Pentecost

It begins as a piece of wood or a metal tube.  Then a craftsman, using skills and tools that have been passed down for centuries, meticulously forms the wood or metal, carefully drills holes in the shaft, devises a system of stops and valves in the metal, and installs an intricate system of strings, tuning keys and hammers.  The wood is then beautifully finished with resins and varnish.  The metal is polished until it gleams.  The craftsman’s long hours of detailed work finally results in a finished flute or violin or guitar or piano.
 
The completed instrument, though a beautiful work of art, still remains just a piece of wood or metal until a musician takes it up and breathes into it while gliding his or her fingers across the stops, or expertly manipulates the strings and keys.  Then that piece of wood, that tube of metal, is transformed into a musical instrument, a portal for us to a world of beauty and transcendence.
 
       The mystery of the Church is very much like a musical instrument.  God has formed us into a community, an instrument for bringing his life and love into our world.  However, what makes our Church more than just a gathering of good people is God’s “breath” infusing the Church with the music of his divinity!  
 
       This weekend we celebrate the presence of God’s life-giving breath in our lives and in our Church.  The word in Hebrew is “ruah” – the “ruah” of God that animates us to do the work of the Gospel of the Risen One, the “ruah” of God that makes his will our will, the “ruah” of God living in us and transforming us so that we might bring his life and love into our broken world.
 
       In Jesus’ breathing upon the assembled disciples on Easter night, 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 to our ministry to preach the Gospel to every nation.  That same Spirit continues to "blow" through today’s Church to give life and direction to our mission and ministry to proclaim forgiveness and reconciliation in God’s name, to immerse all of humanity into the life and love of God manifested in Jesus’ resurrection!  
 
       The Spirit of God enables us to re-create our world in the love of the God who loved us enough to become one of us, to die for us and to rise for us.  May the Spirit of God give life to our souls, vision to our hearts, and light to our lives!  Happy     Pentecost!