August 11, 2019 at Saint Francis of Assisi Church in Castle Rock, Colorado

 Wisdom 18, 6-9 + Psalm 33 + Hebrews 11, 1-2, 8-12 + Luke 12, 32-48

We spend a lot of time waiting in this culture. We wait in line at the grocery, and if you go to Costco where I live, you might as well have dinner, because the check-out line so long! We wait in the doctor office, we wait at the airport either to leave to meet someone, we wait for babies to be born, we wait to get out of the parking lot of this church! Someday, I’m going to track how much time is spent every day just waiting. I do not know how you handle it, but I’m not too good at it yet, but I have discovered that if I know what I am waiting for or why I have to wait, it’s a little easier. The other day, I was third in line checking out at the grocery, and the lady ahead of me spent as much time digging in her purse for a credit card as it took to ring up her purchases. Meanwhile six of us were waiting! Did she not know that when the clerk was finished she would have to pay? So, Jesus gives us three parables about waiting and readiness, because, in the end that is exactly what this life is all about, waiting and readiness. What we do while we wait is at the core of these parables, and it an essential part of discipleship. 

It seems to me after more than 50 years as a priest that there are two kinds of people who have different ways of waiting. One is either a planner or a pilgrim. The planner likes to have things under control. They take their cue from what society considers success, and they spend most of their time trying to match the life-style and values of others. If they don’t achieve these goals, they are bitterly disappointed, and there are a lot of bitter people around. You might be sitting next to one. Well maybe not in Castle Rock! The pilgrim is someone who accepts life as a gift that unfolds as it is lived. They know that no matter how hard they try, there will never be complete control over what happens. Failures do not disappoint them, and they never feel quite comfortable with the values of society. The planner does not live by faith, but the pilgrim does. They know that life is full of risks, and can still be joyful in the midst of life’s ups and downs. They celebrate the present moment, and they live life to the full.

These parables speak to pilgrims more powerfully than to planners. They give us patience while we wait because they remind us why we wait because we pilgrims who live in God’s time, not by our time. In the middle of these verses, Peter asks: if the parable is meant for them or for the crowds. Without answering his question, Jesus moves right on into another parable that speaks about watchfulness while waiting. The eat, drink, and be merry, attitude is not quite in harmony with what Jesus proposes. The apostles had been planners. They had an idea about what the Messiah should do restoring Israel to its power and glory. Jesus slowly but steadily is changing them into pilgrims who are patient in their waiting and know what to do while they wait.

These parables remind us that we should be found doing our jobs when the master arrives. If we are doing our jobs, our reward will be great. But, if we relax, neglect our duties, and begin to act like the greedy rich man, eating, drinking, and making merry, we will not have place in the kingdom. Watchfulness means living in a such a consistently more and obedient way that we are always ready to give an account to God of how we have lived, and we are not afraid to do so.

August 4, 2019 at Saint Peter and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL

 Ecclesiastes 1,2 & 2, 21-23  + Psalm 90 + Colossians 3, 1-5 & 9-11  + Luke 12, 13-21

The situation that prompts the parable today is not really unusual. In those days and in that culture, a wise Rabbi was often sought out to settle disputes. There were no attorneys or civil courts. Someone known to be wise and impartial would often be asked to help as the man does who comes up to Jesus. Obviously, there is a dispute between brothers, and that disturbs Jesus. While the story he tells could be interpreted as a lesson on greed, there is more to it than that. The situation of the man in the parable really comes as a warning to the brothers who are fighting. The message is simple. If you get a lot stuff you will probably end up alone and unhappy because the greatest wealth is not possessions, but in the love of family and friends.

That poor man in the parable has no one to talk to. Did you notice that he is always talking to himself? Moreover, there is apparently no one to inherit it all. He is completely alone, cut off from everyone, occupied with only one thing, how to hang on to it all and how to get more. Now, in biblical times, famine was always a threat, so people did seek security by stockpiling grain. Jesus understood the need for security. Yet he calls this farmer a “fool” because in his search for security he forgot everything else, he forgot God, he forgot friends, and his obligations to the poor. Again, the message is simple: possessions do not provide security, fires come, thieves come, the stock market takes a dive, interest rates fall. It’s all the same in every age. If everything is ever taken from us, there will be one thing left that no one can take: God. Even if everyone abandons us, there will be God.

