AD SENSE

Pentecost - 2016


Notes

General Textual comments
Jesus is about to leave his apostles and as he gets ready to do this, he begins to speak to them about something that will happen and which will be of tremendous importance for them and for understanding him and where he is coming from.
holy spirit comesHe tells them of the future coming of the Holy Spirit. He speaks of two things:
– of how close he will be to their own insights
– of what he will teach them, how he will add to what they have already learnt from him.
He makes two radical points which he stresses right through his teaching. Today, after our long distance from the time of Jesus, we look at them with a better understanding of all this implies for us today.
a) The first point is that the Spirit will be true to the teachings of Jesus, those he gave to the apostles and which they must retain for ever. These are tremendously important teachings which we must understand today whatever happens. What happens to us does not matter because Jesus was aware of them even from where he stood at the time of his leaving his followers.
b) The second is that the Spirit will often bring out new things – or, rather, things which seem very new to us. In fact, there will be great changes from what the Church thought it had learnt directly from Jesus. They will therefore be “new”.
We can now see more clearly than ever before two important things:
– where the disciples were, what was their ideology, how they looked on their world;
– where Jesus wanted to bring them to and the world in which he wanted them to live.
Let us look at these two aspects of the work of the Spirit as they are revealed in this text.
Spirit within usIn verses 15 to 16 Jesus says clearly that the Spirit will be “old”. The Father knows the Spirit. They will know that whatever he teaches is from the Spirit since the Father has always been “with him” and he is also “in him”. It is essential then that those who follow the Spirit always make the link between what Jesus said and what they now believe.
On the other hand, he will come with something that seems new. He will conquer whatever weaknesses people will be able to discover in Jesus’ revelations. He will say things which “the world cannot receive” since it does not know him nor his full revelation.
In verses 23 to 24, the teaching of the Spirit is “old” in the sense that we shall always come back to Jesus. We will always learn new things from him, from what he revealed to them. Whatever he inspires in us, we will eventually learn to love the Father in him, and Jesus too will make his home with him.
It is “new” in the sense that what he will say will be what he has learnt from the other two. We who love him will find in his words “the word of the one who sent him.” He will be revealing what he has learnt from the other members of the Trinity.
In verses 25 to 26, his teaching is “old” in the sense that his word is not his own but the word of the one who sent him. This is Jesus who “has said all these things to him from the beginning”. His words are all lasting therefore and will remain valid whatever happens in the future.
spirit of fireHis teaching will also be “new”. “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name”, he will “teach you everything and remind you of all I have said to you”. The Spirit will therefore remind the disciples of all he said to them as he faced his passion.

Prayer reflection
“If you wish to attain your being in which God created you, in all nobleness, you must not reform any difficulty, with all the hardiness and prize you must neglect nothing but valiantly seize the best part. I mean the totality of God as your wealth.”  ..Blessed Hadewight of the Holy Beguines
Lord, we pray for the grace to remember the teachings of Jesus.
JesusHelp us to recognise his presence among us and to look forward to them.
We thank you for sending your Holy Spirit into our Church of today.
We thank you that the work of the Spirit is new
and we must learn many things from what we now see happening in our present world.
It is also old, however, and it must always return us to the original teaching of Jesus
and of the Father who spoke through him.
We realize today how many wonderful things we can learn
from the newly established importance of women in the world today,
from all they have done.
We must now re-learn and re-discover the many things he taught us
and which became lost in the all-male world in which it grew and developed.
We remember today the great things
Holy Spirit teacher– within our Church,
– in the world as we relate with it apart from the Church,
– in the secular world which makes no reference to the Church in its findings and discoveries.
We think today of the many things we learn from those who belong to other Christian religions, which we had tended to look down on.
We remember with great sadness
– the distance maintained by the Roman Pontiffs and other leaders of our Church in the face of the founding of the World Council of Churches and other ecumenical work in the world;
– we remember similar attitudes, maintained by the leaders of other Churches, when they found that their own insights were no longer accepted by our Church and so considered themselves far from us.
We think today of the many things we have learnt
from those who follow other religions which we once considered far from ours.
We think of those who follow other religions tied to the people of the East,
the followers of Confucius, Buddha, the Bhagavad Gita and other Eastern sages.
spirit of humilityHelp us Lord in our time to welcome them among us and to learn from them.
We remember the great sages of the Muslim faith.
We thank you for what they can now teach us in our faith and understanding.
We think of those who belong to the great religions of Africa,
and also of North and South America.
We thank you for the wonderful lessons we have learnt from them
– their sense of the greatness of God, present in every creature
– their sense of the protection of every person on earth
– their connection with all who have died.
We remember the very great people who have been torn away from our fold for what they have seen wrong. They now seem to have no religion at all. We thank you for all that we have learnt from them.
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Thomas O’Loughlin
Introduction to the Celebration
heartToday we are celebrating a feast that was celebrated by many of the Jews who lived at the time of Jesus. Many of his early followers continued to celebrate it after the resurrection, and so it became part of the annual celebrations of all Christians. However, over the first few decades of the church, this feast took on a new meaning: Jesus has risen and ascended to the Father, but he promised us his Spirit. So today we rejoice that the Spirit is moving in each of our hearts making us a people, inspiring us to understand the mystery of our faith, and strengthening us to follow Jesus the Anointed One.

Gospels: Jn 20:19-23 and Jn 14:15-16; 23-26
Jn 20:19-23 presents the Spirit as the source of forgiveness within the church, animating it to be the messenger/builder of forgiveness in the world. This gospel, with its clear emphasis of the Spirit as the life force of the church’s ministry, is to be preferred to the optional choice for year C.
Option for Year C: Jn 14:15-16; 23-26 presents the Spirit as the teacher who leads us into all truth. In John these promises form part of Christ’s farewell prayer for the church.For the vigil reading see year A.

