Dear Friends,

The Church calendar for this Sunday uses the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  All Are One Roman Catholic church chose this Sunday to celebrate the Apostle to the Apostles, Mary of Magdala whose feast generally falls on July 22nd.  We usually combine this day with a mass on the farm and an outdoor picnic and this was the Sunday that worked for everyone, so today then, we not only remembered Mary of Magdala, but all women and uplifted their status as gifted, qualified and equal in God’s sight to their brothers. 

We were happy to celebrate in a gathering of 42 great folks, great cooks and we enjoyed wonderful conversation. A special public thank you goes out to Sr. Ann and Joan Redig and to their assistant, Mary Ludwigson for the great work in the kitchen, all the prep and service during meal time. It was much appreciated!

 In addition, we celebrated within this liturgy the baptisms of Liam and Sunny Darst and welcome them into our Church in this wonderful way! We will support them in their attempts to be their best selves following the example of our brother, Jesus.

My homily follows:

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My friends, each year, this celebration calls every one of us to the truth about our God, namely that this God of ours is all-loving—therefore, all-inclusive; about Mary of Magdala, faith-filled follower of the Christ, Jesus, our brother and friend, who was priest and prophet, and to the uplifting of all women to their rightful place in our loving God’s kin-dom.

And the importance of us doing this each year is not so that women can enjoy the power held by men in our Church, or to replace them, as the men who don’t want women ordained accuse, but about recognizing that our God does call women to service, not as “mouthpieces for men,” but to serve alongside them, equally.  If it were just about the power, there would be no purpose in us gathering for such a day!

I just finished reading Melinda Gates’ wonderful book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World and I would highly recommend it to you!  Melinda makes all the world connections, stating as other women have before her, but she does it in a very clear and crisp way, that when women are treated as second-class, less-good, less equipped for service, for jobs, for whatever the issue may be, and when that is supported by the culture, there is no way that women can succeed and if they do, it is always with much second-guessing of themselves and of their “rightness” to be in a position that they innately feel called to.

Gates, herself a Catholic, born, raised and educated, takes issue and rightly so, with the hierarchy and their stance against the ordination of women and I quote, “It would be impossible to quantify the damage that has been done to the image of women in the minds of the faithful as they’ve attended religious services over the centuries and been taught that women are, “unqualified” to serve God on equal terms.”

She continues, “…without question, the disrespect for women embodied in male-dominant religion is a factor in laws and customs that keep women down.  This should not be surprising because bias against women is perhaps humanity’s oldest prejudice, and not only are religions our oldest institutions, but they change more slowly and grudgingly than all others…” End quote.  And we should not be surprised that change within our Church is such a “slow” process when it is up to the same men benefitting by the system they have created, to change it! They will only come, kicking and screaming to this much needed change within our Church.  Very sad! Another reason for us not to wait for them!

Gates takes it a step further, “My own church’s ban on modern contraceptives is just a small effect of a larger issue: its ban on women priests. There is no chance that a church that included women priests—and bishops and cardinals and popes—would ever issue the current rule banning contraceptives.  Empathy would forbid it.”

The connection into the wider community of this disrespect for women and their rightful place in our churches and society was demonstrated well in a news item just a few days ago. It seems that in Nashville women have a tough time breaking into the music business, not because they have no talent, but because they aren’t men. The young woman spotlighted in the piece said that she was told by a promoter that if she was a man, he would take her record—that they already had ONE woman performer on their label! But friends, there is hope—it seems that there is an enlightened man there that is hosting shows now highlighting female performers to give them some visibility!

Through the words of President Jimmy Carter, in his equally great book of a few years back, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power, Gates further makes the connection to abuse of women in the Church and the abuse of women in the society and world at large.  President Carter says, “This system [of discrimination] is based on the presumption that men and boys are superior to women and girls, and it is supported by some male, religious leaders who distort the Holy Bible, the Koran and other sacred texts to perpetuate their claim that females are in some basic ways, inferior to them, unqualified to serve God on equal terms.  Many men disagree but remain quiet in order to enjoy the benefits of their dominant status.  This false premise provides a justification for sexual discrimination in almost every realm of secular and religious life.”  End quote. Or, we could basically say, if you hear it in church, it’s good in society as well!” And friends, on a personal note, I must say, it is the men who know that this is wrong and say nothing that I have the hardest time with!

