Two Simple Gifts

Homily for May 15, 2016 (Pentecost Sunday)
Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104; Romans 8:8-17; John 14:15-16, 23b-26

Archbishop Cupich has asked all churches in the Archdiocese of Chicago to offer the official prayer for the “Renew My Church” pastoral planning process which is now underway.  This theme comes from Jesus’ call to St. Francis of Assisi during the early days of his conversion.

After immersing himself in youthful indulgence, Francis tried to find fame as a soldier. However, he was captured, lived for about a year as a POW, and fell ill.  Upon returning home and reflecting on his life, Francis found himself looking for a deeper meaning and purpose.  As part of his journey, he came upon a decrepit church called San Damiano.  While kneeling amid the falling walls, he cast his eyes upon the crucifix and heard the Lord tell him, “Francis, rebuild my church, which is falling into ruin.”

At first, Francis took this calling literally and began to collect stones to repair San Damiano.  Over time, however, and particularly after encountering and embracing a leper (overcoming his fear and revulsion), he came to understand that he was being called to a much greater and profound mission.  Through his preaching, poverty and simplicity he sought to reform a Church in which the gospel of Jesus had sometimes become lost in bureaucracy, pomp, materialism and greed.

It is said that when Pope Innocent III was considering whether to approve the rule of life that St. Francis and his early brothers proposed, he had a dream in which his cathedral, St. John Lateran in Rome, was teetering and about to collapse.  Yet it didn’t.  One small man seemed to be holding it up against all expectations and the laws of physics.  It was Francis!

Pope Innocent and his successor saw to it that the Rule of the Friars Minor (lesser brothers) was approved, and Francis went on to become one of the most beloved saints of all time.  He heard the Lord’s call and, after some trial and error, he fulfilled it.  He rebuilt and renewed the Church.

As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, we are reminded what St. Augustine of Hippo said in the 4th century:  Ecclesia semper reformanda est—“The Church is always reforming.”  To reform necessarily implies change, and change isn’t always easy.  Just think of the New Year’s resolutions you’ve made over the years!

What Archbishop Cupich is asking us to do throughout the Archdiocese is essentially to focus on our mission to proclaim the gospel of Jesus in word and deed, to help people experience the power of God’s love and mercy, and to use that power to not merely strengthen the Catholic community but our wider community and world as well. This demands that we read “the signs of the times”—everything from the best utilization of the over 3000 buildings (churches, schools, etc.) that are part of the Archdiocese, to making life in the Church more compelling to young adults, to how to prevent and respond to the horrific violence on the streets of Chicago, where there have already been over 1000 shootings and 200 homicides this year.  It’s a daunting mission.

Pentecost reminds us, however, that this timeless task of rebuilding, renewing and reforming the Church belongs to none of us alone, and we are not the ones who ultimately direct it.  In the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles in a room in Jerusalem is charged with symbolism.  The advent of the Spirit was made known through “a noise like a strong driving wind.”  This brings to mind Jesus’ admonition to Nicodemus in John 3:8:

The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound that it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

The tongues of fire were also signs of God’s presence with them, just as God spoke to Moses from the burning bush and later from the fire that came upon Sinai as God prepared to give him the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 3:1-22;  19:16-25).  This fulfilled the promises made by Jesus to his disciples at the Last Supper that they would be sent “the Advocate, the Holy Spirit” and that God would dwell with them.  The power of those gifts was immediately demonstrated in their ability to communicate with people from many nations who spoke many languages.

Just as the Spirit gave the apostles the ability to speak in a way that other could understand, it also gave those gathered in Jerusalem the ability to hear what was proclaimed to them.   These two simple gifts were a sign of the diversity and richness of what God gives to the Church even today.  While we are all children of God, as St. Paul tells us in our second reading, we are also different.