Homily Notes
H. Spirit within1. There are two popular themes in preaching Pentecost that miss the point of this feast. First, that it is the ‘feast of the Holy Spirit’ as if this were analogous to 15 August as ‘Mary’s feast’ or 17 March as ‘Patrick’s feast’. One cannot have a feast for a divine Person! Every feast, every day, every prayer is the Spirit’s, or it is nothing! Just note how silly the phrase ‘the Spirit’s feast’ is: which is the Father’s feast, or do we imagine Mary is more important as she has more feasts? The implication of this approach is to use the homily for a user-friendly treatise on the Spirit. The second false trail is to say that this is the ‘birthday of the church’, on the supposition that birthdays are one of the few special times our culture understands. As a metaphor it can be quite useful, but it trivialises what is at issue by making it simply one of recalling the ‘First [Christian] Pentecost.’ Then the homily becomes a recollection of the Luke’s idealised, imaginative picture of apostolic times. This not only perpetuates a false view of the early church, relies unwittingly on a fundamentalist scriptural hermeneutic, but misses the feast’s central message.
2. Our belief is that the Spirit is coming upon us now, he who is ‘Lord and giver of life’, is descending now upon the church — at every moment, in every good thought and action, in every assembly — and giving us life and empowering us. We, in the congregation assembled, hold this feast to remind ourselves of this unseen presence in our lives, and to invite ourselves to call on him to empower and enlighten us. It is not the Spirit as the third Person of the Godhead, nor an event in Jerusalem long ago that we celebrate, but the Spirit as the life-giving core of our lives as a local church, gathered now for a meal to strengthen us to continue in our work of building the kingdom. We are celebrating someone who is already within us, or we would not be here are all.
Spirit empowers3. How can we recognise the Spirit’s presence? How should we imagine the Spirit? These are questions we all pose and are often asked. We have an image of ‘the Father’ as the old man with the beard — it is limited, but it is there; we all have an image of the Son for we have umpteen images of the Word made flesh; but how can we relate to the Spirit as a dove or a flame or a wind? The answer is that we can only relate to the Spirit in an act of reflecting upon our own lives and actions — it is the Spirit within us that provokes these very questions within each of us, spurring us to grow in the mystery of the divine love.

4. So how can we extend that action of reflection to see the Spirit’s presence in our community? The Spirit’s gifts are, in reality, the Spirit himself, so we should celebrate the various ministries that exist within the community. Obviously those who minister in the liturgy (the Spirit empowering us to prayer calling on the Father), and those involved in charity in the community (the Spirit as the source of love). But also all who teach — not only as catechists (the Spirit promoting the kerygma) but every teacher (the Spirit as the enlightener of minds). ‘Then those who seek the truth in their work (e.g. journalists or scientists) for the Spirit leads us towards the truth. Then those who work of society’s good be they policemen or social workers or whatever — for the Spirit brings forgiveness and harmony. Then all who care for life, for the Spirit is the life-giver. One could keep going outwards to ever-wider circles until the whole community is included — for part of being a Christian is recognising that the Spirit is at work in every human heart. Wherever anything good, true, noble, or joyfui happens, there is the Spirit at work. One of our tasks as the church is to discover how the Spirit is present and working in the world.
5. Instead of a discourse of words today, if you can think of some activity that would highlight how people in your community — in so many diverse ways — are animated for ministry by the Spirit, then you may have communicated the message of this day far more effectively than with a homily.
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3. Sean Goan
Gospel
journey with the SpiritThis gospel text is almost the same one as used on the Sixth Sunday of Easter and it presents us with John’s understanding of the unique and vital role played by the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The entire section of John’s gospel known as the ‘Last Discourse’ (chapters 13-17) is presented as a kind of farewell speech or even last will and testament. Li it the evangelist explores who Jesus really is and how we, his followers, are united to him and draw life from him. To do this he uses a couple of key images: one is the dwelling place (v.14), the other is the vine (v.15). It is the Spirit in us who allows us to explore these ideas and to deepen our understanding of the profound mystery that has been revealed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Reflection
renewed peopleThe feast of Pentecost brings to a close the season of Easter because the gift of the Spirit is the inevitable outcome of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The church understood clearly that what happened to Jesus on Easter Sunday was not just an amazing miracle to prove that he really was the Son of God. It was rather the next step in God’s desire to heal, once and for all, the relationship between himself and a broken humanity. Now the outpouring of the Spirit of Jesus means that our relationship with God is fundamentally transformed. So let’s celebrate of our new life in the Spirit and the birthday of the church as the new people of God.

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4. Donal Neary S.J.
Gospel reflections

Called into following Christ
Pentecost is really something new! The first reading has no blarney no recrimination for the death of Jesus – only a new call and new mercy. The gospel is about the coming of the Spirit and the main sign of the Spirit is forgiveness.
spirit of forgivnessThere was a lot of need for forgiveness around in the first group of Jesus’ followers. They had let him down and had let each other down. They looked around and like any group felt memories of hurt shame, let-down, injury and harm. They saw those who had abandoned Jesus and tried to cover up the sin; or they saw others who just knew they had done wrong and were sorry. All were forgiven.
And all are now called into the following of Christ. We follow Christ with all sorts of personal gifts, talents and sins in our back-pack. Like people on pilgrimage, we are cluttered. The Holy Spirit opens our hearts to let this baggage just fly away! We are people of freedom and of a new song.
What song do I sing in the presence of the Lord? One that brings me back into misery like singing of shame and misery or one that brings me into the freedom of the Alleluia? Can my heart dance with the joy and hope of Pentecost?

Ask this day for what gift of the Spirit you really want, and maybe include always the gift to be able to let go of hurt, to open the heart to all, and to forgive or if not, to want to forgive.
Holy Spirit, forgiveness of God,
                        give me your true freedom.
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From The Connections:
gifts of spirit
Pentecost was the Jewish festival of the harvest (also called the Feast of Weeks), celebrated 50 days after Passover, when the first fruits of the corn harvest were offered to the Lord.  A feast of pilgrimage (hence the presence in Jerusalem of so many “devout Jews of every nation”), Pentecost also commemorated Moses’ receiving the Law on Mount Sinai.  For the new Israel, Pentecost becomes the celebration of the Spirit of God's compassion, peace and forgiveness – the Spirit that transcends the Law and becomes the point of departure for the young Church's universal mission (the planting of a new harvest?).
In his Acts of the Apostles (Reading 1), Luke invokes the First Testament images of wind and fire in his account of the new Church’s Pentecost:  God frequently revealed his presence in fire (the pillar of fire in the Sinai) and in wind (the wind that sweeps over the earth to make the waters of the Great Flood subside).  The Hebrew word for spirit, ruah, and the Greek word pneuma also refer to the movement of air, not only as wind, but also of life-giving breath (as in God's creation of man in Genesis 2 and the revivification of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37).  Through his life-giving “breath,” the Lord begins the era of the new Israel on Pentecost.
Today’s Gospel of the first appearance of the Risen Jesus before his ten disciples (remember Thomas is not present) on Easter night is John’s version of the Pentecost event.  In “breathing” the Holy Spirit upon them, Jesus imitates God’s act of creation in Genesis.  Just as Adam’s life came from God, so the disciples’ new life of the Spirit comes from Jesus.  In the Resurrection, the Spirit replaces their sense of self-centered fear and confusion with the “peace” of understanding, enthusiasm and joy and shatters all barriers among them to make of them a community of hope and forgiveness.  By Christ’s sending them forth, the disciples become apostles – “those sent.”
 
