Today is the Church's birthday, a Feast with great meaning for Christians. Wind, fire and tongues have enough information within those words to give us a clear idea of what the Feast can reveal to us, as well as providing thoughts for meditation that can last a lifetime.A priest of the diocese, reflecting on the Feast of Pentecost, recalled a poem he once read, the poet noting that the oceans are vast and thinking that boats should then be able to travel in any direction, when, in fact, there is a direction each boat must follow. And noting also that the sky is vast, and thinking that planes can then travel freely in any direction, but they too have a route to follow. In the same way, we think we are free, but we also are moved, unknowingly, in most cases, in certain directions by our habits and life patterns.
Although he does not know the reason many of us live with our hearts closed off to this truth--suggesting that it might be because of emotional scars, fears, pain, anger or spite--he names it the chaos before God's creation. God's Spirit, when accepted, changes all of this. The direction that is mapped out for us by the Spirit brings joy into our lives. To achieve this, we have to break the unhealthy patterns and habits we have nurtured over a life time and now determine how we live.
The Christians meeting together on that first Pentecost had been washed and tried in a baptism that they never expected--they died with Jesus. All their dreams, plans and beliefs disappeared. It was not what they expected; they felt lost and demoralized, and showed it by their actions, until the emptiness was filled with the Spriit.
The Catholic Times editorial for Pentecost tells us we have to change. There are divisions we see developing in Korea between the young and the old and between different social levels. If this unnecessary and divisive thinking is not to harm society, we need to empty ourselves so our prejudices, even our stubbornness, do not prevent us from hearing the Spirit. We have to fight against greed, and especially against the manipulations of society when they don't benefit all of its citizens. Unless we make an effort not to be compromised in any way, the Spirit will not find a welcoming home in our hearts.
