Welcome back to Mass (albeit, in smaller numbers than usual and celebrated a little differently than usual)! It’s providential that at our first weekend back we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost. Remember that the disciples were in the Upper Room, and had been waiting there since the Ascension, when Jesus told them to wait for the promised gift of the Spirit. That would have been nine days earlier. They probably weren’t keeping social distancing, but maybe they didn’t have anyone to cut their hair, either. But they used that extended period of waiting to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, even as they were sad at not being able to be close to the physical presence of Jesus. I know many of you, and I hope all of you, have used this time away from the Mass to grow closer to Jesus through personal prayer, or watching the Mass on TV or online. You’ve been waiting to return to that closeness with the glorified Body of Jesus in the Eucharist. Have you been praying the Rosary more, or reading Scripture more? What ways have you exercised new spiritual muscles during this 2+ month period of fasting from attending Mass?
What also makes this providential is that at Pentecost, having prayed for the Spirit, and then having received it, the disciples went out and proclaimed the Good News that Jesus was risen from the dead, and that He has given new life to all those who follow Him: a new way of life on this earth, and eternal life in heaven. They spoke, as we hear in the Acts of the Apostles, in different languages so that everyone could understand them. And I hope that the same thing will happen to you as you leave this “Upper Room.” Has you have received the Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation, and as you will soon be nourished with the Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist, you will have everything you need to be like the disciples and tell others about Jesus.
This is the point where Catholics get a little nervous, I know. Some may feel like they’re ill-equipped to evangelize, to spread the Gospel. And certainly, as St. Paul says in his first Letter to the Corinthians, there are different gifts. We are not all given the same gifts for building up the Church. But at the same time, as St. Paul says in the Letter to the Romans, the Holy Spirit “comes to the aid of our weakness.” We did not receive a Spirit of fear, but of power from the Lord, to accomplish the work He wants us to.
But you might still feel like you don’t know what to do. Is the Holy Spirit going to make you talk in different languages? Perhaps He will, like He did for the disciples at the first Pentecost. But, perhaps for you speaking in different languages is speaking in a way that another person understands, even if you’re both speaking in English. At the core of spreading the Gospel is telling people why Jesus makes a difference in your life. Of course, this presumes that He does. Maybe a honest reflection means that we’re in need of more convincing of this in our own life. But, we probably all have stories about how Jesus helped us in life, or got us through a rough patch, or changed the way we interacted with people, used our money, or engaged in our work. If you don’t have a short story of how Jesus has impacted your life, then today go home and think about it.
The story may be a powerful one, like this one: When my sister, Amanda, was hit in a bad car accident, she later told me that while she was waiting for the ambulance to arrive, as the van was pinned on her right arm, but still conscious, she was praying Hail Marys to try and keep her calm. That’s definitely a witness to the different Jesus and Mary can make in life. Amanda still had scarring, and had a number of surgeries and a long rehab, but her faith helped her to pull through.
The story may be an everyday account. The other day, when returning from a death notification with the State Police, I decided to try out Smoothie King. It was only Tuesday, and the week had already been difficult, for reasons that don’t really matter here. In any case, I ordered a small, but then when I got to the window, I was offered a medium that, with my coupon, was about the same price as the small. I said ok, and they asked me to pull ahead while they made my order. A few minutes later they came out with two smoothies. They told me that they had made both the small and the medium, and figured they would give me both. That was a sign, albeit small, of Jesus’ love, something I really needed at that point in my day.
Evangelization is partly telling the story of Jesus, and I bet you know the highlights better than you think, and partly telling the story of Jesus in our life, which only you can tell. Sometimes the Spirit drives us to be a priest, to serve the people of God, in different towns across a diocese, or maybe even as a missionary in a far-off land. Sometimes the Spirit gives us the gift to be a spouse and a parent, and to tell our story to other family members, or co-workers, or maybe even people we don’t know in our communities. But we’ve had 10 Sundays to pray and prepare for being here today. Let’s not waste the Body and Blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit that we received in Baptism and Confirmation, that same Spirit that was given at Pentecost, but rather use these great vehicles of grace to tell the world about Jesus: that He is alive, that is the key to our happiness, and the difference He has made in our life.