We see how when one gender—and here, think, men, are in charge and they write the rules, lay down the dogmas, the face of God becomes male (Father, Son), those who serve at the altar are male, the unique voices, experiences and feminine ways of expressing who God is, are simply not there and a big piece of theology and liturgy goes missing.  Even Father Richard Rohr, Franciscan writer and teacher, known to many, whom I believe is doing some very good work, makes a disclaimer in one of his books that while he believes that God is not a man, he is more comfortable to use the regular words of Father and Son and the male pronouns for God. And to me Richard, that is simply not good enough! If you believe it, you gotta show it!

I think we all recognize that language is power and expression, and if there are no words in our theology of God that name God as Someone that women can recognize, then no wonder women turn from a God that can only be expressed in male terms! And I won’t even go into the issue of my pet peeve in society, the term, “you guys” that, in my mind is disrespectful of the wonderful creatures sitting before many speakers—women—addressed by this term and assumed by the speaker that they feel included. If we are worthy of a place in this society, we are worthy of a name too! We need to be more creative and inclusive!

Let’s look to our Scriptures today for a sense of how women are succinctly left out when churches are run by men alone.  In the very first line of the letter to the Romans, Paul states, “our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the Church.”  Now if Paul says she was a “deacon,” she was a deacon! Why does Pope Francis need more proof than that?!  The precedent has been set, but when one doesn’t want to see, they become “blind” to the truth.

We might also question why Paul needs to go to the lengths he does in introducing Phoebe and basically defending her “worthiness” for this position, except, that in this culture, women had no status.  It would seem that our Church fathers today would wish to continue this discriminatory practice.

In the Litany of Women for the Church, from Sister Joan Chittister; we are asked to remember all the holy women in the past and those in the present who have served and are serving, in the footsteps of our brother Jesus as missionaries, evangelists, prophets and priests.  Such a list would not have been constructed by hierarchical men in our Church, nor are these women foremost in their minds as evidenced by their discriminatory practices.

It almost seems, and Melinda Gates alludes to this, that men in power are reluctant to uplift the good that women do because they are threatened by having them appear superior.

We can look to our gospel today to see the truth of this.  We used John’s account of the resurrection story for the way it depicts women’s unique way of ministering to another—of the ways Mary was truly priest, prophet and evangelist.   You will recall that when this account is used on Easter morning, the official text uses only the first nine verses of Chapter 20 where here today, I read basically the next nine verses following what we hear in the official liturgical reading.  In the official reading, with the arrival of Peter and John to the tomb, the text says, “they saw and believed.” You will recall that Mary had already been to the tomb earlier and saw that Jesus’ body was not there and said as much to the apostles.  Next we read that, “As yet they didn’t understand …that Jesus was to rise from the dead.”  Then, we hear that they returned home!  Now, why would you end the reading there when the next nine verses are so much about why we proclaim, “Alleluia” for six weeks after Easter?!

In these next nine verses, Mary does see Jesus because she was not in a hurry to leave, just as she had not been in a hurry to leave Calvary on that fateful Friday before. And we know that who she saw was not the same Jesus that she had known—she didn’t recognize him the Scripture tells us and we must go the next step and ask why that was! The Scripture continues, she only knew him when he said her name, “Mary,” as only Jesus would say it.  And we can be sure from these Scriptures that when Mary left the tomb the second time, her news for the apostles was “Alleluia” material! Why would we not want that whole and profound story ever Easter morning, except as some have suggested, to control the story—to not give too much “uplift” to a woman!

Melinda Gates ends her book by bringing her thought and ours to a whole new level and we might say, this is why it is important to celebrate this feast, and on a Sunday as we would officially, if it were one of the other male apostle’s feast day, falling on a Sunday.  Melinda says that “equality,” the main theme of this homily and her book, is not the summit.

Equality, she says, “is only a milestone.”  The summit is not “equality,” it is “connection!” And the purpose of “connecting” is that we would better understand each other—that other’s trials might become, “ours,” that their joys would become “ours,” and vice versa.  Through the Gates’ Foundation, Melinda and Bill’s work of philanthropy around the world has taught them to be good listeners of other’s stories and by trial and error, they have done just that and have come away with a greater understanding of what people truly need in a given situation. They many times started out trying to fix a particular issue, coming out of their own stories as to what was needed, only to find out that wasn’t what was needed because they hadn’t focused on the needs of those they were trying to help.

