Renew the face of the earth

My exploration of the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary for Pentecost Sunday followed my usual path and the alternate readings for today somehow indicate the difficulty in pinning down the nature of and the effect within our lives of the Holy Spirit including the surprising paths we are invited to ponder and activate on our journey to be agents of the Spirit in the renewal of the face of the earth.

The wind of life

The passage from Acts is the dramatic description by Luke of the Coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

* [2:3] Tongues as of fire: see Ex 19:18 where fire symbolizes the presence of God to initiate the covenant on Sinai. Here the holy Spirit acts upon the apostles, preparing them to proclaim the new covenant with its unique gift of the Spirit (Acts 2:38).1 

In Psalm 104 it is the breath (or spirit) of God that makes beings live.

* [104:29–30] On one level, the spirit (or wind) of God is the fall and winter rains that provide food for all creatures. On another, it is the breath (or spirit) of God that makes beings live.2 

The reading from the 1st Letter to the Corinthians has the theme of unity and variety in the One Body of Christ with many parts.

* [12:12–26] The image of a body is introduced to explain Christ’s relationship with believers (1 Cor 12:12). 1 Cor 12:13 applies this model to the church: by baptism all, despite diversity of ethnic or social origins, are integrated into one organism. 1 Cor 12:14–26 then develop the need for diversity of function among the parts of a body without threat to its unity.3 

Paul writes to the Romans about the Flesh and the Spirit and our status as Children of God through adoption.

* [8:14–17] Christians, by reason of the Spirit’s presence within them, enjoy not only new life but also a new relationship to God, that of adopted children and heirs through Christ, whose sufferings and glory they share.4 

The Gospel passage from John 20 describes Jesus appearance to the Disciples in the Upper Room after His Resurrection.

* [20:22] This action recalls Gn 2:7, where God breathed on the first man and gave him life; just as Adam’s life came from God, so now the disciples’ new spiritual life comes from Jesus. Cf. also the revivification of the dry bones in Ez 37. This is the author’s version of Pentecost. Cf. also the note on Jn 19:30.5 

In the discourse from John 14 of the Gospel, Jesus promises to send the Advocate.

* [14:16] Another Advocate: Jesus is the first advocate (paraclete); see 1 Jn 2:1, where Jesus is an advocate in the sense of intercessor in heaven. The Greek term derives from legal terminology for an advocate or defense attorney, and can mean spokesman, mediator, intercessor, comforter, consoler, although no one of these terms encompasses the meaning in John. The Paraclete in John is a teacher, a witness to Jesus, and a prosecutor of the world, who represents the continued presence on earth of the Jesus who has returned to the Father.6 

Scott McClure shares that nothing helps calm his spinning brain than a deep breath and repeating “Come Holy Spirit." And the Holy Spirit always comes. Always.

It may not be a tongue of fire or a strong driving wind, but it was the inspiration of what to say to a concerned parent. It was the peace that if I couldn't motivate a student, I could still pray for him, and ask the Holy Spirit to be with him. It was the breath of refreshment I needed to make it through the last period of a long day. It was even the gentle reminder within my heart that “ we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” The anxiety, the frustrations and the burdens of  daily life are all opportunities for grace. It’s the Holy Spirit whispering to me to see past the suffering and truly live the meaning of the Easter Season beyond Pentecost.7 

Don Schwager shares a prayer of Taize Community.

a prayer of Taize Community8

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 20:19-23 asks what is Jesus sending us out to do?

Again, the same thing God sent him to do: to be a witness to his mercy. He is sending you out to show his love by treating people with the same kindness and mercy he has shown to you.
Mercy. Love. Patience. Forbearance. These are the marks of everyone who has been filled with the Spirit. They are the gifts that God wants to fill you with today.9 

Friar Jude Winkler connects the coming of the Holy Spirit to Hebrew Testament prophecy and healing of the Tower of Babel. God is “Abba” and the Greek mind had difficulty with the material human nature of Christ. Friar Jude examines the lives of John and Luke as links to their different descriptions of the coming of the Spirit.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to trust, with the guidance of the Spirit. our own experiences with the divine feminine. For many, it is an utterly new opening, since most Christians falsely assumed that God is strictly masculine even though there are numerous descriptions of a mothering, feminine God throughout the Bible. Why did the first fourteen hundred years of Christianity, in both the Eastern and Western churches, fall head over heels in love with Mary, this seemingly quite ordinary woman? After all, the New Testament speaks very little of Mary.

We are clearly dealing with not just a single woman here but a foundational symbol—or, to borrow the language of Carl Jung (1875–1961), an “archetype”—an image that constellates a whole host of meanings that cannot be communicated logically but is grounded in our collective human unconscious.
In some ways, many humans can identify with Mary more than they can with Jesus precisely because she was not God! The Gospels attribute no miraculous works or heroic acts to her, simply trust and pure being more than doing. From her first yes to the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:38), to Jesus’ birth itself (Luke 2:7), to her yes at the foot of the cross (John 19:25), and her presence at fiery, windy Pentecost (see Acts 1:14, where she is the only woman named at the first outpouring of the Spirit), Mary appears on cue at key moments of the Gospel narratives. She is Everywoman and Everyman, and that is why I call her the feminine symbol for the universal incarnation.10 

The model of Mary for the Church will be taken up in the texts for tomorrow as we move from the Easter Season and our “Ordinary Time” will be enlightened by the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge taking us to surprising encounters with Jesus.

References

1	(n.d.). Acts, chapter 2 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/acts/2
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 104 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/104
3	(n.d.). 1 Corinthians, chapter 12. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians12:7
4	(n.d.). Romans, chapter 8 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/8
5	(n.d.). John, chapter 20 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20
6	(n.d.). John, chapter 14 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/14
7	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
8	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
9	(n.d.). Pentecost (Solemnity) - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved June 9, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/06/09
10	(n.d.). Archetypal Feminine — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved June 9, 2019, from https://cac.org/archetypal-feminine-2019-06-09/