Under all of this is the need to learn the difference between needs and wants. Food is a need. Without it, we die. A 68” television is a want. Having it contributes to our enjoyment, but we can live without it. Our wants are many. Our needs are few. What God wants is for us to live, but life can be waisted in the pursuit of material things leaving any of us to die without realizing our spiritual greatness. What Jesus asks of us today is that we make ourselves rich in the sight of God, and what does make us rich in God’s sight is not what we own but what we are. We measure what we are by looking closely at our heart. We are what the heart is. A noble, generous, upright heart makes us rich in the sight of God.

Realizing that kind of wealth will keep us from ever being alone and without friends. It will ensure our capacity for joy, and best of all, we will have discovered something about the purpose of life itself. You stop now and then to wonder what your life is all about, pay attention to what you are doing with it and why. Then, no one will ever call you a fool. Don’t you wonder if those brothers ever stopped their quarreling over the inheritance?  I hope so.

July 28, 2019 onboard the MS Amsterdam

Genesis 18, 20-32 + Psalm 138 + Colossians 2, 12-14  + Luke 11, 1-13

There are three possible answers to prayer. Take my word for it. I’ve been at it a long time. I want to tell you about this because, every now and then I have met someone who is upset and disappointed. Sometimes they are actually angry with God, which I don’t think is, in itself, a problem. It’s hard to ignore someone you are angry with. It’s just that they don’t understand that besides “yes” and “no” there is a third answer, and I learned it from my mother. That third answer is not however, “because”, which was the answer I would sometimes get when I asked “why”? She had red hair and green eyes, and I learned early on that when the answer was “because” there would be no further discussion. That’s not how it is with God however,

What I have discovered is that with God when we pray and bring our needs and the needs of others, there is, of course, the “yes” and the “no” answer now and then, but there is another one that I think is for more frequent. “Wait” is the third answer. Sometimes that answer is harder to accept than “yes” or “no.” That’s always when I’m tempted to say, “Why”? At which point I see that red headed lady with hands on hips!

When we hear these prayer-words from Luke, it doesn’t sound quite right or quite the same as the words in Matthew’s Gospel, and that’s important to realize, because if the Gospel writers thought that the words were important, I am sure they would have made them the same. So, using the right words or the exact words are not very important. I have a niece who would pray aloud, and she would say: “Our Father Who art in heaven, how did you get that name?” I have a strong suspicion that those words from a five-year-old made more impression on God than the prayer of a Pope perfectly articulated. It isn’t about words, it is about the relationship what we bring and expect from it.

In the end, prayer is not some effort to impose our will or expectations upon God, but to ask God to make us open to God’s will. In other words, we pray not to change God’s mind, but for God to change our minds, and in doing so it might mean we have to wait.

July 21, 2019 onboard the MS Amsterdam

Genesis 18, 1-10 + Psalm 15 + Colossians 1, 24-28 + Luke 10, 38-42

This is a story about God coming to stay with us. A story about Jesus in the home of Martha and Mary is told to illustrate a much more profound and personal experience, and out of the story Luke teaches us a lesson. This is our story. We are Martha and Mary, two sides of the same person. I am convinced of this not because of some scripture scholar or some divine revelation, but because I spend time in the confessional. What is confessed and shared by most of those who seek the comfort and grace of the Sacrament is expressed in different ways, but it is always the same. “Father, I missed Mass. I was just so busy” or Father we were traveling and in hurry.” “Father, I am not taking time to pray anymore.” And more sadly, “Father I pray every day but I don’t feel anything. It’s as though God is not listening.”