HOMILY POINTS:
The feast of Pentecost celebrates the unseen, immeasurable presence of God in our lives and in our Church: the ruah that animates us to do the work of the Gospel of the Risen One, the ruah that makes God’s will our will, the ruah of God living in us and transforming us so that we might bring his life and love to our broken world.  God “breathes” his Spirit into our souls that we may live in his life and love; God ignites the “fire” of his Spirit within our hearts and minds that we may seek God in all things in order to realize the coming of his reign.
Today we celebrate the gift of God’s Spirit – the Spirit that enables us to love as selflessly and as totally as God loved us enough to become one of us, to die for us and to rise for us; the Spirit that takes us beyond empty legalisms and static measurements of “mine” and “yours” to create a community of compassion, reconciliation and justice centered in “us”; the Spirit that enables us to re-create our world in the peace and mercy of God.
In Jesus' “breathing” upon them the new life of the Spirit, the community of the Resurrection -- the Church – takes flight.  That same Spirit continues to “blow” through today’s Church to give life and direction to our mission and ministry to preach the Gospel to every nation, to proclaim the forgiveness and reconciliation in God's name, to baptize all humanity into the life of Jesus' Resurrection.
The Spirit of God enables the Eleven – and us – to do things they could not do their own: to understand the “truth” of God’s great love for his people that is embodied in the Risen Christ, and then to boldly proclaim the Gospel of Christ.  The Spirit empowers us with the grace to do the difficult work of Gospel justice, forgiveness and compassion.
The miracle of Pentecost (Acts 2) is the Spirit’s overcoming the barriers of language and perception to open not only the minds of the Apostles’ hearers but their hearts as well to understanding and embracing the Word of God.

The “flow”
You are in the “flow” — everything is working the way it’s supposed to, everything is “clicking.”
The set of bookshelves you are building are turning out beautifully.
Every tennis ball you hit manages to stay inside the lines (for a change!).
You are now sailing through that homework assignment that you struggled to understand; that research paper that took forever to pull together suddenly takes flight.
Confronting a crisis, everyone in the family rises to the occasion — what could have been a painful, divisive situation becomes an experience of love and affirmation.
Artists and athletes often speak of “flow.”  When they are deeply involved in their craft or sport, time ceases to exist.  They don’t see themselves as separate from what they are doing — they become “one” with the lathe, the brush, the clay, the bat, the puck.  They move as much by instinct as thought.  They become part of something bigger than the self.  They are “in” the flow.
The “flow” is not something you make happen.  You don’t do it.  It does you.  You don’t find the flow.  The flow finds you and carries you.  And when you find yourself in the flow, it feels like it has always been there, always available to you, but now is finally happening and you are in it.
[Suggested by An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor and a sermon by the Rev. Samuel I. Lloyd III, Washington National Cathedral, May 23, 2010.]

The Spirit of God that “blows” through the community of disciples is the ultimate “flow” of God’s compassion and peace, giving shape and direction to Jesus’ community.  From that Pentecost to our own day, the Spirit catches us in its “flow,” drawing us into communion with God, with the world, with one another.  The “flow” is the Spirit “working” through us, carrying us, inspiring us to Easter transformation.  Pentecost is a moment of profound realization and transformation for the small band of Jesus’ disciples: the Word they had heard and the wonders they had witnessed came together in a “flow” of understanding, clarity, unity and courage that compelled them to carry on the work Jesus had entrusted to them — and now, to us.  Pentecost is the “flow” of God’s love in our midst, a love that transcends words and laws and sentiments to embrace the heart and soul of each one of us.  It is the very presence of God in every act of charity and compassion, in every moment of forgiveness and peace we extend and experience, in every effort we make for justice and community.  
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Fr. Jude Botelho:

The first reading begins with the apostles huddled in the upper room after the death of their Master fearful that His fate might be their own. Suddenly they hear what sounds like a powerful wind, it fills the whole room, they see tongues of fire resting on each of them and they receive the gift of speech. The coming of the Spirit breaks all barriers filling the world with God's presence. The tongues of fire remind us of the tongues of fire that were seen when God made a covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai. That was the first covenant made by God with his chosen people. Pentecost is the new covenant made by the Spirit with the new people of God, His Church. A sign of this covenant is the gift of speech, the gift of communication, the gift of being able to express oneself and be understood in one's own language. The language understood by all is the language of the spirit, the language of love. Whereas Babel was man's effort to reach God that led to confusion, Pentecost is God's initiative reaching out through one another leading to unity and understanding

Film: 'Being John Malkovich'
In the very strange 1999 surrealist movie "Being John Malkovich", someone discovers a portal into Malkovich's mind, enabling visitors to see and experience things through his body and to influence his actions. He becomes aware of what's happening and finds the portal himself. At the climax of the movie, there is a bizarre but powerful scene when he enters the portal, being swept down a dark tunnel with a roaring sound to emerge as a participant/observer in his own world. He discovers that everyone has his face and his voice, and every word spoken is his name. Connections with the Pentecost story: - the paradox of the creator entering his own creation by an unexplainable power; - the potential of the portal to connect people in an unprecedented kind of indwelling. - seeing the face of Malkovich everywhere reminds me of the Spirit making Jesus present through us in a new and all-encompassing way. We are recognisably Christ-like, though still ourselves, and all we say and do is 'in his name'. It's a frightening moment in the movie, because Malkovich has no wish to become omnipresent as a Christ-figure, but the image is powerful.

From film insights by Marnie Barrel in

'The Text this Week'
In the Gospel Jesus reminds his disciples that while He is leaving them He is not abandoning them. While He was on earth He was their strength, their advocate with the Father. Now He is going to give them another advocate, another helper they can always rely on, the Holy Spirit. The gospel reading represents John's version of the birth of the Church. The disciples are to continue Jesus' mission from his Father and this mission will, as his, involve judgement. His mission was to bring humankind to the light and to the Father. In John's gospel there is a continuous process of confrontation with Jesus and self-judgement. The different attitudes of humankind to Jesus will continue in the reactions to his presence in the Church. It is significant that in John the Church is founded by the risen Lord. When Jesus breathes upon the disciples it shows that a new creation is taking place. Just as God made man by breathing life into him, so the life of the Church comes from the breath of the Spirit of Jesus. This is the new life Jesus came to bring. In a sense everything is already accomplished when Jesus breathes life into his disciples. The Holy Spirit is the advocate that never fails. We know of people who carry on living joyfully though they are suffering; we know of people who have been battered with one trial after another, who have not grown embittered by it all. We know of priests and religious sisters living constantly under fear of being attacked because they are Christian, who refuse to give up or retaliate. We know of people who have very little security and an uncertain future, people who can still radiate peace, the gifts of the Spirit. The Spirit is very much alive and very much needed in these demanding times.

