jesus as mine to Jesus as everybody's. Originally only Paul was strong enough to get the point, and his ministry to the gentiles (which is most of us!) was a scandal to James and Peter. He had to argue with Peter about this, and God had to give Peter a vision to prove it to him.
Choosing, Changing

When God makes a choice, it is definitive and irrevocable. The biblical God does not love us if we change, but so that we can change. God has not stopped choosing Israel any more than God stops choosing us because we do not respond (see Romans 11). As our Catholic tradition and recent popes have affirmed, the Jews are still the chosen people.

God’s love, it seems, is never determined by the worthiness of the one loved, which is almost impossible for us to comprehend—because that is the only way we know how to love. The biblical God seems to be both extremely patient and extremely humble. This is good news, for where would any of us be if God's choice depended upon our response?

Resting, Rejoicing

As humans, we cannot recognize, much less affirm, another person's inherent, God-given goodness until we have rested in that lovely place ourselves. God is inviting us first of all to rest and rejoice in what it means to be God's beloved son or daughter. When we have learned to live and abide in that chosenness, only then can we communicate that same beloved status to anybody else or any situation at any level of depth, joy or freedom. If we have been there, we can proclaim a true and new alternative to the drudgery and darkness of this world. This is healthy and happy religion, and it is offered to us.

Happy Birthday to us – and to all who believe because of us!

Sister Mary Therese