Receive the Holy Spirit (Pentecost Sunday C)

I recall an anecdote about the Holy Spirit: A Christian missionary was struggling to explain to a new-found Japanese friend the mystery of the Trinity, hoping to lead him to embrace the Christian life. After long hours of exchange, the Japanese was nodding... He declared, “The Father... makes sense!” He paused and continued to nod and finally pronounced, “The Son... makes sense!” Then he took a long while and, with a quizzical look, said, “What does not make sense...” He paused and quite tentatively continued as if whispering, “...is the dove.”

Among the persons of the Trinity, the representation of the Holy Spirit is the least clear to many of us. Of course, the nature of the third person, as Spirit, poses a great difficulty for representation. Thus, in contrast to the personal images of the Father and Jesus Christ, we are forced to represent the Holy Spirit through impersonal symbols like fire, wind, breath, water, and the “favoured” dove. This difficulty might contribute to the uncertainty, if not ignorance, among many of us Christians about recognizing the activity of the Spirit in our lives.

The Solemnity of Pentecost may be an opportunity for us to “get to know” the dove or the tongues of fire a little deeper and hence to allow his power to operate in our lives. Today’s readings, first, second and the Gospel, lend themselves to our need to recognize the work of the Holy Spirit. The readings, as I will endeavour to show, reveal the Holy Spirit as the principle of empowerment. The Spirit empowers us from deep within, enabling us to live out our Christian calling—as prophet, king, and priest.

The Holy Spirit and our Prophetic Mission. The first reading (Acts 2:1-11), where we are told of the Spirit’s descent upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire, recounts how the Holy Spirit emboldened the Apostles to speak of “the mighty acts of God” to all peoples. Hiding because of fear, the nervous apostles were empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to go out of hiding and confidently proclaim the greatness of God revealed in the person of Christ. The Spirit enabled them to be the prophets that Jesus had called them to become.

The Spirit empowers us to proclaim the truth about God’s work in our lives. There’s something about the charismatic groups that I have brushed elbows with. Their bold testimonies of the work of God in their lives amaze me. In contrast, most Catholics, I observe, are timid about their spiritual lives in general. Many are shy to proclaim what God has done in their lives; or more to the point, many are perhaps not even cognizant of the work of God.

Am I timid, shy, or fearful in proclaiming God’s mighty acts in my life? Let me ask the Holy Spirit to embolden me and turn me into a joyful and fearless herald of the Good News to my family, friends, and to the society.

The Holy Spirit and our Kingly Mission. The call to serve is essential to the concept of Christian kingship. Service or ministry is a gift of the Spirit. The second reading (1 Cor. 12: 3-7, 12-13) shows how St. Paul recognized the diversity of gifts and charisms flowing from the same Spirit. These gifts and charisms are meant to unify and strengthen the one body of Christ, the community of believers , the Church. The Holy Spirit then, with his manifold gifts, empowers us to serve in many and varied capacities.

The parish life is a beautiful illustration of this truth. When a pastor is attuned to the gifts of the Spirit in the community, his leadership brings out the best in all its members even among the poor who become dependable committed community leaders. The parish becomes a community of servant-leaders. Oftentimes I would have goose bumps listening to these small communities singing their hearts out, “Parianong lungsod, harianong lungsod... awit pasalamat tibuok nasud.” Oftentimes, the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in the community is just too palpable to miss.

What gifts and charisms am I endowed with? This is the Holy Spirit’s way of enabling me to serve the community. In what way do I fulfil my kingly mission? In short, in what way do I serve?

The Holy Spirit and our Priestly Mission. Prayer and forgiveness are at the heart of the priestly mission. Both can only be done authentically in the Spirit. The second reading reminds us: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). Our prayers, if they are to be authentic, have to be inspired by the Spirit. How often we feel that our prayers and liturgical celebrations are mere recitations of formulas and mechanical sequence of gestures born out of habit! Transformative prayers and touching liturgies are way beyond human habits. They are the fruits of the inspiration of the Spirit. They are the expressions of a human heart whose longing is intensified by the Spirit.

Forgiveness too, they say, is a divine activity. But the Spirit empowers the human to forgive. This is crystal clear in today’s gospel (Jn. 20: 19-23): “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them...” It is from here that the Church’s ministry of reconciliation flows. It is from here that I can forgive, to my amazement, an otherwise unforgiveable offense committed against me and the community. It is because of the Spirit that a hardened heart can gradually listen, understand, and finally forgive.