To look at this story as though it was a dispute between the two women or a contrast between two different styles of hospitality, or even a contrast between two life-styles risks missing the point. It is about us. It is about a people who have welcomed God into their lives, their homes, and their relationships. What Luke invites us to see is that there is Martha and Mary inside of us all. What Jesus warns against is being anxious about many things. He doesn’t say, “Come out of that kitchen.” He went there to eat, and I’ve always suspected he went to that home because Martha was a good cook. He just wants her to stop being anxious and worried about many things. All she needs to do is trust in the one who has come to her home. What he praises in Mary is her expression of that trust as she listens to his words. People who are anxious and worried are rarely people who listen. There is so much noise in their lives that they can’t calm down, listen, and simply feel the peace of God’s presence.

Luke invites to put some balance in our lives. Those who confess not making time for prayer or lacking the presence of the Lord need to listen to the call of Jesus to stop being so busy that there is no time to sit quietly and listen to his word. This is about how we choose to spend our time, and the priorities we establish for the use of our time. To ever feel as though God is not listening to prayer probably means that God is not being given a chance because the one at prayer is talking all the time. Sometimes the best prayer is simply to sit quietly in the company of Lord.

There is plenty to be anxious about hours before we arrive in Seattle. Not for me however, because I’m staying on for another week, but some of you will be anxious about packing, finding your luggage, making it on time to the airport, and all the stress of getting back home. Luke tells this story during a journey, the Journey of Jesus and his disciples to Jerusalem. They had to have been anxious and worried about many things. Travel in those days was hardly safe and never comfortable. Those who had been listening to Jesus were aware that there would be trouble in Jerusalem. They have already had trouble in Samaria. “Be calm”, says Jesus. Trust in the presence of this divine companion. Be still. Be grateful for the guest who has come to satisfy our hunger, take away our fear, and be our strength and our guide on our own journey to the new Jerusalem.

July 14, 2019 onboard the MS Amsterdam

Deuteronomy 30, 10-14 + Psalm 69 + Colossians 1, 15-20  + Luke 10, 2-37

Luke, among the four Evangelists is the great dramatist. All of his stories can ignite the imagination, and we can really see the drama being played out. The risk with this style is that all of the characters are life-like, and we could spend a lot of time reflecting on them all. They all have something to teach us. Yet the center of this episode is the lawyer, and he is really the focus for Jesus with the most to teach us. The dialogue between them is what this is all about. The scene with the others on the road and at the inn is just background illustration.

Luke tells us that this Lawyer has come up to Jesus to test him, but Jesus ends up asking the test questions, and a simple look at the lawyer’s answers might suggest that he passed with flying colors. But, it’s not that simple. First of all, that lawyer may know a lot about the law, but he doesn’t seem to know and appreciate the purpose of the law. His knowledge is superficial. He thinks it is a way to justify himself, and he’s looking through the law for a way to do the minimum. We do that all the time. There is written into the code of law how much tax we must pay, and we resort to all manner of schemes looking for loop holes to find out just how little we must pay. Does anyone here every pay more than is required? This lawyer wants to figure out just how little he has to do and still keep the law. He is a minimalist who thinks he can justify himself by doing nothing more than what is required. That does not work with Jesus Christ.

Never mind that the whole purpose of the Law for Israel was to draw people closer together, to build a community in covenant with God. If we can draw any conclusion from the Songs Israel sang, which we call the Psalms, the Law gave them Joy, because it brought them together in love and led them to God. This Lawyer has no clue about the real purpose of the Law. He knows just enough to excuse himself or figure out just how little he has to do.

Jesus is on to him, and he is not impressed by the Lawyer’s ability to quote the Law. With that little story by way of example, Jesus reveals how far off the mark the lawyer is with his justifications and the narrow limits he puts on himself by using the law to set up minimal limits. The Priest and the Levite kept the law very nicely, and the other man stayed in the ditch. The lawyer just wants to do the minimum, and so he comes up with that question: Who is my neighbor” so that he can exclude those he doesn’t like. He thinks it is someone who lives nearby, speaks his language, looks like him, and thinks like him, but Jesus who is always pushing the limits we like to set up blasts that narrow definition of the neighbor by insisting that a neighbor is anyone in need. This is why in the story the man on the side of the road has no clothing and no identity. He can’t be identified in the narrow definition as a “neighbor.” He’s just someone in need.

