Acts 2, 1-11; Psalm
104; 1 Cor 12, 3-7. 12-13; John 20, 19-23
The story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte boasting to a Vatican cardinal that he would destroy the Church. The cardinal nonchalantly replied to the perplexed emperor, "Good luck, Your Majesty.
We, priests and bishops have been attempting to do just that for centuries. And we didn't succeed. "
In effect, the bishop was doffing his scarlet biretta in
salute to the Holy Spirit. That Spirit dwells comfortably and sometimes, I
suspect, very uncomfortably within the Church. Try what anyone might; the
Church will not go away precisely because the Third Person of the Holy Trinity
is on the job around the clock. Napoleon thought the prelate was pulling his
imperial leg. He took on the Church. He was rudely dethroned. The
Church survived. The former emperor wound up beating off mosquitoes as a
full-time occupation on the damp island
of Saint Helena Atlantic Ocean .
Without the Holy Spirit, the Church would be at best a third
rate operation or, perhaps better, a non-operation. But with the Spirit the
Church is today able to survive its many difficulties. With the Holy Spirit the
Church survived the centuries of persecution, the attempts of Napoleon and
French Revolution, the efforts of the Mexican and Spain Russia
A brilliant man, a man of education, with Doctorate Degrees
and honors from most major universities, took a sabbatical. He decided to
devote as much time as it would take, one year, two years or more, and learn
all he could about Jesus. He studied ancient Greek and ancient Hebrew and
Aramaic so he could read the earliest texts about Jesus. He studied
Ignatius, Justin, Augustine, Aquinas, and all the famous theologians of
centuries, always focusing on learning about Jesus. He read the works of
modern theologians. He took courses in various foreign languages so he
could understand theologians in their original language.
After studying and studying he wrote his own book about
Jesus. It was an instant success not just in the academic circles, but in
every Christian and even non-Christian Church. The man, the esteemed
professor, was called upon to give talks about Jesus to all sorts of different
groups, from seminarians to atheists. His lectures always ended with a question
and answer period. Usually, there was no one in audience who could ask a
question that the brilliant man had not been asked before or for which he
did not have an answer at the tip of his tongue.
No one, until an elderly man raised his hand after one
lecture. The old man asked: “How is it that someone who has studied as
much as you, has learned so little?”
What? What type of an arrogant simpleton would dare
question the great scholar, the great professor? After the commotion
settled down, the scholar responded, “I am sure that I have much more to learn
about Jesus, but why do you feel that I have learned so little?” He had the old
man. At least until the man said, “You have Jesus in your head, but you
do not have him in your heart.”
Knowledge of Christ come from the head, but knowing Christ
comes from the heart. His Spirit must be within us. We have to give Him a
permission to work in us, to operate in our hearts. Otherwise we will not know
our Lord and Redeemer.
And this is the great gift of Pentecost, the solemnity we
celebrate today. The Spirit of the Lord has been given to us so that we don’t just know about the
Lord, but that we know the Lord.
But, there is something more: After
the coming of the Holy Spirit, as we have seen, the disciples did not stay in
that room luxuriating in what they had been given. They burst out to tell the
world, to announce the Good News.
Fr. Kaz SDS
No comments:
Post a Comment