Points System
There was this secondary school teacher who died and arrived at the gates of heaven. He was calmly walking in through the entrance, when Peter stopped him and said, "Hi, hold on there! Where are you going?" "I'm going in there." replied the teacher to which Peter replied "Oh no, you're not! It's not that simple. Just like you had in your secondary-level education, we also have a points system in operation here." "Oh, I didn't know that" said the teacher. "What is your system? How many points do I require?" "We have set one thousand points as requirement for entry into heaven" said Peter. "Now tell me something about yourself, and why you expect to get in this door." The teacher took a deep breath, stuck out his chest (this was his big moment) and said "I went to mass every morning for the past forty years." "Very good" said Peter. "That's one point." The poor teacher was completely taken aback, and was nearly struck dumb when Peter asked "And tell me, what else did you do along the journey of life?" The teacher gathered himself together, and had another go. "I was in the S.V.P., and in several Third World Charities, and I collected a lot of money over the years". "How much?" asked Peter. "Probably forty or fifty thousand pounds" said the teacher. "Very good." said Peter. "That's another point." By now the poor teacher was completely deflated and he muttered to himself under his breath "I'm afraid it's only by the grace of God I'm going to get there."  Peter heard him and looked him straight in the eye and said "You are perfectly correct. It is only be the grace of God and His Spirit that you'll ever be able to enter those gates. If you really believe that, go right in, because that, my dear friend, is a thousand points!" At Pentecost God gave us the most precious gift of His Spirit freely to all who believed!
Anonymous

The Role of the Holy Spirit in our lives
A renowned Italian violinist, violist, cellist, guitarist and composer, Niccolo Paganini, was due to perform one night in a very prestigious Concert Hall in Paris. Even as he walked on stage, the audience stood up and cheered with irrepressible excitement and heart-warming esteem. Resting his violin under his chin, the celebrated musician began to play with such dexterity and brilliance that the audience listened in spell bound silence. Suddenly one string on the violin snapped. But the consummate professional was not deterred. On the contrary, he continued to play with three strings, and the music was just as fascinating and impressive. Moments later, a second string snapped; and minutes later the third... The crowd gasped in stunned disbelief. What was Paganini going to do? Would he bow and leave gracefully? Without losing his cool, the famous maestro raised his hand, called for silence and announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to hear Paganini on one string." What followed thereafter literally took everyone's breath away - the performance was flawless, the music exquisite, the entertainment heavenly and on just one string! Such was the incomparable touch of the master's hand. -This extraordinary story aptly describes the singular and marvelous role of the Holy Spirit in our personal lives. A wise author summarized that role in this thought-provoking maxim: "God does not look at our ability or inability; all God wants is our availability."
James Valladares in 'Your Words are Spirit, and they are Life'

By the power of His Spirit
At 7:15 a.m. on September 5, 1987, Dr. Ben Carson, an American paediatric neurosurgeon, assisted by a team of most skilled surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists and nursing staff, performed the critical separation of the seven-year-old German twins, Patrick and Benjamin Binder, precariously joined at the back of the head - a delicate and critical operation that lasted 22 agonizing hours. And when it had been successfully accomplished, Dr. Carson lifted his eyes to God and whispered, "Thank you, God, thank you. I know you had a hand in this." Dr. Carson humbly ascribed his phenomenal success to two special persons -Almighty God and his mother, Sonya. A single parent, Sonya had worked tirelessly at two and even three jobs, whatever she could find, to make ends meet and educate her two sons. Above all, she was a devout believer with an unshakeable faith in God. So when her son Ben declared his dream of being a doctor, that noble woman said: "Bennie, listen to me. If you ask the Lord for something and believe He will do it, then it will happen." Ben Carson went on to become one of America's best paediatric neurosurgeons. -Despite our human frailties, limitations and imperfections, the Holy Spirit is able to achieve the most marvelous results in and through us, because God's power is almighty, his wisdom inscrutable, and his love unfathomable.
James Valladares in 'Your Words are Spirit, and they are Life'

They were all together
A pastor once heard that one of his parishioners was going about announcing to one and all that he would no longer attend church services. The rebellious parishioner was advancing the familiar argument that he could communicate with God just as easily out in the fields, with nature as his setting for worship. One winter evening the pastor called on this reluctant member of his flock for a friendly visit. The two men sat before the fireplace making small talk, but studiously avoiding the issue of church attendance. After a while, the pastor took the tongs from the rack next to the fireplace and pulled a single coal from the fire. He placed the glowing ember on the hearth. As the two watched in silence, the coal quickly ceased burning and turned ashen grey, while the other coals in the fire continued to burn brightly. The pastor's silent message was not lost on the parishioner. After a long pause, he turned to the pastor and said, "I'll be back at services next Sunday." We read in the Scriptures that 'When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together."
John Pichappilly in 'The Table of the Word'


The first reading begins with the apostles huddled in the upper room; they fear any one approaching them. Suddenly they hear what sounds like a powerful wind, they see tongues of fire resting on each of them and they receive the gift of speech. The coming of the Spirit breaks all barriers filling the world with God's presence. The tongues of fire remind us of the tongues of fire that were seen when God made a covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai. Pentecost is the new covenant with the new people of God, the Church. A new sign of the covenant is the gift of speech, the gift of being able to express oneself and be understood. The language understood by all is the language of the spirit, the language of love. Pentecost is God's initiative reaching out through one another leading to unity and understanding.