In an age when Somalis and Palestinians, Hondurans and Guatemalans come into our living rooms night after night on the evening news, beaten and abandoned by the human traffickers who take what little they have with promises of safety and freedom, we are at verge of being overwhelmed and can easily decide that the problem is bigger than we are, and that alone we can do nothing to make a difference. After all, those people are not our “neighbors”, or are they? That’s the issue Jesus puts before us today with one command: “Go and do likewise.”

July 7, 2019 onboard the MS Amsterdam

Isaiah 66, 10-14 + Psalm 66 + Galatians 6, 14-18 + Luke 10, 1-10, 17-20

Just in case you have wondered about the number 72, let’s get started by understanding that in the tenth chapter of Genesis, 72 is the number of nations in the world. Luke’s point is that the mission involves the whole world. Earlier in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus sent out “The Twelve” representing Israel’s 12 nations. Now the mission of Jesus and his disciples is bigger than just Israel.

The instructions are very clear: take nothing. The sharing of the Gospel, our mission which we call today Evangelization is a ministry of presence. That’s all there is to it. Jesus did not give them a Handbook, a Catechism, Canon Law, a Map, a set of CDs, or a Power Point Presentation. They were to be the message. The mission all rests on their relationships with one another, their joy, their gentleness, the mercy they show, the generosity, and the forgiveness they offer.

Years ago, when I was the Director of Seminarians in my diocese, a really fine seminarian full of zeal and good intentions was spending the summer out in western Oklahoma with a good pastor who happened to be away for a few days. The seminarian called me late one evening. It seems there had been a tragic accident on the highway, and the hospital called the Rectory for a priest. The seminarian was alone, so he called me and said: “I don’t know what to do.” I said, “Don’t do anything. Just go over there and stay with them. If you “do” something you might mess it all up. All that family needs is for someone to be with them.” Later I heard that when he got to the hospital, someone in the family said, “But, we wanted the priest.” The seminarian responded. “He’s out of town. I’m all you get. Let’s get in there and pray.” With that, everything was fine, and I know the story because one of the family members called to tell me how wonderful it was to be comforted by that young man.

I have never forgotten that experience when I am faced with a situation in which I don’t know what to say or what to do. Sometimes it is best to simply say nothing and just be there. There is no excuse for running away. This is the instruction that Jesus gives those 72 among whom we must find ourselves. There is no substitute for presence. It is the way God has chosen to redeem us and give us hope. God simply came in the person of Jesus Christ, and God stayed. Sometimes God says nothing. Sometimes God does nothing, But, God is present, and you and I are all called to be that comforting, loving presence. It’s not a matter of ordination or some long program of formation. It is a human experience that touches the human heart.

We cannot be afraid in a world that is hostile to the Gospel message of love and service, of peace and mercy. Revenge is the way of this world, and as this Gospel reminds us, it has no place in our lives because it has no place in God’s plan or in God’s Kingdom. The real point of the reign of God is union with God. Power is a dangerous thing, but the assurance that God loves you and that you have a future with God is the antidote to getting hooked on power and puts the battle with evil in its proper perspective. They do not go alone, those 72, and neither do we. We go together on the adventure of this mission. The laborers will grow, not from promotional advertising, but through attraction to the liberating life-giving movement we tend to call the Church.

June 30, 2019 at St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

1 Kings 19, 16-21 + Psalm 16 + Galatians 5, 1, 13-18 + Luke 9, 51-62

Now begins the “Journey to Jerusalem” for Jesus and those of us who would be his companions. It is not just a journey for Jesus. It is a journey for every one of us who have begun to call Jesus our brother, our teacher, and our savior. Before he has even spent a day on the road, he casts out the demon of violence from among us. There will be no “fire from heaven” to consume those who oppose or are hostile to his presence. We will just move on. Perhaps, given some time and some good example those who are hostile at first might come around. Conversion is always possible. Who are we to take away their chance at conversion by destroying them? The whole incident raises a challenge for the healing of cultural, historical, and religious divisions. Hospitality must replace hostility.

