Finally and with
great joy we are celebrating the feast of the Holy Spirit and feast of the
birth of our Mother the Catholic Church[1]. Today
it’s a significant day, the day on which the first believers –the first
Christians- came really alive in their faith;
the day when the rock upon which Christ planted His Church began to support and
upholds an incredible new life for the whole world.
What is Pentecost? Ah! Pentecost is an event that
the world has long been promised, and event which the people of God have looong
(sic) awaited. Pentecost is the reversal of what occurred at the Tower
of Babel[2]
when, because of our sinfulness, we became unable to understand one another.
Pentecost is the gifting of God to make us one and to make us one in the way He is
one with His son and the Holy Spirit[3]. Pentecost gives us the eyes to see and
the ears to hear. The eyes to see that God is in the details and that God is in
the flesh as well as in the Spirit. Pentecost is the way when we get ears to
hear and eyes to see. Pentecost is the right time to rediscover our faith, to rediscover Catholicism and to be extremely
(sic) grateful for being part of the
Catholic Church. You know, we are at one point in the history where we have to
be very faithful to the Catholic Church and her teachings. We cannot look back.
We cannot miss the old days. Many are calling for a return to the past. These
people are reactionaries, NOT visionaries, and rather than placing their trust
in God and cooperating with His future and working hard in their communities, they
criticize our Holy Father, Bishops, priests and all people of good will, but
doing nothing, not helping in any apostolic activity.
We cannot look
back. We cannot miss the old days, and we can because God never goes back, He
always moves forward. Adam & Eve were banished from the garden, God could
have redeemed them and sent them back to the garden, but He didn’t, for two
reasons: 1. God always wants our future to be bigger than our past [and] 2. God
always moves forward. So, let us press on toward the future God has envisioned
for us and for the Catholic Church[4].
So, again: today
is a very appropriate day to give thanks for the Catholic Church, this Church that
has many sins but is simply wonderful. You know, the sins of the Church are
like wrinkles on the face of a mother. Personally I do not think that the wrinkles
of my mom make her ugly, or I will not stop loving her for her wrinkles. Ask
yourself today if you're a son a daughter of the Church in the same way that
you feel God's child. Ask yourself this morning if you defend the Church, or if you make fun of her and her ministers,
ask yourself if your attitude is bitter and critical. And let me remind you
that she, the Bride of Christ, was born from the open side of the Lord on the
cross, so there is another GREAT reason
to be in love with her.
Finally I want
to say two important things: our Archbishop belongs to an order that is
dedicated to the Holy Spirit, therefore is an important day for him. His episcopal
motto is Ven Holy Spirit Ven, and it symbolizes the diversity of
languages that express the one message
of Christ, the love of God that transforms the world and harmonizes differences
into a beautiful unity that only the Holy Spirit can create[5].
And today Father
Agustin celebrates 12 years of being ordained as a priest. I am very happy to
celebrate this anniversary with my community. I am sure that you agree with me
that there is no better gift for a priest to be with your parish community ■
[1] Sunday 27th May, 2012, Pentecost Sunday. Readings: Acts
2:1-11. Lord, send out your Spirit and
renew the face of the earth—Ps 103(104):1, 24, 29-31, 34. 1 Corinthians
12:3-7, 12-13. John 20:19-23 (alt. readings) [St Augustine of Canterbury].
[2] Gen 11:1-9.
[3] Pentecost is our becoming
Christ in the world. It is God taking on flesh, not only in the least of those
to whom we give water to drink or clothes to wear; but taking on flesh in each
one of us.
[4] M. Kelly, Catholicism, p. 23.