Holy Roller Service
A little girl was visiting her grandmother in a small country town in the Southern United States. They attended a very emotional religious service, where people expressed their feelings by jumping about and shouting what we might call a "Holy Roller" service. The little girl asked her grandmother if all that jumping meant the Holy Spirit was really there. Her grandmother said. "Honey, it don't matter how high they jump up, it's what they do when they come down that will tell you if it's the real thing." It would be good if we were a little more enthusiastic about our religion, but what matters is what we do in everyday life. Does the Holy Spirit have a practical effect on our daily life? In what way?
Gerard Fuller in 'Stories for all Seasons'

In the Gospel, Jesus reminds his disciples that while He is leaving them He is not abandoning them. He is giving them another helper they can always rely on, the Holy Spirit. Our experience of advocates may not be very positive but if we have a good advocate, we can rely on the person to pull us out of a tough spot. The Holy Spirit is the advocate that never fails. For Jesus the words that he spoke contained the Word of His Father. Jesus was aware that much of what He had said had not been understood. They needed to understand His word, they needed to be encouraged and inspired. This was going to be the role of the spirit, to remind, enlighten, to enable and empower the disciples. It would seem an impossible task, but with the coming of the Spirit the impossible would become possible. The Spirit would give them His gifts of wisdom, power, fortitude, courage, and we know that from weak cowards the apostles became fearless, courageous, eloquent witnesses of Jesus Christ to the point of death. This miracle continues in the Church till today in the lives of people who live transformed lives thanks to the Spirit. We know of people who carry on living joyfully though they are suffering from cancer and aids. We know of people who have been battered with trials, who have not grown embittered. We know of priests and religious sisters living constantly under fear of being attacked because they are Christian witnesses, who refuse to give up or retaliate. We know of people who have very little security yet they can still radiate peace and joy that are gifts of the Spirit. The Spirit is very much alive and very much needed in these demanding times. Is the Spirit alive in us? Sometimes we are tempted to doubt the Spirit's presence because all we can see is sin, evil and things going from bad to worse. To see the Spirit we need eyes of faith, we need to humbly acknowledge that nothing we have done merits this gift. Pentecost is the greatest gift of God. Let's desire the gift, accept the gift and enjoy the gift! "Great things happen when God mixes with man!"

Points System!
There was this secondary school teacher who died and arrived at the gates of heaven. He was calmly walking in through the entrance, when Peter stopped him and said, "Hi, hold on there! Where are you going?" "I'm going in there" replied the teacher to which Peter replied "Oh no, you're not! It's not that simple. Just like you in your secondary-level education, we also have a points system in operation here. "Oh, I didn't know that" said the teacher. "How many points do I require?" "We have set one thousand points as requirement for entry into heaven" said Peter. "Now tell me something about yourself, and why you expect to get in this door." The teacher took a deep breath, stuck out his chest and said "I went to mass every morning for the past forty years." "Very good" said Peter. "That's one point." The poor teacher was completely taken aback, and was nearly dumb-struck when Peter asked "And tell me, what else did you do along the journey of life?" The teacher gathered himself together, and had another go. "I was in the S.V.P., and in several Third World Charities, and I collected a lot of money over the years. “How much?" asked Peter. "Probably forty or fifty thousand pounds" said the teacher. "Very good" said Peter. "That's another point." By now the poor teacher was completely deflated and he muttered to himself under his breath "I'm afraid it's only by the grace of God I'm going to get in there." Peter heard him and looked him straight in the eye and said "You are perfectly correct. It is only by the grace of God that you'll ever be able to enter those gates. If you really believe that, go right in, because that, my dear friend, is a thousand points!"
Anonymous
Speaking the same languageAlmost hundred years ago Dr. Zamenhof, a Polish linguist, constructed a new language that could be shared by people throughout the world. The artificial language Dr. Zamenhof created is called Esperanto, "the language of hope." The name signifies hope for humankind that a common language might heal the divisions that exist among the different peoples of the earth. Pentecost is the Church's celebration of her unity and universality in the Holy Spirit, and so some of the readings used express this in terms of language. Dr. Zamenhof's invention of a universal language like Esperanto has been followed by: establishing the United Nations Assembly, holding of Summit meetings, having Cultural exchanges and reviving Olympic Games. Pentecost is more than a work of human creation, more than a work of art and music. Pentecost is a new outpouring of God's Spirit into our hearts to kindle in us the fire of his love.
Albert Cylwicki in 'His Word Resounds'

Carnal versus Spiritual

There was once an Eskimo who used to take his two dogs for a bet-fight in the town square. One was a black dog the other was white. The people gathered week after week to see the dogs fight and betted heavily. On some days the black dog won and on others the white. No matter which dog won, the Eskimo made money. The secret behind duping the people was that he would feed the dog well which he wanted to win. Do you feed your spiritual self and keep it strengthened to win over the carnal person? "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."
Daniel Sunderaj in 'Manna for the Soul'

Film: 'Being John Malkovich'
In the very strange 1999 surrealist movie "Being John Malkovich", someone discovers a portal into Malkovich's mind, enabling visitors to see and experience things through his body and to influence his actions. He becomes aware of what's happening and finds the portal himself. At the climax of the movie, there is a bizarre but powerful scene when he enters the portal, being swept down a dark tunnel with a roaring sound to emerge as a participant/observer in his own world. He discovers that everyone has his face and his voice, and every word spoken is in his name. Connections with the Pentecost story: - the paradox of the creator entering his own creation by an unexplainable power; - the potential of the portal to connect people in an unprecedented kind of indwelling; - the portal is exploited by those who find it - selling access, allowing it to be used to violate someone's integrity - reminds me of all who abuse the gift of the Spirit for their own ends or to manipulate others. Seeing the face of Malkovich everywhere reminds me of the Spirit making Jesus present through us in a new and all-encompassing way. We are recognisably Christ-like, though still ourselves, and all we say and do is 'in his name'. It's a frightening moment in the movie, because Malkovich has no wish to become omnipresent as a Christ-figure, but the image is powerful.
Marnie Barrel -Film insights in 'The Text this Week'

The renowned Italian violinist, violist, cellist, guitarist and composer, Niccolo Paganini, was due to perform one night in a very prestigious Concert Hall in Paris. Even as he walked on to the stage, the audience stood up and cheered with irrepressible excitement and heart-warming esteem. Resting his violin under his chin, the celebrated musician began to play with such dexterity and brilliance that the audience listened with spellbound silence. Suddenly one string of the violin snapped. But the consummate professional was not deterred. On the contrary, he continued to play with three strings, and the music was just as fascinating and impressive. Moments later a second string snapped; and minutes later the third. The audience gasped in stunned disbelief. What was Paganini going to do? Would he bow and leave regretfully? Without losing his cool, the famous maestro raised his hand, called for silence and announced: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to hear Paganini on one string." What followed thereafter literally took everyone's breath away - the performance was flawless, the music exquisite, the entertainment heavenly and just on one string! Such is the incomparable touch of the Master's hand. This extraordinary story aptly describes the singular and marvelous role of the Spirit in our personal lives.
J. Valladares in 'Your Words, O Lord, Are Spirit, and They are Life'

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From From Fr Tony Kadavil and Others:

ILLUSTRATIONS:

1.     Neighbourhood 

Once upon a time a new family moved into a neighborhood. It was a nice neighborhood and it was very close to where the Daddy worked, so close he could walk to work. There was only one thing wrong with the neighborhood. Most people weren’t Irish! Yes, that’s true there are such neighborhoods! They were Mexican and Thai, Jewish and Korean, Japanese and Indian, Polish and Columbian, Lebanese and Chinese and just about every other nationality that you could imagine. The children in the neighborhood swarmed around the new kids. Are you really Irish? We don’t have any Irish living in our neighborhood. What’s it like to be Irish? Can you teach us Irish songs and dances and tell us Irish stories?  

