My favorite year of elementary school was fifth grade. The person who made that year truly special was my teacher, Chris Kaune. Chris was passionate about teaching and loved us students, giving many of us nicknames and treating us with great kindness. He brought an energy and excitement to the classroom that was hard not to catch as a student. Another thing he brought to the classroom was his love for theater. Up to that point, I had only done a couple of small bits of acting for various different school projects, like dressing up as Thomas Jefferson. But Chris introduced us to the theater arts. He had us put on a full fledged play which we presented to our parents, family members and the whole school.
The show that we produced as a class was the stage version of a book we had read earlier that year, “The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.” This book followed Charlotte’s adventures as she took a journey by sea. The captain of her ship was the villain of the story. His name was Captain Jaggery. Guess who was cast as Captain Jaggery for the play? To prepare for this substantial role, I had to learn many lines, which was no small feat for a fifth grader. In the end, I think I pulled it off pretty well. I can still remember the thrill and the nervousness of performing under the lights of the stage at Montrose Elementary. That was the beginning of a lifelong passion for theater, which included participating in many more stage productions in high school. Even now, I enjoy seeing shows at the Triple Locks Theater.
I am so grateful to have had Chris Kaune as a teacher. The best kinds of teachers are those whose passion for subjects is so great that it rubs off on their students. Being around Chris fostered in me a love for theater and the arts that has helped shape me as a person. That relationship between a passionate teacher and their students is a great image of who the Holy Spirit is and how He relates to all of us in the Church.
It is easy to get caught up in the dramatic events of Pentecost and lose track of the deeper reality going on. The tongues of fire, the noise of the strong driving wind, and the spontaneous miracle of the apostles and Mary speaking in the languages of all those present – these are incredible things to ponder. The fire and the sound of a strong wind both point us to the reality of the awesome, transcendent power of the God we serve. When the Holy Spirit – the third Person of the Trinity – showed up on Pentecost, He came in a dramatic way to remind those present (and all of us) of His power to work inside us. Those dramatic exterior signs pointed to the interior reality that God was moving in the hearts of those present. It’s no surprise that immediately after these events in the book of Acts, we hear that about three thousand people were baptized.
The miracle of the apostles’ speaking in the various different languages of the world was the Spirit’s way of showing how, through them, He would bring faith to all the many nations of the world. And that is what we see happening today. Everywhere across the globe, people of every language are singing the praises of God and gathering for worship. How awesome!
Jesus’ words in the Gospel point us to the deeper picture of the awesome event of Pentecost. He reminds us that the coming of the Holy Spirit will be the animating event of the Church. The Spirit will be the one to continue leading the Church even after Jesus’ earthly ministry has ended. He tells the disciples:
But when he comes, the Spirit of truth,
he will guide you to all truth.
He will not speak on his own,
but he will speak what he hears,
and will declare to you the things that are coming.
He will glorify me,
because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.
This reality of the Spirit taking from what is shared by the Father and the Son and giving it to us is what Pentecost was all about. As the sound of wind hit their ears, the tongues of fire licked their heads without burning them, and their tongues were loosed to praise God, the Holy Spirit was at work in their hearts, filling them to overflow with Divine Love and pouring into them incredible grace to be bold witnesses of Jesus. Pentecost is their moment of transformation for mission.
Just as our best teachers impart to us their knowledge and passion, the Holy Spirit imparted to the early Church the power of His Person, the power of Divine Love that has burned in the church now for almost two thousand years. This Divine Love has given flower to so many incredible things: poetry, sacred scripture and literature, soaring Cathedrals, beautiful works of art, acts of heroism, the scientific method, the hospital system, the college and primary school system and so many more things. All of this has come because the Holy Spirit has never stopped the work He began on Pentecost. He continues to change hearts and teach them the way of Divine Love. He came with His power to fill and transform the hearts of Jayce and Martez, who were baptized after Mass. He came in His power on the hearts of five young men who were just ordained as priests for the Diocese of Columbus. By His power, these new priests will help people to encounter the Risen Jesus and continue His ministry in the Church. What a privilege to live in a Church where the Holy Spirit is still on the move!
At the Mass for the ordination of those five men, Bishop Fernandes said something that really struck me. He said that sometimes people will come up to him and say, “You were really on fire with that homily!” He said that rather than being called to be on fire, we are called to be the fire in the Church. We are called to let the Holy Spirit transform us so much that our lives become a participation in that Fire of Divine Love who is the Holy Spirit.
This is our challenge – to allow the Holy Spirit to move within our hearts, because I know that He has new work to do in us and through us. Already I see so many ways that He is at work in our parish. I’m sure some of you do as well. And He wants to increase that work. He wants to make us a parish of fire, the fire which can transform cold hearts into hearts of faith, which can take weary hearts and give them vigor, which can help free people from bondage and give them new life. That’s what God is doing and what He wants to do even more here. So let’s open our hearts to Him today and every day. Let’s allow the presence of the Holy Spirit we received through our Baptism and Confirmation to transform us, and through us to transform our families, friends, co-workers, relatives…and the whole world.
+ Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth. Let us pray. O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant that in the same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. +