Shrines Spirit and moving in time and space

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today offers texts for the feast of Pentecost. This celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit is an opportunity to reflect on the gifts of the Spirit which guide the Church both as individuals and as the Body of Christ. The salvation history which the texts reveal today show the ability of the Spirit to involve us in the transcendent process passing through time and space. Jeanne Schuler ties the unity of the Apostles in their grief and fear as the step they took to be open to the transcendent appearance of Jesus who breathed peace and courage on them in the infusion of the Holy Spirit. Luke records the reversal of the curse of Babel as the language barrier disappears under the influence of the Spirit. In the acceptance of the gifts of the Spirit, the person is able to replace the self centered desires of the ego with the virtues which support Love and service to others. Italy is made of twenty administrative regions. In Apulia, on the Adriatic Sea we visited two sites of pilgrimage. Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano and the shrine of Padre Pio. The altar, by tradition, consecrated in the 1st century by the Archangel Michael is site where the faithful are moved to worship, prayer and thanksgiving as they are transported through time and space not only to the historic events of over two thousands years ago but to the experience of the Body of Christ in the people who have tread the ancient stones to this holy site throghout time. The site which is the shaine of Padre Pio is one of modern construction which enables the ten of thousands of modern visitors to gather in the physical place where this newest of Italian saints struggled in his mission guiemded by the same Holy Spirit. As Paul reminds us and the Galatians, it is the same Spirit acting today in our lives inviting us to struggle in peace and greater understanding of the Love which moves the Body of Christ through time and space.