 Our new family was not dumb at all. They realized that there was some pay-off in being different. They had to look up Irish songs and stories and learn some Irish dances. They became very popular. They also learned a lot about all the strange people (i.e. those that were not Irish in their neighborhood and decided that while they were not Irish it wasn’t their fault and they were pretty cool kids anyway. They loved the cooking even if some of it was a little too spicy. Do you want to move back to the old neighborhood, their parents asked them anxiously. No way, said the kids, God made us all different and we enjoy it! All Irish neighborhoods are BORING!

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2.     Are you Pentecostal? 

The well-known author and preacher Fred Craddock tells a rather funny story about a lecture he was giving: A few years ago, when he was on the west coast speaking at a seminary, just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal." The room grew silent. Craddock said he looked around for the Dean of the seminary! He was nowhere to be found. The student continued with his quiz right in front of everybody. Craddock was taken aback, and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?" He said, "No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?" the student said, "I am asking you if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?" He said, "I want to know if you are Pentecostal." Craddock said, "I don't know what your question is." The student said, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal." He left.

What are we talking about this morning? Is the church supposed to use the word Pentecost only as a noun or can it be used as an adjective? And so I ask you: Are you Pentecostal?

In spite of the fact that the church doesn't know what the adjective means, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, an event in the history of the church, refuses for it to be simply a memory, an item, something back there somewhere. The church insists that the word is an adjective; it describes the church. The word, then, is "Pentecostal." 

If the church is alive in the world it is Pentecostal. And you thought we were Methodist!

 How do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning, this spirit moving? What must exist in us, around us, and through us, if we are to be Pentecostal? Simply these three things:

 1. We Are To Be Of One Accord
2. We Are To Join Together Constantly in Prayer
3. We Are To Repent 

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3.     Broken English 

Have you ever heard of “broken English?” Did you know “broken English” is an actual language? North Carolina Judge Jesse Caldwell tells the story of Vietnamese woman who was waiting her turn to be examined in a crowded hospital emergency room. She gradually became aware of a frustrating “non-conversation” being attempted a few seats down. A nurse was trying to ask a new patient for some details on her illness. The patient spoke Spanish. The nurse did not.

The Vietnamese woman listened for a minute then realized that while she didn’t speak Spanish she did understand the broken-English bits and phrases the Spanish speaking patient offered as answers. Because of her own experience of learning to communicate in “broken English,” the Vietnamese woman could hear the heart and gist of what this other woman was trying to say. The Vietnamese woman offered to “translate” the broken English of the Spanish speaker into something the nurse could understand. She was so successful at bridging the brokenness of their languages that eventually the Vietnamese woman was hired by the hospital as a kind of generic translator. Brokenness was the common language spoken by all hospital patients. 

The Holy Spirit speaks through broken people to a broken world, using language every broken heart can hear and understand. 

Because we know what it is like to be broken by hatred, we can speak of the healing love of Christ’s sacrifice. 

Because we know what it is like to be broken by despair, we can speak of the healing hope of Christ’s forgiveness. 

Because we know what it is like to be broken by doubt, we can speak of the healing faith in Christ’s promises. 

Because we know what it is like to be broken by illness, we can speak of the healing wholeness of Christ’s resurrection.

Because we know what it is like to break down doing church — program church, purpose-driven church, seeker-sensitive church, organic church, missional church, NCD church, simple church, we can stop doing church and start doing Pentecost. 

The church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. In fact, Christianity is still the fastest growing religion in the world. But it’s growing not in the North and West, but in the South and East. Why the difference? Why is Christianity surging in the South and East and not in North America and Europe?

Because where the body of Christ is growing the people aren’t trying to do church. They’re doing Pentecost. Maybe it’s time for us as a church to stop relying on our own powers and programs, our blueprints and boilerplates, and start doing what these early disciples did: trust the Spirit and do Pentecost…   
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4.     You Are in the Spirit 

It’s like the story of the shark and the whale. Both were swimming in the sea when the shark swam up to the whale to engage in conversation. As they swam along, the shark said to the whale, “You are so much older than I, and wiser too. Could you tell me where the ocean is?” The whale responded, “The ocean is what you are in now.” The shark would not believe it. “Come on, tell me where the ocean is so I may find it!” The whale repeated, “The ocean is here, now; you are in it.” Unbelieving, the shark swam away searching for the ocean.  

The moral of the story, I believe, is this: don’t spend too much time looking for God because the Spirit of God is here in the now of your life, dwelling within you, within me, within this community. And that truth is nurtured in prayer.

Susan M. Fleenor, The Indwelling Spirit of Pentecost
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 5.     Peace 

The peace Jesus gives to us through the Holy Spirit is more than we can ever imagine:

Peace means the cessation of all warfare, but it also means much more.
Peace means a feeling of inner well-being, but it also means much more.
Peace means an end to psychological tensions, but it also means much more.
Peace means halting interpersonal conflicts, but it also means much more.
Peace means the settling of silence on the soul, but it also means much more.

In Valyermo, California , the Benedictines converted a 400-acre ranch into a religious community called St. Andrew's Priory. As you enter the grounds, you find that the land is posted: "No Hunting Except for Peace." 

The world is hunting for peace. What will we give it? 

Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons
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6.     The Church on Fire 

Two persons were talking together before a large church which was being destroyed by fire. The first man spoke in a voice which could be heard above the voice of the firemen: "This is the first time I ever saw you at church." To this the second responded: "This is the first time I ever saw the church on fire." There are many prophets of doom saying that the age of the Christian Church is over - that it has lost its zeal! We're taking a beating right now in this country and around the world. Our theology is being questioned. Everyone is writing a critical book against the organized church. We have had to take some unpopular stands on social issues. Magazines are attacking the ministry, and it isn't the thing to do anymore to join the church. John Kelman said, however, "God pity the nation or city whose factory smokestacks rise higher than her church spires." 

