Pentecost: Feast of the Big Tent
Acts 2:1-11 I Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 Jn 20:19-23
To the church in
the diaspora[1]
& to the
church of the unchurched[2]
First reading
from Acts 2:1-11
When the time
for Pentecost was fulfilled, all the believers were all in one place together. And
suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it
filled the entire house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and
came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to
proclaim.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven
staying in
Introduction
Pentecost
Pentecost
(a Greek word meaning five or fifty) happens fifty days after
Easter. Originally
Pentecost was a Jewish feast which took place fifty days after Passover when a
devout Jew was expected to make a pilgrimage to the
With Pentecost we reach
the summit of the liturgical cycle which begins with the Son’s descent to earth
in the Christmas season, continues with the Son’s ascent back to the Father and
peaks now with the descent of the Holy Spirit of Pentecost. Pentecost concludes the Easter season. The Paschal candle, symbol of the risen Lord
appearing in various places for fifty days, is now moved close to the baptismal
font where it will witness the baptism of new members into Christ throughout
the year. Tomorrow we return to Ordinary Time with its color green. We will
coast along in Ordinary Time through the warm summer months until December 2,
when we will start the liturgical cycle all over again with the first Sunday of
Advent in preparation for Christmas 2007.
A spirit of fullness
A spirit of fullness breathes in the Mass
formulary for Pentecost. It’s there in the first reading: “We are Jews from
every nation under the heavens. We are from
There’s a spirit of fullness in the second reading: “I would remind you,” Paul writes, “that there are all different sorts of spiritual gifts, but it’s the same Spirit who gives them; there are all different kinds of service, but it’s the same Spirit who is served; there are all different ways by which God works in our lives, but it’s the same Spirit who is working” (I Cor 12:4-6).
The same
spirit of fullness breathes in the opening prayer for Pentecost: “Father of
light…with the power of a mighty wind and by the flame of your wisdom open the horizons of our minds.
Loosen our tongues to sing your praise….”
Pentecost today
The Holy Spirit of fullness who came down on that
first Christian Pentecost still comes down today. A few years ago when
people from the
A friend who experienced
that event said, “There was a Pentecostal atmosphere in the air that day. I
found myself exclaiming, `Why, of course, this is the way it’s supposed to be! How come it takes so long to catch on!
How come some still don’t catch on!’”
Again Pentecost today
The Holy Spirit of
fullness, who came down on that first Pentecost, still comes down today. When
people gathered at St. Benedict the
The fullness from on high that day was crowned by the homilist who came from a direction least suspected. The homilist wasn’t a he; the homilist was a she--the Rev. Linda Hansen. Born and raised a Catholic, she left the church and became an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister! She was chosen to be homilist because of a long, warm friendship between this Roman Catholic nun and this ordained Unitarian minister.
In her homily, carefully crafted, Rev. Linda softly
alluded to the many mysterious twists and turns of the human journey. She spoke
also about the warm, human side of Sister Barbara and about the prime time they
had spent with each other over the years. At the end of her homily Rev. Linda made reference to
Albert Camus’ novel, The Plague. She quoted a passage often recalled by Sr.
Barbara and herself. Toward the end of the novel, two of the characters who
have spent day and night fighting the plague decide to take an hour off—for
friendship. After sharing stories of
their lives and a brief swim in the ocean, one of the characters says to the
other, “Of course we must care for the victims, but if we don’t take time out
for friendship we will forget what it is we are fighting the plague for.” Rev.
Linda preached a stirring homily that day.
That first Christian Pentecost, when all were
gathered in one place, and a driving wind blew over them, and tongues of fire
came to rest upon them and all began to speak in different tongues, had nothing
over that funeral Mass in honor of Sr. Barbara. Wind and fire had transformed it
into a joyful celebration. The Holy Spirit poured out in days past was poured
out that day, and my friend no doubt again exclaimed, “Why,
of course, that’s the way it’s supposed to be! How come it takes so long
to catch on! How come some still don’t
catch on!”
The Big Tent
Some, indeed, still don’t
catch on. Recently a sizeable group of us were sent into the Diaspora from Old
St. Mary’s. A number of reasons for our dismissal was offered. The real reason (or reasons) has been
obscured in a murky sea that lacks transparency. Perhaps it was the letter which
an angry parishioner wrote to the pastor of the church where we had made our home
for six long and good years. Carbon copies of the letter were sent to the
Archbishop and to me. It complained about us as being nominal and a la carte Catholics who were way out of
tune with the magisterium of the church. The writer of the letter threatened to
depart from any Mass overshadowed by my presence. Perhaps it was his letter
which generated the pastor’s eviction notice which sent us all into the
Diaspora. It will never be known for
sure. To the pastor who served the
notice of dismissal one lady wrote,
I realize I must have
misread you. You perhaps are really a conservative Catholic priest with an
authoritarian bent but a big smile. Though your predecessor disagreed with me
on most Church issues that are important to me, still he seemed to understand
that the Church is a big tent that can include out-the-box as well as
in-the-box Catholics.
That’s
the point of Pentecost: it’s the feast of the Big Tent! Pentecost is the feast
of a big tent which can house all kinds of people from
The Shalom of Pentecost
Pentecost,
whose opening prayer invites us to widen the horizons of our minds, is the
feast of a big tent which can house all the urgent issues confronting the
church. The most capital of all those issues is the very nature of the church
herself: Is she first and foremost the hierarchy, or is she first and foremost
the people of God? After that issue are all the other ancillary issues such as celibacy, birth control, homosexuality,
ordination of women and open Communion. Pentecost is the feast of a big tent
which can house all these issues. But fear often locks the doors against them.
The gospel for Pentecost Sunday recounts how the doors of
the early church were locked out of fear. “On the evening of the first day of
the week, the doors of the place where the disciples were gathered were locked
out of fear of the Jewish authorities.” A week later the doors of the early church
were still locked out of fear (Jn
Conclusion
Pope John’s Shalom
and big tent
When in late
fall of 1958 Angelo Roncalli was elected as Pope John XXIII, he looked at his
poor church trembling with fear behind locked doors, and he wished it Shalom.
Then in January of
1959, this man who was not the slave of fear announced his intention to summon
the church to an ecumenical council. What’s more, he announced his intention to
infuse his council with a Pentecostal fullness. He would invite not only three
thousand Catholic bishops but also the Orthodox, Protestants,
Jews, non-Christians and even non-believers to come to the bittersweet banquet
of Vatican II. What an immense tent John would build!
After three years of preparation Vatican
II opened on
John prayed that his council would be a veritable
Pentecost igniting fires of renewal everywhere. He prayed that his council
would send Pentecostal winds through his church to blow open doors and windows
closed for centuries. He prayed that his council would turn his church into a huge
tent giving welcome to the human race.
Epilogue
A
Pentecostal prayer
On Pentecost we pray that our church
might become a huge tent and tabernacle.
On Pentecost we pray that the Holy Spirit
might
widen the horizons of our minds,
not only in the house of God but also in
our homes
and among our loved ones.
On Pentecost we pray that a church,
fractured into in-the-box and out-of-the
box congregants,
might be filled with Shalom,
for the heavenly Father’s house is a huge
tent,
and there is much room in it for all of
us.
On Pentecost we pray that a world,
fractured into Jews, Christians and Muslims,
might be filled with Shalom,
for the heavenly Father’s house is a huge
tent,
and there is much room in it for all of
us.