This journey has nothing to do with maps reading or chronology, but everything to do with following Jesus Christ in our own time and place. Three encounters come up in these verses today. We hear the request. We hear the response of Jesus, but we know nothing of the outcome from those three meetings. It’s as though Luke wants us to resolve those issues for ourselves.

The first one comes up very confident needing to be tested. Can this one live powerless, homeless, and rejected if that comes with following Jesus? In the reply of Jesus there is the suggestion that as long as the Romans occupy Israel, no true Israelite is at home.  For us, it isn’t the Romans, but it is an oppressive secularism that occupies our homeland. It will reject us.

Then comes the second encounter, and this time Jesus takes the initiative calling this one to follow. It’s easy to have sympathy with someone who wants to bury a parent first. There is a cultural issue here that puts the comment of Jesus in another light. There is no indication that the father is dead. He could be quite fit and still young. Even though the culture in which this encounter takes place might suggest that a son postpone his own life until a father has died, Jesus proposes that sometimes following him may mean a contradiction of cultural expectations. In no way does Jesus deny here love and respect for parents. This is about cultural expectations, not family life.

Then the last one comes with conditions that seem reasonable, but following the way of Jesus Christ does not work conditionally. It’s all or nothing. Working a field with a plow in those days demanded great concentration and skill. If you took your eyes off the plow for just a second or two, it could be shattered by a rock hidden under the soil, and that would mean a disaster. So, with Jesus, there can be no distractions. The eyes, the mind, the heart are all focused on one thing only, making the field of this world ready for God’s harvest. Dedication and Commitment are required of us all if we are going follow Christ Jesus.

We proclaim this Gospel today in the age of “drop out”. We all know people who are dropping out: dropping out of a church that struggles to be purified from sin and the disgrace of broken leadership that has never needed us more, dropping out of politics at time when we need public servants of noble integrity like never before. Sometimes we drop out by simply being cowardly silent when we should speak up in the face of selfishness, injustice, and cruelty.

Today it might a good idea to ask the question: “Why is Jesus going to Jerusalem to begin with?” The answer is simple. Jesus goes and Jesus is found where ever salvation and hope are needed most. He is here among us today for those very reasons, and that is a cause for joy and hope.

June 23, 2019 at St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Genesis 14, 18-20 = Psalm 110 + 1 Corinthians 11, 23-26 + Luke 9, 11-17

“Do this in remembrance of me.” We shall hear those words again in just about ten minutes, but before we repeat that command, it might be a good idea to think about and reconsider that “this” is. What is it we are commanded to do in memory of Jesus? Some might like to think that “this” refers to consecrating bread and wine and receiving communion. If that is all there is to it, if that’s all Jesus Christ asks us to in his memory, there sure isn’t much to this faith, and there isn’t much to do that would require much faith, take time or ask much of us.

“Do this in remembrance of me” was important enough for Saint Paul that he repeats what Jesus says to the Corinthians today.  He wants them, and anyone who reads his letter to ask the question: “What?” What are we to do? What does God want of us? How are we to remember Jesus Christ so that in doing so, he remains present to us and can continue his mission within and through us. If you think for one minute that grabbing a consecrated host and heading out the door is fulfilling the command of Jesus, you are getting it all wrong, and while you may not want or like to hear this, this feast gives us reason to ask the big question: “What is it we are to do to remember Jesus?”

Both Luke and Paul give us a clue about what we are to do. The clue is the verbs: Take, Bless, Break, Give. That’s it. This is how we remember. This is what he asked us to do: take what we are given, bless it, break it, and give it away. Which is what he did with that crowd and what he did at that supper. We do it in this church so that we might remember what to do outside of this church.

