Happy Birthday!

CHRISTIANS, IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY…HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit gives them.  There are different ways of serving but the same Lord is served.  There are different abilities to perform service, but the same God gives ability to all for their particular service.  The Spirit’s presence is shown in some way in each person for the good of all.”
-1 Corinthians 12:4-7

In reflecting on this, the Second Reading of Pentecost, I was drawn to Fr. John Sullivan’s homily in which he asked us to go beyond merely focusing on the gifts of the Holy Spirit to examine how we prepare for their reception, how we “cooperate” with the Spirit.  How do we, as God’s Church, in which we celebrated our birthday a few weeks ago, open ourselves to receive this outpouring from the Spirit that Paul articulates while also taking the leap to use these gifts in service? 

Interestingly while on retreat on the Bruce Peninsula a week before Pentecost with fellow parishioners and friends, I found myself reflecting on this notion.  As we celebrated Mass on the rocky shore of Georgian Bay with the brilliant sun pouring down and the breakers pouring forth; I was struck by Fr. Gordon Rixon’s personification of the waves as the Spirit.  Furthermore, in our modest celebration, I thought about the First Communicants who were receiving the Eucharist for the first time that morning and was taken back to my First Communion that same day, May 4th, twenty-two years ago.  Also, in remembering my role as a catechist for First Communion a few years ago, I reflected on the wonder and intrigue of the children, how their own contemplation of the Eucharist evolved from wanting to know what the host tasted like to experiencing a sense of awe in the whole concept of the Son of God made flesh.  I recognized that they had indeed prepared themselves to “cooperate” with God.  We are reminded through the Gospels that in order to enter the Kingdom of God, we must receive it like a child and that, in fact, God “cooperated” with us in the form of a child.

So how does one receive God “as a child”?  As adults, I think we’ve all but mastered acting childish, but God calls for us to be open to Him and His possibilities through that same awe that I saw in the First Communicants.  In his encounter with Mary and Martha, I don’t feel that Jesus was chiding Martha as much as he was inviting her to refocus her life.  Like Martha, all of us have fallen victim to worry, preoccupation, cynicism, and despair; we are called to strip ourselves of that and return to the spirit of a child that sees each new day and new opportunity without a veil of skepticism or fear.  In that light, our acts of service—however large or small—are transformed into truly spiritual moments.

Remembering my own First Communion catechist, Sr. Deborah, a Franciscan nun, I recalled St. Francis of Assisi’s take on “cooperating” with God.  In one account, Francis wrote that we are “lute strings strung for rapture” but that only in wanting and expecting nothing could we be free to see everything as a precious gift from God.  He further stated that we should strive to be like the tiny canary, singing as if caught up in a moment of carefree joy; we should emit the same peace and joy, inviting those around us to share in the celebration.  Is this not the true celebration of Pentecost?  Did the apostles and disciples not find themselves in the same energy of peace and joy?  In allowing the Holy Spirit to “seize” them, they were transformed and transformed the world around them.       

Reflecting back on the retreat, I could not help but be amazed by the Spirit and the manner in which we are transformed in our own ways.  Fr. Gordon, in a spiritual reflection preparing the backpacking participants for our retreat, spoke of St. Jean de Brebuef’s interaction with the First Nations peoples he encountered.  On one particular occasion, Jean was faced with committing to rowing eight hours straight with a group of the natives.  Through his commitment, he stepped beyond his personal reservations and became part of a whole that would both demand from and give support to him.  Despite the retreat’s initial rain-soaked moments, the awesome nature of this spirit of cooperation began to unfold.  From those that engaged the conditions despite their self-proclaimed lack of the “outdoors factor” to those seasoned outdoor veterans that lead with grace and patience, the Spirit’s presence was indeed shown through each in some way for the sake of all. 

This is the Church; we are all part of this experience.  Both our own personal commitment as well as the commitment of the entire community to serve is the hallmark of our mission.  As we blow out the birthday candles, may our wish be to better “cooperate” with the Spirit and we will be showered with countless gifts and blessings! 

~Patrick Kniss