So, as we celebrate Pentecost today, let us recognize the work of the Holy Spirit in us and allow him to empower us to become Christ’s true disciples. Let us allow the Spirit to turn us into bold prophets announcing with joy the greatness of the Lord, into humble kings who serve one another untiringly, into prayerful priests who are agents of peace and forgiveness in this increasingly broken world.

The Easter Beatitude (2nd Sun Easter C)

Today’s gospel (Jn 20:19-31) proclaims, as it were, the Easter beatitude: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (v. 29). Clearly this speaks to Christian believers who have not been eyewitnesses to the marvellous event of Jesus’ resurrection but have, nonetheless, demonstrated an unwavering faith in Him as Lord and God.

The recent Holy Week celebration I had opened my eyes to the truth that indeed there are communities even of today, with its ever strengthening trend of secularism, that continue to live up to the spirit of this “last beatitude.” The gospel today allows me to articulate in its light a very inspiring Easter experience as an invited priest in a chapel community in Upper Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City. I suggest that today’s gospel presents three significant elements of Easter faith through which I would like to appraise the community’s experience: First, the enthusiasm and zeal in spreading the good news; second, faith in the forgiveness of sins; third, unwavering faith in the Risen Lord.

Enthusiasm and Zeal in Spreading the Good News. The death of the Master on the cross on Good Friday sent the disciples to hiding. Out of fear, they holed up in a room afraid of a possible crack down on the followers of the crucified Messiah. Today’s gospel, however, recounts how Jesus dispels their fear by offering them his peace: “Peace be with you.” Jesus’ appearance throws away the paralysis caused by fear and, once again, enables them to rejoice in freedom. Then Jesus, after overcoming the obstacle of fear, sends them to for the mission of proclaiming the gospel. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us that the apostles become the adhesive force of the community, gaining respect from people, and attracting a great number of converts. Their enthusiasm and zeal in proclaiming the gospel becomes a mark of their Easter faith as they form the early Christian communities.

This is the same mark I’ve recognized among the leaders and members of the chapel community that I had celebrated Holy Week with. I was amazed at how they organized themselves proving to their parish priest that they were worthy of a presence of a priest to celebrate holy week with them. They went out of their way to ensure that everyone participated in the many and varied activities of Holy Week, and to make sure that, despite short preparations, the chapel was always filled with people. What I’ve seen is a burning zeal to make the Easter proclamation reverberate in their community through the liturgical celebrations. Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed!

Faith in the Forgiveness of Sins. As Jesus dispels the fear of the disciples, he breathes on them and says: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (v. 22-23). Another obstacle to faith is sin. Sin causes disharmony in our relationships. First, it disrupts our relationship with God, second, with others, and third, with ourselves. Hence, Jesus empowers the apostles to overcome the power of sin by forgiveness. Hereafter, the apostles and their successors will be Jesus’ representatives in the world to impart his peace by absolving the sins of those who repent.

When I offered to give some time for the sacrament of reconciliation, the people, starting from the leaders of the chapel community lined up and waited for their turn to confess. In that celebration of the sacrament of God’s mercy, I’ve witnessed the faith of people in the forgiveness of sin. They refused to allow sin to dominate them. They wept and repented. They emerged as a new creation. Truly, they have embraced the mercy of the Risen Lord and experienced how to rejoice and chant the hallelujahs because of the bliss brought by the mysteries of Easter. Blessed indeed are those who have not seen and have believed!

Unwavering Faith in the Risen Lord. The third obstacle to Easter faith is doubt. The encounter between Jesus and Thomas in today’s gospel demonstrates how Jesus overcomes doubt. Jesus yields to Thomas’ obstinacy showing the latter the evidence he is looking for as a requirement for his belief. Thomas goes down in history as the doubting apostle; yet when we come to think of it, his skepticism saves us from our own doubts. Thomas has disproved any theories that suggest the resurrection as mere hallucination of the part of the apostles. He has seen the Risen Lord in his own eyes in the very terms he demanded. Hence, his proclamation of faith, “My Lord and my God!” can also be ours. Our only difference with him: without seeing we believe. Blessed are we.

At the end of a well-attended “Sugat” and the early Easter Sunday Mass, I was invited by the chapel leaders to join them at breakfast. There they expressed gratitude to me for having accompanied them throughout the Holy Week celebrations. They were filled with energy and joy relishing that brief experience of God’s mercy and victory. Looking at them with a silent joy in my heart, I cannot but thank God too for showing me how happy indeed are those who have not seen but have believed.