Celebration and the uplifting of Mary of Magdala is a day for all of us, women and men.  As the Gates realized, assisting women with education and helping them to get material needs for their families, assisting them in spacing their children, not only helped the women and their children to be healthier and happier, but made the lives of the men better too, as we all can imagine.

The same is true friends for our Church—participation by all, men and women is all about truly revealing the face of our God who loves each of us beyond measure and when this happens, we all become more whole, more inclusive because we have become open to all—we are richer—we become more human, more holy, more God-like and as Melinda says well—we begin to know what it truly is, to love. And I believe this is what our God intended for all of us!  Amen? Amen!

So, my friends; we are back to Ordinary Time with this Sunday, having walked through the Easter Season celebrating with Alleluias our praise for a God who has loved us beyond measure and one, in Jesus, who basically asks us to do the same.

We have celebrated along the way, Trinity Sunday, reflecting on a God who shows Godly goodness in three distinct ways—as Creator, Savior-Friend and Spirit of Jesus who walks continually with us throughout our lives.

Just last week, we contemplated, “The Body of Christ,” known to us, in a special way on the altar, but more importantly really, in our world, in each other, in all of creation.  For it has been said, “If we can’t find Jesus in the next person we meet, we really need look no further, because we won’t find him there either.”  So much mystery here, yet there is so much truth too.

Now today with our continuing of Ordinary Time; we discover once again that the Scriptures call us to anything but an “ordinary” response to life.  Each of the readings today are about “call”—the at times, urgency of it, but always, “the constancy” of it.

In the reading today from Kings, it seems that those called are cut a bit of a break in that, especially with Elisha, he can go home and finish up his affairs, say good-bye to his family, who in this Near Eastern world, are so important.  At this time and in this place, all security in their world was tied to their family.  But once that is done, Elisha is more than willing to follow Elijah.

In the gospel, we see more urgency in Jesus and must remember that his time is short—he is on his way to Jerusalem and for him and his would-be followers, the time is now!

So, are we to take Jesus literally here, or is there some wiggle-room in following his call?  I believe this is a time, looking at the entirety of the Scripture message, “that we be about love,” when Jesus is not telling us to be cruel to our families, “let the dead bury their dead,” but is more so saying that once we do say “yes” to being his follower; we are to be constant in carrying out our “yes,” through the ups and downs, much like a couple on their wedding day who says they will be in this, “for better or worse.”

We also see from the gospel, in its entirety, that everyone whom Jesus called didn’t follow the call in the same way.  Jesus called some to literally follow him around the region of Galilee and to carry that message beyond, while others were to serve him in place, in their homes—we think of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  So to us friends, through our life work, whatever that may be; we are called, each of us, to be our best selves, living moral, just, honest and good lives, serving others—caring for them, remembering to care for ourselves, as part of the equation, doing the right thing, doing what Jesus would do, when easy, but more so, when not easy.

I think of an example out of this past week as I participated in the first board meeting of the Winona Sheltering Network.  Following up on this idea of doing the right thing when easy or not so easy, one of the board members from one of the other Catholic churches in town, looked around the table,  saw another person and myself representing two of the other Catholic churches in town and asked why all the Catholic churches weren’t represented?  I answered his query by emphasizing what a difference it would make in the Catholic community if our bishop could come out publicly in support of this good work which includes, among other things, that of sanctuary and asylum for those needing either.

It was stated by another person that the bishop is in support of assisting immigrants to this country as he personally called the pastor of one of the Catholic parishes in western Minnesota who has declared their parish a sanctuary church to tell him that he supported his work among immigrants there.  Why not say that publicly and give Catholics all over this diocese permission, if they need it, but more so, the challenge, to do the same?  In my reading this past week; I came upon these words, “We are the Church, it’s time we acted like it!”

And certainly, I am not making light of the fact that this “standing up for others” will always be easy, for any of us, including the bishop, but I would expect that if a person is going to hold a position of leadership, then they had better lead or give up the position and let someone in there who will!

