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Homily – Pentecost

 

Pentecost Sunday, 2017

 

Opening Prayer:

 

Let the words of my mouth…

 

And the meditations of my heart…

 

Be always acceptable in thy sight…

 

O’ Lord…

 

My strength and my redeemer….

 

Amen…

 

Introduction:

You ever get that feeling???

You know that feeling…

That feeling you get…

That feeling you get when you see suffering…

Perhaps it’s looking out of your car window or checking in with the nightly news…

And even if we keep on driving or flip the channel…

In that witnessed suffering…

In that moment…

In that moment we are drawn from within to the other in compassion…

You know that feeling…

That feeling you get…

That feeling you get that lifts you up in tearful solitude…

Perhaps at a time of a broken or lost heart…

In that agony…

In that moment…

In that moment the subtle internal embrace reminding you that you will be okay…

You know the feeling…

That feeling you get…

That feeling you get when you are overcome with joy…

Perhaps when your eyes meet with same of an old friend…

Or your little one holds your finger for the first time…

In that joy…

In that moment…

You feel the flutter within…

You know the feeling…

That feeling you get…

Whether it be that draw of compassion…

That subtle embrace…

That flutter of joy…

Or many others that we experience…

That feeling you get…

That feeling…

That feeling is the spirit who dwells within each of us…

Body One:

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you…”

“Which you have from God…”

“And that you are not your own???”

Each one…

Each one of us…

Each one of us is a Holy vessel…

Again…

Each one of us is a Holy vessel…

Now…

I know…

I know it can be hard to remind ourselves of that…

To believe ourselves as such…

Holy men and women of God…

Saints…

Mostly because we on regular occasion bear witness to our “unholiness…”

I can struggle with that reality myself…

Because after all…

We can yell…

Some of us can curse…

We can lie…

Cheat…

We can steal…

Be selfish…

We can withhold forgiveness…

Hurt others…

Ourselves…

But…

But we can also…

We can also soothe…

Choose our words…

We can be honest…

Be givers…

We can put ourselves 2nd or at times last…

Forgive…

We can heal others…

Heal ourselves…

Body Two:

Often times…

Often times we can lose sight…

Lose sight of our own holiness…

Of just how miraculous we are…

Amazing…

Our gifts…

The spirit we possess…

And why???

Because of our behavior…

Of our thoughts…

Our feelings…

The choices that we made…

Impulsive or deliberate…

We can declare, “I am not holy because…”

Or…

Or we move in the other direction…

Choosing to measure our earned holiness…

Measure it as though it has some ordinal value…

Our works…

Our good deeds…

Whatever they may be…

We can declare, “I am holy because…”

Now…

As much as I am a fan of a good behavior analysis…

Of being mindful as to our thoughts…

Of an examine of our emotional inventory…

The choices we have made…

As I much as love to hear about good works…

None of that…

None of that makes us unholy…

And…

None of that makes us holy…

However…

Depending on just what they are…

They might very well make us some other things…

I will leave that to your imagination…

But unholy…

And holy…

They do not…

You see…

This is out of our hands…

It is God…

God…

God though our Lord, Jesus Christ that makes us holy…

It is out of our hands…

The spirit does not dwell in us on a conditional basis of our doing…

But rather…

Rather, the spirit dwells in us on an unconditional basis of God’s doing…

We are…

We are holy in spite of ourselves…

Body Three:

Pentecost…

Today…

Today the Church’s birthday…

In which we celebrate the Apostle’s having received this most sacred gift…

The gift of the Holy Spirit…

The Holy Spirit that brought the Church into life…

“On this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation…”

“By the promised gift of your Holy Spirit…”

Today…

In observation of and recognition of the gift of the Holy Spirit to God’s people…

It is my hope…

It is my hope that we…

Like the Church…

That we too celebrate our sacred gift…

Our sacred gift of the spirit living within us…

And that in doing so…

That we do not allow our judgement…

Our scorecards…

To determine the degree of God’s presence within us…

No…

It is my hope that instead…

That instead we allow our hearts and our minds…

To be open to that presence…

To that presence, knowledge, and love of God…

That we embrace the spirit…

Not only to its existence within us…

But just how do we experience it???

How does that spirit inform us???

How does it support us???

Encourage and guide us???

How is the spirit of God working in our lives???

If we are to do so…

If we are truly to receive this gift…

We must first…

We must first accept it…

We must embrace it…

We must take ownership of it…

“Peace be with you…”

“As the father has sent me…”

“So I send you…”

“Receive the Holy Spirit…”

Receive the Holy Spirit…

Accept it…

Embrace it…

Own it…

Receive the Holy Spirit…

You…

You my brothers and sisters…

You are holy vessels…

You are God filled miracles…

You are saints…

Closing:

You ever get that feeling???

You know that feeling…

That draw from within???

That internal subtle embrace???

That flutter???

You know that feeling…

That feeling…

That feeling is the spirit who dwells within each of us…

So…

Today…

This day of Pentecost…

As the father has sent me…

So…

So I send you…

I pray that you receive the Holy Spirit…

I pray that you know…

That you know that you are holy…

That God…

That God is alive in you…

Regardless of what you may…

Or may not do…

I send you…

You, vessels of compassion…

Of forgiveness…

Of love…

The Gospel…

I send you back into your experience…

Your experience that needs your spirit…

I send you home to your families…

Your families that need your spirit…

I send you to be present within your communities…

Your communities that need your spirit…

I send you out into a world…

A world that desperately needs your spirit…

And I pray…

I pray that when you get that feeling…

You know the one…

I pray that you embrace and celebrate its presence within you…

Peace be with you…

Amen…

 

 

 

 

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