This Easter season, we are invited to live up to the spirit of the “Easter beatitude,” allowing the Risen Lord to free us from the paralysis of our fears, to restore the harmony lost by our sins, and to cast away our doubts in the mystery of his resurrection. This season reminds us of our calling to become a community with a burning zeal to proclaim the Good News, a community who celebrates God’s mercy in forgiving one another, and a community with an unwavering faith in the victory of the Risen Lord. So as we chant with unconditional conviction the hallelujah, let it be our celebration of the happiness of a people who believe even without seeing.

Lest We Cast a Stone (Lent V Sun C)

In 1999, Leo Echegaray was the first Filipino to be meted the death penalty (by lethal injection) after its reinstatement in the Philippines in 1993. Echegaray was convicted of raping his step-daughter in 1994. His case had sparked debates about the legality and morality of death penalty. I remember being one of the speakers in a forum held in a catholic school. I was speaking against death penalty. During the open forum, I discovered that the audience was not happy with my position. Several expressed their indignation at the gruesome crime and sin of Echegaray. For them nothing less than the capital punishment could satisfy the demand for justice; or I thought, if they were just transparent, nothing less could quench the thirst for vengeance. It was real hard to speak of compassion and mercy to angry people.

Today’s gospel reading (Jn 8:1-11) recounts the case of a woman caught in adultery. Her case is presented by the Scribes and Pharisees to test Jesus. If Jesus condemns her according to the Law of Moses, i.e. by stoning to death, he frustrates those who hope in his compassion and runs in conflict with the Roman law that has suspended the Jewish authorization to inflict capital punishment. If he pardons her, he can be accused of making light of the Law and lose his credibility before the people. But Jesus always outwits his malicious opponents. He manages to rise above the ploy to trap him and, what more, turns the occasion into one that instructs and teaches about the loving ways of God.

I suggest two things to consider for our reflection: First, Jesus’ invitation to self-examination and, second, his teaching on abhorring sin but loving the sinner.

Invitation to Self-examination. When the Scribes and Pharisees press him to give his position on the case, Jesus responds by saying, “let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v. 7). Far from condemning the woman to death, Jesus instead invites the self-righteous Scribes and Pharisees to examine themselves first. The gospel recounts how each one goes away starting with the elders unable to cast the first stone.

When we examine ourselves, we begin to realize how much the power of sin has affected us too. We begin to see that we are in an unfortunate solidarity with the sinners. We stop pointing an accusing finger on other people and admit that we also share in the sins of humanity. We begin to see the utter hypocrisy of casting the stone on others and to realize that like anyone else what we need is not legalistic impersonal judgment but mercy and compassion.

In this season of Lent, let us honestly and courageously look into our own sinfulness and approach God not in the self-righteous stance of the Scribes and Pharisees but in the utter dependence of the Adulterous woman on the mercy of God.

Abhorring Sin but Loving the Sinner. Just like the message of the Parable of the Lost Son, today’s gospel teaches us about God’s unconditional love for us sinners. As far as God is concerned, we continue to be his sons and daughters despite our sinfulness. Today’s gospel illustrates how slow God is in condemning us and quick in giving us a fresh start. His words, “Neither do I condemn you” (v. 11), expresses Jesus’ willingness to give the sinful woman a chance, a new lease on life. God does not give up on us easily. His love and mercy always triumph over the power of sin that wants to destroy us. God’s love and mercy recreates us to become once again his beautiful children.

“Go; from now on do not sin anymore” (v. 11). Jesus is also clear about abhorring sin. Part of the gift of new life is the commitment of rejecting sin. Our encounter with Jesus brings new life and our experience of his compassion empowers us all the more to abhor the scandal of sin. We are God’s children; we are destined to live in grace. Sin is a despicable deception whose sole objective is to mislead and destroy.

Hence, the season of Lent is a good time to express our indignation to sin... to our sins... and to live in the grace of God’s mercy.

This reflection does not in any way wish to abolish our legal and justice systems. They are necessary for social order. We have to be aware though that they can be flawed. The message of today’s gospel is that we move away from vindictive system that casts the stones out of lust for vengeance and conceit of self-righteousness. We move towards restorative system that allows for renewal and the chance to mend what has been broken by sin. Let us not allow sin to have the last laugh. It is God’s love that recreates, God’s mercy that restores.

Lord, break the shield of my self-righteousness lest I cast a stone on others; allow your mercy to expose the despicable deception of my sins that I may abhor them and hope for your promise of new life. Amen.