At this point in our journey of faith in this country, we face an urgency—just as Jesus did in his time, and it is for this reason that I criticize the bishop.  The time is now to do the right thing where immigrants on our southern border are concerned, the time is now to do something about gun violence in this country, the time is now to become a country once again that lifts up what is best in all of us instead of appealing to what is the worst, most selfish response to a world of suffering.

We need diplomacy, not angry rhetoric—we need understanding instead of war-like posturing.  Simply put, we need love instead of hate and the time for all of this is NOW!

Paul in his letter to the Galatians today, speaks of the guidance of Jesus’ Spirit.  Jesus told us that he would never leave us and the proof of that is his Spirit that is with each of us whenever we do that which Jesus calls us to do.  We will always be up against the human, man-made, (for the most part) laws that seek to control us, but we, as Jesus’ followers must always respond to the law that is written on our hearts—the law to love.

We can’t take our lead today from James and John who want to torch the town that is rejecting them.  We can never respond in like manner to those who have hurt and rejected us.  Our brother Jesus in today’s gospel didn’t reprimand the Samaritans for their rejection, but his own apostles for their lack of love. Amen? Amen!

 

Friends, this feast today, Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ, is a wonderful one in that it calls us very clearly, to the heart of the message of our brother Jesus, that each of us, be “bread” for our world.  Our Scripture readings today are all about feeding those who are hungry, giving hospitality, which Joan Chittister says, “is the sacrament of the self—in it we give ourselves away to those who need to rest their burdens for a while”—those who come to our homes, to our shores; we must give the best wine and food, and it isn’t mere food for the body, but for the heart and soul—the food of understanding of what another walks with.

We see this plainly in the gospel today from John.  Jesus not only sees and understands their physical hunger, but knows they are looking for more—to be loved and cared about, to be understood from one perhaps who truly knows the plight of their everyday lives—of how hard they have to work from morning till night to keep food on the table for their families.

And we too think of our brothers and sisters at our southern boarders—no matter the rhetoric out of Washington, these “neighbors” only want what each of us wants; security, food, and a roof over their heads, for themselves and their families.

Many women in our world, many of you here understand the sense of hospitality and care that Joan Chittister speaks of, that sense of giving people a respite from the cares of life. We were trained, growing up, we women, that when family and friends came to visit, we would always give them, “a little something” to eat before they left.

For me, it was my Aunt Eleanor on my mother’s side—I always enjoyed visiting her, because before we could leave, we had to have some, LUNCH, and my Aunt Eleanor was the best at laying out a spread! Not just coffee and cookies, mind you, but sandwiches, and perhaps even a luscious piece of cake with ice cream.  She truly knew how to treat guests.  And it was not just the physical food, but the “food” of friendship and fun!  It was almost too much! This everyday example is really eucharist in our everyday lives.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus doing the same as my Aunt Eleanor.  In this story, as well as throughout the entirely of the gospels, Jesus brings out the best, and is most generous with the gifts—12 baskets left over!

Jesus invited the people of his day to eat his body and drink his blood and upon hearing his invitation, found it confusing. This was because they were looking at his message in a purely physical way—the way our Church hierarchy has for far too long.   How can I eat another’s flesh and drink their blood?  Yet, Jesus said, they and we must do this to have everlasting life.

Surely, Jesus’ words held a deeper meaning—taking the words and actions of Jesus and making them so much a part of us that in fact we “eat” and “drink” them, his body and blood, soul and divinity—all of himself.  When he said, “Eat my body, drink my blood,” which is all of me, my life, flowing through me, my very Spirit, given by my Abba God, he was really saying, “Become like me!”

So we, as his followers, strive for that—to become more like him every day—“eating and drinking” of his words and actions—making them our body and blood, or in the words of the song, “bread for our world!”

And when you think about it, isn’t this what each of us strives for in life? To know when our time here is coming to a close, that we have made a difference, that what we feel is most important in life, that we have cared for ourselves and our families and extended care as well to all those who come into our lives, that our care has indeed extended beyond ourselves and our immediate families—that basically, the world is a better place because we were here—our life, “our blood,” so to speak, our essence has flowed out among those in our world.  I think it is significant that both Sister Joan Chittister and Father Richard Rohr, both in their early 80’s have felt the need at this time in their lives to write, perhaps, “one last book” and in their words, and I paraphrase; they didn’t want to die feeling they had not said, these final, most important words, given them, for our world!