Why Belong To The Church?, anthology, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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7.     Shaped by the Winds of God 

Most times, when I'm called to conduct a funeral of a loved one from the church, I'm asked by the funeral director if I'd like to ride with them rather than to drive my own car. And most times, I take them up on the offer, for it is more relaxing not to have to worry about driving. I must say that I've had some interesting and informative drives out to the cemetery. One director told me about the effect God's Wind has on things that grow. It seems that over time, trees that have to stand out in the open become shaped in the direction the wind is blowing. Unless there are other trees around to block it from happening, a tree will eventually be shaped by the force and direction of the wind. Then, as living proof, the funeral director began to point out to me tree after tree that had all been shaped in this way, trees that I confess I had passed by many times, but had never really seen until then. Once this was pointed out to me, I began to see them everywhere. The cemetery was literally filled with them! All shaped by the Winds of God! 

I leave you with this question. Like those trees in the cemetery, do we, as individuals, and as a congregation, show any evidence of being shaped by the Winds of God's Spirit? Is the new beginning Pentecostal experience a fresh, yet continuing presence in our lives?

David R. Cartwright, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost (First Third): Guided by the Spirit, CSS Publishing Company, Inc.
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8.     Waves of Worry 

Several years ago a submarine was being tested and had to remain submerged for many hours. When it returned to the harbor, the captain was asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!" The sub had been so far beneath the surface that it had reached the area known to sailors as "the cushion of the sea." Although the ocean may be whipped into huge waves by high winds, the waters below are never stirred. 

This, I believe, is a perfect picture of the peace that comes from Christ's Spirit. The waves of worry, of fear, of heartbreak, cannot touch those resting in Christ. Sheltered by His grace and encouraged by His Spirit, the believer is given the perfect tranquility that only Christ can provide.

Adrian Dieleman, Receive the Holy Spirit
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9.     A Dead Balloon

 A "dead balloon" -- has no life. It continues to lie wherever you put it. It doesn't move. It has no power. 

Take a "dead balloon" and do what Jesus did -- blow in it. What happens? It's full of air; but it is still dead, going nowhere until that power is released. [As an illustration, the "powered balloon" can be released.] 

Under the "spirit's/breath's/wind's" power, the balloon can move. It goes out. However, when the wind power within the balloon is released, you don't know where the balloon is going to go; but you know it's going somewhere. (We don't know where the wind comes from or is going.)

Jesus did not give the disciples the Spirit's power so that they could stay behind locked doors in fear. It is given as a power to move people out into the world -- even if we don't always know exactly where we will end up. 

What happens to the balloon after it has "spent" its power? It seems dead again. All out of power. It's flat. There's no more "spirit/breath" within it. On one hand we are not like that balloon. Jesus promises that the Spirit will be with us forever. We will never run out of the Spirit's power. The Spirit given to you in baptism remains forever. On the other hand, over and over again in Acts, we read that certain disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit. Their filling didn't just happen once, but over and over again. So we also need to be refilled. Weekly we return to church as a refilling station. To receive Jesus again in the hearing of the word and in the sharing of sacrament and through the fellowship of the saints.

Brian Stofregen, From his Exegetical Notes. 
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10.  Passing the Peace 

There is a true story related about a church in the Pacific Northwest, who much like us, has a time during the service for passing the peace of Christ. This is a time when they greet one another, and their guests, with handshakes and hugs, and kind words of welcome. Nobody thought much about the weekly ritual until the pastor received a letter from a man who had recently joined the congregation. The new member was a promising young lawyer from a prestigious downtown law firm. He drafted a brief but pointed letter on his firm's letterhead. "I am writing to complain about the congregational ritual known as 'passing the peace,' " he wrote. "I disagree with it, both personally and professionally, and I am prepared to take legal action to cause this practice to cease." When the pastor phoned to talk with the lawyer about the letter, he asked why he was so disturbed about sharing the peace of Christ. The lawyer said, "The passing of the peace is an invasion of my privacy." 

And, in the Pastor’s response to this man, we find the truth of the Christian life. He said, "Like it or not, when you joined the church you gave up some of your privacy, for we believe in a risen Lord who will never leave us alone." And, he said, "You never know when Jesus Christ will intrude on us with a word of peace." 

Jeremy Rebman, So Send I You
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11.   Settling for Less

Charles Schultz, the artist who provides us with the Peanuts cartoons, is one of my favorite theologians. In one of his cartoon series,  

he has Snoopy, that hound of heaven, saying of Woodstock, that would-be bird of paradise; "Someday, Woodstock is going to be a great eagle." Then in the next frame he says, "He is going to soar thousands of feet above the ground." Woodstock takes off into the air and as Snoopy looks on he sees the bird upside down whirling around crazily. So he has second thoughts. In the third frame Snoopy says, "Well, maybe hundreds of feet above the ground" But hardly had the words gotten out of his mouth when Woodstock plummets to the ground and lies there, on his back looking dazed, and Snoopy has to conclude, "Maybe he will be one of those eagles who just walks around."

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12.  Erasmus 

Erasmus, the famous Renaissance scholar, once told a classic story which was designed to emphasize how important it is that we take up the torch of Christ’s ministry with great commitment. In the story, Jesus returns to heaven after His time on earth. The angels gather around Him to learn what all happened during His days on earth. Jesus tells them of the miracles, His teachings, His death on the cross, and His resurrection.
When He finishes his story, Michael the Archangel asks Jesus, “But what happens now?” Jesus answers, “I have left behind eleven faithful disciples and a handful of men and women who have faithfully followed me. They will declare My message and express My love. These faithful people will build My church.”

“But,” responds Michael, “What if these people fail? What then is Your other plan?” And Jesus answers, “I have no other plan!”

Today is the day we celebrate the birth of the church on Pentecost and we learn again how we are the plan and how Jesus is counting on each of us. But the good news is, we have not been left alone. The Holy Spirit is here to melt us, mold us, fill us, and use us. 

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13.  Lost and Found

Picture a little girl lost in a big city. There she sits, crying on the curb. A policeman finds her, puts her in his cruiser and drives her up and down the streets, hoping she'll recognize something familiar. Which, at last, she does. She sees a steeple with a cross on it. Tears vanish.
Speech returns. "That's my church," she says. "I can find my way from here."

You're not the only one, little girl.