We have all be given many gifts, and in a ritual way they will be taken and someone on your behalf will walk up this aisle with them. They will be taken. Then they will be blessed which simply means we will acknowledge the one has given these gifts. This is what Blessing means. Sometimes you hear in the prayer: “Blessed are you Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received”. Then we break it, not to destroy it, but to complete the actions we do in memory of Jesus, we give it away, and in some ways, we give it back to God as we do with the Body of Christ. Yet, we imitate the one in whose image we are made when we give it to others who then can take, bless, break, and give again and again. Brothers and Sister, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of our faith together, we must continue to remember Jesus as he asked of us. It is nothing to simply do the ritual here if we fail to do the remembering tomorrow and the days after where ever we are. Luke tells us that there were 5,000 waiting for Jesus to take, bless, break, and give. Around us in these times, there are far more waiting alone, waiting hungry, waiting homeless, waiting in refugee camps, waiting for love, forgiveness, understanding, and respect. God speaks to us today in this Gospel giving us a clear command about what we are to do in response to the request of his Son. There is no excuse for a failure to remember  Jesus. All we need to do is look at what he did and do the same. This takes no divine omnipotent power. It simply takes compassion, mercy, generosity, and a desire to remember Jesus not just in consecrated bread and wine, but in the human flesh and blood through which he revealed himself to begin with. So, take, bless, break, and give.

June 16, 2019 at St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Proverbs 8, 22-31 + Psalm 8 + Romans 5, 1-5 + John 16, 12-15

I have never cared for the custom of calling the Sunday after Pentecost, “Trinity Sunday.” In more recent years someone decided that the title for the Sunday after Pentecost is the “Most Holy Trinity” as though there was a “Least Holy Trinity” or a “More Holy Trinity”. Too many words! When God puts me in charge, we will call the Sunday after Pentecost “Love Sunday”, because that gets to the heart of the matter, and doesn’t seem nearly as complicated the “Trinity.” My friends, Trinity is the destiny of our lives, because Trinity is Love, the love of God, the love God has for us, revealed in the love God has for Jesus Christ.

In most of our lives, we do not reveal ourselves at any depth to those we do not love, and we reveal ourselves in proportion to the love we feel. The Trinity is nothing more than God’s total self-revelation to us. It reveals Gods very nature and God’s most intimate life as nothing more than total, unconditional love. Just as we do with people we meet along the way; our self-revelation is gradual and progressive. The first time we meet someone, we don’t tell them our deepest dreams and hopes, our needs, wants, and most intimate secrets. If someone does that to me, I run! This is a progressive experience, and what is shared depends upon our capacity and need. You know what it’s like when someone tells you something about themselves that crosses a line. You begin to think: “I didn’t need to know that.” With God it has been the same. What has been revealed is gradual.

It all began with Abraham and God’s self-revelation with the truth that there is only one God followed by the gradual understanding and faithful response of Abraham’s descendants. Then, in a sense, when God felt confident that we had accepted that measure of revelation, more came in the form of God’s only Son, who revealed more of God’s nature as loving mercy. Then to those who did not refuse this revelation, more came with the gift of the Spirit finally revealing the most intimate and intense nature of God that can only be called: “love.”

In this place, we are exactly like the disciples in that room around a table, and Jesus speaks to us today with a message that should leave us stunned as the implication slowly sinks in. “The Father will take what is mine and declare it yours.” Everything that Jesus has is given to us by this Spirit. Think what that means! We are drawn into the relationship Jesus has with his Father. Whether we deserve it or not is irrelevant. By the power of God’s Spirit given to us, we can relate to God just as did Jesus. The essence of the Trinity is personal relationship of love between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. When that Spirit enters us, we are in that relationship.

The Trinity then is the destiny of our lives. It gives us something to look forward to. The next life will not be like summer re-runs of TV. “Eye has not seen nor ear heard what God as ready for those how love him”. However, just as in this life, the consummation of love is union as with a husband and wife, so too in the next life the consummation of love will be in union, but not with a creature, but with the Creator. That union with God is our destiny, and so, love and the union it brings is our mission and our purpose in this life: to heal whatever is broken, to reveal the forgiving mercy of the Father and the patient love of God. The more we realize who we are and what has happened to us with the Spirit, God’s very breath in us, we will a people truly holy, truly blessed, and fully restored to the way we were created to be in the beginning. Everything we do and everything we say will give, as our prayer goes, Glory to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy as it was in the beginning is now ever shall be.