As a final example, let’s look at Jesus’ last supper, indeed a meal of love with his faithful followers and no doubt, men and women were present. What happens there? Jesus breaks bread and pours wine and tells them that whenever they do this, he is there with them.  Just prior to this sharing, Jesus prays a beautiful prayer of love to God asking that God would bless all those given to him (his apostles, disciples and friends) and all who would believe because of their words (that’s us friends!)—he prayed that God would bless us all and keep us safe.

He prayed that they and we would love others as he had loved us and does love us, and we know that within a very short time of this prayer, his body would physically be broken and his blood physically spilled, just as he had so often broken and spilled his body and blood emotionally and spiritually, during the years of his short life— all of it, out of love for us—so that we would get this one message right. When we think of heads of state, of corporations, even religious organizations and what they put into writing about what they feel most important for their members, followers, to be about, none is as simple or eloquent as Jesus’ final testament—“I want you to love, as you have seen me love.”

Think what it would be like in our world if our country extended diplomacy with a bit of love and understanding, trying to see both sides of “the deal” not striving “to be great again,” but for a more humane resolution! Think what our Church Universal would be like if more love and less law was extended!

So, our brother Jesus, with a great deal of emotion—took the elements of the traditional Seder Meal, blessed and broke, poured and shared and raised them to a new level, saying, “When you do this, remember me—that I have loved you and so go out and love others!  If we stop at the single thought of eating his body and drinking his blood; we will be lost and confused like those first believers, hearing those words for the first time. We always need to go deeper where Jesus is concerned.

Many of us remember, as youngsters, learning that if the consecrated bread ever dropped while the priest was distributing it, everything must stop until it was reverently picked up.  Do we likewise stop everything in our world when Jesus’ body is “dropped and broken” through the trafficking of the young, through the sexual abuse of children by those who should be protecting them, through the concentration camps on our southern border, and through the ongoing violence of guns in our society—more guns than people in our United States of America, and we could go on!

I think Jesus used the simple language of eating and drinking to help the people, all of us,  see and understand the greater message he intended to share—simple eating and drinking was and is, the stuff of life, it was about keeping the body and mind, heart and soul together.  If people, all of us, could take in that simple concept of food and drink, giving us life and energy to live, and move it to a higher level, realizing that to begin to live as Jesus’ example to us, to take his actions, his words, his love, and eat of THAT “body” of truth and drink of THAT “life-blood” of goodness, then we would rise above our humanity, and in fact, be more like God.

Today, we are singing, “Let Us Be Bread” for a purpose! We are expected to be “bread” for our world and that “bread” is made up of goodness, mercy, caring, justice, understanding, and love.  And when did we ever live in a time that called for such “bread” more?  From the Vatican to the halls of Washington, calling each of us to let “our hearts break open with love,” as Melinda Gates speaks so well of in her new book, The Moment of Lift. 

When we can try and put ourselves in the shoes of those who don’t know justice in this world—having enough physical food for their families, a roof to cover their heads, being shown the respect that every human being deserves, then, and only then;  would all of this suffering cease! This is truly Jesus’ body and blood!  Amen? Amen!

Dear Friends, 

This weekend we are treated to a fine homily by my colleague and friend, Dick Dahl who subbed for me yesterday as I officiated at a wedding out of town.  Enjoy! Thank you, Dick! –Pastor Kathy

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“God for us, we call you Father. God alongside us, we call you Jesus. God within us, we call you Holy Spirit. You are the eternal mystery that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things, Even us and even me.” This prayer of Father Richard Rohr’s is one way of being open to God as Trinity. Today’s homily is largely based on his recent two weeks of meditations about God as Trinity.

Although God revealed as Trinity is a central Christian belief, many of us were told we shouldn’t try to understand it because it’s a “mystery.” Fr. Rohr sees mystery not as something you cannot understand; rather, it is something that you can endlessly understand! There is no point at which you can say, “I’ve got it.” There is always more.

