Pentecost Sunday 5 June 2022 Zeal
See how joyfully and powerfully the Church was launched on
the world.
Somehow we have lost something along the way, with the rate of conversions slowing and the loss of so many who did believe but do not now. We have lost our spark, our zeal.
In the glory days just after Pentecost Peter and John were told not to preach about Jesus but they replied that they must obey God not man (Ac 5,29).
The word of God cannot be chained (2 Tm 2,8-10). The faith is explosive; it must come out.
Each year the feast recurs and we can review our position.
They say you have to work on a marriage; well the same applies to the faith. We have to make sure we are on the right path, and staying there.
It is all there for us - the Holy Spirit, Our Lady, the Gospel – none of it has gone asway but we have to dig for treasure usually, and certainly in matters of faith we have to go deeper if we want to make progress. If we stay only with surface impressions we just get lost in minimalism or tokenism.
Instead of rising to the challenge of true religion people shrink it to a smaller size which they can then handle.
Hence the idea that religion is just being nice to others and not worrying too much about anything else. Or that the Catholic faith requires attendance twice a year, at Easter and Christmas!
Pentecost tells a very different story; it calls for centre stage and full commitment. God Himself calls for our response. He is not distant or impersonal; in fact He is vitally interested in each and every person.
He stands ready to give us a great deal if only we ask for it.
He wants the Church to be full of faith and zeal and all related qualities, especially charity.
So that internally and externally we preach the right thing and we practice what we preach.
We resist the temptation to lower the bar, to make it so easy that no one can see the difference between being a Christian or not.
We must not water down the faith; rather turn the water into wine!
Or we must be like fire, which spreads everywhere and offers light and warmth. This was and is the Church’s mission, without losing intensity.
We have different gifts and different callings. We do not all have to do every single thing, just whatever God has put it in our path, and in our power to do (cf 1 Cor 12,4-11).
Everyone has something to do, and we can all pray.
We pray for those who don’t pray. And when they start praying that will activate others.
Many want to put out this particular fire, or contain it. We must not settle for that.
We may not know how to change hostile opinion but we can at least avoid being drawn into agreement with it.
Seek and you will find (Mt 7,7). And having found then be ready to go where the Spirit leads.
We do not know how it all holds together, but then we don’t need to know, just take our part in the process.
One thing we need that the early apostles did not need so much, is perseverance. They were destined to leave early, but we linger on. A special grace needed for that.
To persevere we simply need to keep referring back to Pentecost and other landmarks in our history (such as the Cross), and starting afresh. We do not feel weary once we have been recharged with heavenly energy.
Think of when your faith was strongest, and reclaim that moment. It is as true now as it was then.
The Holy Spirit will keep us motivated at all times if at all times we are praying to Him.
Come Holy Ghost!
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