June 9, 2019 at St. Peter & St. William Churches in Naples, FL

Acts 2, 1-11 + Psalm 104 + Romans 8, 8-17 + John 14, 15-16, 23-26

A couple of years ago, I was on a plane off to give a talk somewhere. I was wearing my clerical suit because the person picking me up did not know me. I had taken my aisle seat on the plane, and a lady came along and moved into the seat next to me. I opened a book in which I was intending to hide when she turned and asked, “Are you saved?” My toes curled as every possible motive for asking me that question raced through my mind. I glanced at her hands. Seeing a wedding ring, I asked: “Are you married?” She looked around for a moment. I began to fear she might think I was proposing something, but suddenly she said: “Yes, I am for thirty-eight years.” I said: “I’ll bet you are a lot more married today than you were on your wedding day, and I am a lot more saved than I was at my Baptism. I am also a lot more of a priest than I was on the day of my ordination.” With that, she pulled out emergency evacuation card and began to study it while I opened my book.

I have often said to couples who came to the office to plan a wedding that their marriage began the moment they decided to spend the rest of their lives together. The Sacrament they were preparing for was a celebration of a love that was already there. I would go to reminded them that the love they had for each had been there growing slowly but steadily from the day they met. Sometimes people ask me when I decided to become a priest, and I always say the same thing: “This morning when I got up.” Isn’t it true for you? The marriages you lived and celebrated happened every time you faced a problem and decided to make it work. Parents know this. When a child is born, parenting begins, but you are lot more of parent by the time they move out on their own. At the birth of a child you begin to spend the rest of your days making parenthood come true through your relationship with your children. Any of us who have made a commitment in a moment pass through a life-time of growth and development that grows deeper and more real day by day.

It is the same with Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit. In reality, the action and power of the Holy Spirit started when those disciples first met Jesus and moved them to follow him. It only deepened each time they acted in the name of Jesus. That event on the 50^th day did not start something in them, it revealed and made obvious what they already had and what they could become because of it. As we gather here to celebrate Pentecost, beware of thinking this is just a day or a time to remember what happened to those people in some “upper room” of Jerusalem. Doing that, misses not just the point, but distracts us from thinking about and realizing that we too have had the same experience. Perhaps there was no wind or fire, but you would not be here if the Spirit was not already stirring in your hearts and souls.

On the day Christ rose from the dead and became present in their midst, the disciples were struggling to take in the fact that death was not what they thought it was. because there was Jesus offering them peace. Uninterested in how slow they were to believe, he took them as they were, breathed his very Spirit on them, and gave them his mission: “Forgive.”

The consequence of forgiveness is oneness or the unity for which Jesus prayed so passionately the night before he died. It is the healing of whatever is broken whether it be hearts, lives, or relationships. As Luke describes the growing courage and awaked awareness of those disciples, Pentecost functions like a movement that breaks down the boundaries of time and culture, and most of all, our stubborn attitudes of privilege and power, of wealth and prestige which too often set us apart from another. That symbol of multiple languages represents all that divides us keeping us from understanding one another. Sadly, and painfully, I saw this in action just last week as I was standing the check-out line of store here in town. The person behind me turned to a family behind them who were speaking another language. She said hatefully: “Speak English, you are in America.” You should have seen the look on the faces of the children standing there with their parents. I looked at her thinking she needed a good lesson in geography, because America is a continent shared by several nations, but I just looked at her and said: “Come Holy Spirit”. You don’t have to be able to speak many languages to express love and respect.

We are here today to celebrate, nurture, and awaken the Spirit that is already stirring among us and within us. It is that Spirit making us uncomfortable in the face of easy but unfair judgements about others. It is that Spirit making us uncomfortable about enforcing divisions and separations that keep us apart. It is that Spirit making us uncomfortable and about walls and boundaries when people are desperate, frightened, and hungry. It is also that Spirit that makes our hopes sail and sets our hearts on fire dreaming of peace and justice.

So, with great trepidation should be have sung that Psalm verse today. “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth.” May God take us at our word, and when God does, hang on, we’re in for a wild ride, a new heaven, and new earth, a new life with a new mission.