This homily’s message is simply this: Jesus revealed God as being all about relationship and connection. Jesus revealed that God is dynamic relationship itself. We hear this in today’s Gospel when at the Last Supper Jesus says, “Everything the Father has is mine…the Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you…(in fact) guide you to all truth.” Father, Son and Spirit is all about relationship and connection.

I find it striking that contemporary science, especially Quantum physics, affirms that the foundational nature of reality is relational; everything is in relationship with everything! The mystery of Trinity is embedded as the code in everything that exists. We are part of this dynamic relationship. Therefore this means we all belong. There are no outsiders.

The Trinity opens an amazingly expansive view of reality—all reality. In other words, all creation—galaxies, solar systems, black holes, and wonders beyond our imagining–all reflect the creative presence and signature, as it were, of the Divine relationship. Humans are not independent beings, nor is any part of creation; we all exist in radical relationship—ecosystems, orbits, cycles.

Beneath the ugly manifestations of our present evils–ecological devastation, brutality, indifference to the suffering and desperation of millions, hating each other for their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality—beneath all this dis-ease facing humanity right now is a distorted and painful sense of disconnection.

Many feel disconnected from God, from our planet, from each other, and even from themselves. This sense of isolation is plunging our species into increasingly destructive behavior and much mental illness. A dominant feeling described by a growing number of people, especially young people, is loneliness.

Nevertheless, Thupten Jinpa, who was the Dalai Lama’s English interpreter for many years writes, “We are born to connect.” He goes on, “Real life connectedness is the cure for loneliness. Opening our heart to others, caring for others, and allowing our heart to be touched by others’ kindness, living our life in ways that express compassionate care creates strong connections.” In fact he adds, “Our longing for connection, not just with our fellow humans, but with animals, is so deep that it determines our level of happiness.”

So, a sense of disconnection is based on an illusion. Nothing can stop the flow of divine love; we cannot undo this eternal pattern even by our worst sin. Nothing humans can do can stop the relentless outpouring force that Fr. Rohr calls the divine dance. Love does not lose, God does not lose. That’s what it means to be God!

As Trinity, God can be thought of better as a verb than a noun, God is a flow more than a substance, God is an experience more than a deity sitting on a throne. And we live naturally inside that flow of love—if we do not resist it. Infinite love is planted within humans and all of creation.

I repeat, whatever is going on in God is a flow, a radical relatedness, a perfect active communion between Three—a circle dance of love. God is Absolute Friendship. God is not just a dancer; God is the dance itself. This pattern is mirrored in the perpetual orbit of electron, proton, and neutron that creates every atom, which is the substratum of the entire physical universe. Everything is indeed like “the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26-27).

We are intrinsically like the Trinity, living in absolute relatedness. To choose to stand outside of this Flow is the deepest and most obvious meaning of sin. We call the Flow love. We really were made for love, and outside of it we die very quickly.

Father Rohr, writes, “Once we allow the entire universe to become alive for us, we are living in an enchanted world. Nothing is meaningless; nothing can be dismissed. It’s all whirling with the same beauty, the same radiance. In fact, he says, “If I could name the Big Bang in my own language, I’d call it the Great Radiance. The inner radiance of God started radiating at least 13.8 billion years ago. We must realize that we are the continuation of that radiance in our small segment of time on Earth.”

Father Rohr says, “This is nothing I can prove to you. This is nothing I can make logical or rational. It can only be known experientially in the mystery of love when you surrender yourself to it, when you grant a blessed I-Thou relationship to every other thing—a plant, an animal, a single tree, the big blue sky—as Francis of Assisi put it, “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.”

The essence of the Trinity undercuts all dualistic thinking. The contemplative mind sees similarity, connection, and meaning everywhere. We know the Trinity through experiencing the flow itself, which dissolves our sense of disconnection.

With this vision you will live in a fully alive and congenial universe where you can never be lonely again.”

