2025 Jun 8 SUN: PENTECOST S
Acts 2: 1-11/ Ps 104: 1. 24. 29-30. 31. 34/ 1 Cor 12: 3b-7. 12-13 or Rom 8: 8-17/ Sequence Veni Creator Spiritus/ Jn 20: 19-23 or Jn 14: 15-16. 23b-26

We come today to the conclusion, and you might say the crown, of the season of Easter: Pentecost -- what we also refer to as the Birthday of the Church.

And if you were following in Breaking Bread, you may have found it somewhat difficult because of a variety of options for our Scriptures. In fact, there are a variety of options both today on Pentecost itself and also yesterday on the Vigil of Pentecost. Because there are a great number of images of the Holy Spirit, and it's good for us to appreciate those images and discover which are most helpful to ourselves. 

On the banners we have the dove which is associated with the baptism of Jesus. We have other images as well. When the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles, it was with a driving wind and with tongues of flame. And in the Gospel today, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Advocate. We can imagine ourselves being sued or otherwise finding ourselves in court. And we want someone to plead our case for us. So this image might be useful as well. 

And St. Paul today speaks of the Spirit as opposed to what he calls the flesh. Now human flesh is not a bad thing in itself. And we remember that the Son of God took on our human flesh out of love for us in order to raise us up, to lift us up. When Paul speaks of the flesh, he is referring to the tendency to think of the self alone. And we know that that sort of self-centered thinking is the cause of much distress in human life. Instead of thinking about the self, we are to understand ourselves as brought together in the Holy Spirit, who makes us here and now into the Body of Christ.

So we have heard many examples of how we might imagine the unimaginable Holy Spirit. And we take comfort in the fact that the mystery of the Holy Spirit -- like the mystery of the Trinity which we will celebrate next week -- this mystery is not a puzzle to be figured out. It is a gift which we are to live. We think of the gifts of the Holy Spirit poured out upon us in the sacrament of confirmation. And we think as well of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the ways in which the Holy Spirit makes us new people. In fact, I sneaked St. Paul's list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit into the June birthday blessing today. So be sure to listen for those. And we know that there is a difference in our lives. We can find ourselves in a state of agitation or anxiety because a particular situation is affecting us in some way. And we feel powerless in many respects. But we can allow the Holy Spirit to grow within us and to bear fruit so that in similar situations we are not unnerved. We can have peace even when everyone else is in a state of agitation. So we know the working of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. And we are thankful for the difference as we accept God's peace and the understanding of His Word.