Pentecost
Fr. Bob VerEecke, S.J.
Have you been inspired lately? Has someone breathed into you hope,
courage, commitment, passion? Have you seen, touched, tasted, heard
something which has ‘breathed life into you’ in an unexpected way? Have
you been breathed in Wisdom, or Understanding, or Knowledge, or Good
Judgment, or Courage, or Reverence, or Awe and Wonder? Have any of
these seven gifts of the Holy Spirit been “With Your Spirit”? That is what
“inspiration” is. It is “in-breathing.”
Another question. Have you ever inspired yourself? Funny question. Do you
ever say, “I find myself so inspiring?” Probably not. Unless you are a
complete narcissist and there is no one else in the world other than you.
Unless you have such an inflated image of yourself, your inspiration comes
from someone, somewhere else. Inspiration comes from “out there.”
Someone, something inspires you. You see or hear or touch or taste or even
smell an aroma that fills up your senses. Beauty to the eye, music to the ears,
tender to the touch, soul food. (I’m not sure how to describe smell.) The
source of inspiration has to be “without” although inspiration happens
“within.”
If I were speaking Long-Island I would have said “the sauce of inspiration.”
There’s the smell! A pasta sauce cooking for hours, filling the whole house
with the smell of tomato and garlic and oregano. And speaking of pasta,
there’s a group in the parish that meets monthly called Pasta and Prayer. The
group gathers over a meal, usually pasta, and discusses the scriptures. The
inspiration for this homily came from this group. The theme of their
reflection was “just breathe.” Just take a deep breath, let go and let the Spirit
take over. And what will happen when you do? What happens if you let the
Spirit inspire/inspirit you? You will think less about your own wants and
needs and focus on others.
That’s what we hear from St Paul. The litany of the works of the flesh that
Paul speaks of are essentially “I-centered”. It’s all about me: immorality,
impurity, lust, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury,
acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts,
orgies, and the like. They are self-centered. They do not lead us to
community and to right relationship with God and others but in the opposite
direction. They do not inspire. They dis-spirit. They fragment rather than
unite.
In contrast to the litany of works of the flesh are the “fruits of the spirit.”
They are “other centered”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These works of the spirit show forth
God’s desires for us to be more than just I: we/us/one together. They inspire. They unite. They create human community where people actually stop
babbling and make sense. People listen to each other and understand. They
are open to one another’s gifts.
Just Breathe! How appropriate for this feast of Pentecost, where the breath
of God, the Holy Spirit, fills the upper room with its power and presence,
like a strong driving wind. Or where Jesus breathes on the disciples gathered
in the upper room and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Breath, Spirit, Life,
Gift, it’s all wrapped up in this feast of Pentecost. Rather it’s UNwrapped
and UNtapped. The spirit is wending its way windward, winding up in that
upper room so that the disciples can think and feel fearlessly, out of the box,
out of the four walls. They are not fearful. They are filled with the living
breath of God. They are in-spired to speak boldly. Pentecost is not just the
in-breathing of God’s spirit but in the in-breaking of God’s spirit, recreating, re-newing the face of the earth.
So who or what has inspired you today? Have you known the Spirit of God
in-breathing or in-breaking in wonderful ways?
If the music of today’s liturgy, the beauty of the church, the beauty of
creation, the words of the scripture, haven’t inspired you, haven’t breathed
some of the Spirit’s peace and joy and love into you… then take a deeper
breath. Or go home and put some sauce on the stove and breathe in the
aroma. And remember that God’s holy spirit desires you. Wants you to be
filled and renewed and recreated in the image of Jesus Christ.