Dear Friends,

Today All Are One Roman Catholic church celebrated our first-ever, First Communion! With the challenge of Pentecost–being filled with Jesus’ Spirit, it seemed appropriate to also be accepting one of our members into fuller participation with us. Being a smaller parish, we were able to individualize this special day for one young man. It was a joy to celebrate with you Liam!  Below, find today’s homily–Pastor Kathy

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Today friends, is a very special day! Our Church remembers it as Pentecost—“pente” from the Greek meaning, “fiftieth.”  Now, I think we can be quite sure that the “coming of the Spirit” didn’t happen exactly fifty days after Easter and when it comes right down to it, whether it was five or fifty days, is not as important as the fact that Jesus did, indeed send his Spirit, a person, a force, his life-blood—to be with those first apostles and disciples and ultimately, us, in a special way, in his physical absence, so that he could indeed say, “I will not leave you alone!”

Today is also special because of the fact that our friend, Liam Darst will receive his first communion in the presence of his family and friends and by doing so, become ever more a part of this community. Liam has prepared for a long time to be ready for today and we are all so happy that this day has finally come!

He and I have been preparing for at least 17 weeks as there are 17 chapters in the book of preparation and it has been even longer as several weeks we had to cancel because of snow storms!–we all remember those days, not so long ago when we could barely find our front doors amid the snow piles!

But alas, spring has come, we are on the cusp of summer and new and abundant life seems to be all around!  Pentecost is really all about new life, beginning back there 50 days ago with Easter and the new life of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Pentecost represents the new life that is possible in each of us through our connection to our brother, Jesus, first in our baptisms and then through our more adult response in our own confirmations, our own reception, or coming of the Spirit into our lives.

The reading today from Acts says that those in the room “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak as the Spirit enabled them.”  Those of us here who have experienced our own “coming of the Spirit” into our lives have that same power of that first Pentecost which the Spirit gives, to enable us to be our best selves—to speak, to act, to do that which is needed in our world, even when we might have to stand alone to get it done.

We marvel at what we hear in the Scriptures today about what that first Pentecost was like—what these first “receivers” of the Spirit were able to do, but we, my friends, have that same power to do good, if we but choose to use it!

Liam and I spent time talking about what it would be like to receive Jesus in a special way in communion and how this “receiving” would help him to live a better life.  We talked about how God, in Jesus is, with us in a special way, always, living in us, through our parents, our sisters and brothers, our friends and then, in holy communion, in a special way.

We talked about it, trying to understand “how” this can be that Jesus is present to us in this special way, when the bread, we are told, “is his body” and the wine or grape juice, we are told, “is his blood,” yet it still tastes like bread and wine or juice.  So, he thought about it for a while and being inspired by the Spirit, said, “It’s a miracle!”  And Liam, indeed, it is! Where Jesus and his Spirit are concerned, speaking of “miracles” is always the truth!

In the first reading from Acts today; we learned that there were many different nationalities present in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost, speaking in many different languages and each one understood what the apostles had to say about their friend, Jesus, in their own tongue!

Liam and I spent time talking about as he grows and matures; he will understand even more fully how much God loves him—loves us all, and that is why we receive communion when we come to Mass, when we are ready, to have that sense that Jesus is always with us, helping us to be our best selves.

And one day, you Liam, will be old enough to take that next step—to be confirmed in your faith as so many here have already done.  But for now, your first holy communion is enough!

In the reading from Corinthians today, we hear that the Spirit of God gives each one a special gift that we are intended to use for the good of all—the gifts of the Spirit are never intended just for us.

We have probably all been aware of times in our lives when we “spoke” words either orally or in written form for the “good of all” that were profound and we wondered, “where did that come from?” It was the Spirit, my friends, speaking, writing, teaching through us for the good of all.

So Liam that is what you have to look forward to from this day onward, first through your first reception of communion today and later, as you grow, through Jesus’ Spirit.

And in conclusion, I say to you and to each of us, God’s love through Jesus is always there for us, especially through his Spirit.  Remember Liam, we talked about a way to understand “spirit” is to think about all that makes up who each of us is—all that makes us unique.  There is no one like you Liam, in this entire world,  and who you are is what our God wants you to share with this world, in whatever ways you choose to do that.  The same is true for all of us!  And Jesus gives us our “marching” words, so to speak in today’s gospel, “Peace be with you!”—and in case, we didn’t get it the first time, Jesus says it again, “Peace be with you!”

Liam, my friend, and to each of us today, we will always know if we are doing the right thing if the overall feeling we are experiencing is, peace.  Blessings on you especially today, Liam and on all of us!  Amen? Amen!