William A. Ritter, Collected Sermons
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14.  Control 

A wealthy family from Massachusetts used to take a month's vacation every summer to the coast of Maine, taking their maid with them. The maid had an annual ritual at the beach. She wore an old-fashioned bathing suit, complete with a little white hat, and carried enough paraphernalia to stock Wal-Mart. She would settle herself on the beach, cover every inch of her exposed flesh and journey down to the water's edge. There she would hesitate while taking deep breaths and working up her courage to enter the icy-cold water. Finally, she would daintily extend one foot and lower it slowly into the water until she barely had her big toe submerged. Then she repeated the act with the other foot. Then, having satisfied her minimal urge for a swim, she would retreat to her chair and umbrella and spend the remainder of the vacation curled around a book.

I'm afraid that may be a parable of our Christian commitment. Are we afraid to give in to the Pentecost experience, fearful that we might lose control? That's what it is really all about, isn't it? Control. We want to be in control. Well, if Pentecost is to do nothing else, it should remind us that we are not in control, not even - or perhaps I should say especially - of ourselves.

Randy L. Hyde, Time to Deliver
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15.  They All Come Together

John Ortberg tells the story of a friend who made his first trip south of the Mason-Dixon Line from Chicago to Georgia. On his first morning in the South he went into a restaurant to order breakfast, and it seemed that every dish included something called grits...which, as my Tennessee friends tell me, is exactly the way God intended it. Not being familiar with this southern delicacy, he asked the waitress, "Could you tell me, exactly what is a grit?" Looking down on him with a mixture of compassion and condescension, she said, "Sugar, you can't get just one grit. They always come together."

John Wesley knew there was no personal holiness without social holiness, and Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Dillard says, "You can no more go to God alone than you can go to the North Pole alone." We're just like grits...you can't get just one. They come together.

John E. Harnish, Collected Sermons,
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16.  Humor: How Were You Attired? 

Recently, a judicial friend was presiding over a case in a small, rural county. The defendant was charged with drunk driving and trying to assault the police officer who arrested him. To convict the defendant on the assault on an officer charge, the District Attorney had to proved that the defendant knew the person he was assaulting was a police officer. And the easiest way to do that is to show that the officer was wearing a police uniform, and therefore the defendant knew that this was a police officer.

So the District Attorney asked the officer on the witness stand "And how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?"

The witness looked at him blankly. It was clear he didn't know what the District Attorney meant by "attired". Everyone saw this but the District Attorney.

"Would you repeat the question, please?"

In a slightly irritated voice the District Attorney said, "And how were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?"

The witness still was puzzled. "Say that again", he pleaded.

"How were you attired when you pulled the defendant over?" barked the District Attorney.

My friend said you could suddenly see the light bulb come on in the officer's head, and he proudly proclaimed "I was traveling on standard issue radial tires!"

This officer needed an interpreter even within the English language!

That's what I'm getting at: We all need our own personal interpreter, full time, 24/7. So much of what we hear, even within the English language, we don't understand. And nowhere is that truth more evident than with people who are new to the church.

Leonard Sweet, Collected Sermons
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17. Napoleon and the Cardinal

The story is told of Napoleon Bonaparte boasting to a Vatican cardinal that he would destroy the Church. Replied the official insouciantly to the perplexed emperor, "Good luck, Your Majesty. We priests have been attempting to do just that for centuries."

In effect, the bishop was doffing his scarlet biretta in salute to the Holy Spirit. That Spirit dwells comfortably and sometimes, I suspect, very uncomfortably within the Church. Try what anyone might, the Church will not go away precisely because the Third Person of the Holy Trinity is on the job around the clock. Napoleon thought the prelate was pulling his imperial leg. He took on the Church. He was rudely dethroned. The Church  survived. The former emperor wound up beating off mosquitoes as a full-time occupation on the damp island of Saint Helena somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
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The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
 
a) The gift of wisdom:  Four-year-old Amanda was taken to the doctor’s office with a fever.  The doctor looked in her ears and asked, "Who’s in there?  Donald Duck?" She said, "No."  He looked in her open mouth, "Whos in there?  Mickey Mouse?" Again she said, "No."  He put his stethoscope on her heart and asked, "Who’s in there? Barney?" Amanda replied, "No, Jesus is in my heart.  Barney is in the pocket of my underwear."
 
b)The gift of understanding: A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while they drew pictures.  She would occasionally walk around to see each child's artwork.  As she came to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied, "I'm drawing God." The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like." Without missing a beat or looking up from her drawing, the girl replied, "They will in a minute."

c) The gift of counsel: Just after receiving his driver’s license, a Lutheran minister’s son wanted to talk about using the family car.  “Ill make a deal with you,” his father said.  “Bring your grades up, read your Bible more often, and get a haircut.  Then you may use the car once or twice a week. A month later the question came up again.  Son,” the father said, “Im proud of you.   I see you studying hard and reading your Bible every day.  But you didn’t get a haircut.”  After a moment’s pause, the son replied, “Yeah, I’ve thought about that.  But Samson had long hair, Moses had long hair, and even Jesus had long hair.”  True,’ the father replied, but maybe you noticed that they walked wherever they went?”

d) The gift of fortitude:  A mother refused to permit her little boy to go for a picnic with his classmates.  On the day of the picnic, however, she changed her mind and gave  him  permission.   But  he  sighed  and confessed, "It's  too  late  Mummy, I've already prayed for rain on the school picnic day!" 

e) The gift of knowledge:  The story is told of a man who went to the priest and said, "Father, I want you to say a Mass for my dog." The priest was indignant.  "What do you mean, say a Mass for your dog?" "It's my pet dog," said the man.  "I loved that dog and I'd like you to offer a Mass for him." "We don't offer Masses for dogs here," the priest said.  "You might try the denomination down the street.  Ask them if they have a service for you." As the man was leaving, he said to the priest, "I really loved that dog.  I was planning to give a five thousand-dollar stipend for the Mass." And the priest said, "Wait a minute!  Why didn’t tell me that your dog was Catholic?!"
 
f) The gift of piety: The Rabbi, the Cantor and one member of the congregation were the only ones present for the service.  The Rabbi intoned, "Adonai, before you I am as nothing."  The Cantor intoned, "Adonai, before you I am less than nothing."  The member of the congregation intoned, "Adonai, I too am nothing and less than nothing."  The Cantor looked at the rabbi, and gestured toward the member of the congregation. "Look who thinks he's nothing!"
 
g) The gift of fear of God: Do not ride in automobiles: they are responsible for 20% of fatal accidents. Do not stay home: 1% of all accidents occur in home.  Do not walk on the streets or sidewalks: 14% of all accidents occur at such times.  Do not travel by air, rail, or water: 16% of all accidents happen on planes, trains or boats.  Only .001% of all deaths occur in worship services in church, and these are usually related to previous physical disorders.  He