Homily
Saturday, May 30, 2009; Pentecost, Mass of the Vigil, Cycle B
Assumption Grotto Parish, Detroit
The Lord Describes the Spirit as Water
Today is a day of great joy in the Church. Five young men were ordained priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit. They now go forth, representing Christ, offering the Eucharist and forgiving men’s sins with the power of the Holy Spirit. They will rob souls from Satan’s claws, they will intercede for the holiness of the whole mystical body of Christ, and they will spread the message of salvation wherever they go.
More happily still, one of those ordained is from among our number here at Assumption Grotto: Fr. Charles White, who will have his first Mass of thanksgiving here at our parish, as has been announced on the posters by the parish doors. A festive reception will be held for him here at the parish after the Mass and into the afternoon. If you cannot come and congratulate him, at least commend him to our Lady, who will win ample blessings for him from her Divine Son. For Fr. White was ordained in May, our Lady’s month. And if it is true that he is a priest forever, it is also true that he will always be marked with the blessing of our Lady.
Let us turn now to the mysteries of today’s liturgical solemnity, Pentecost, and reap some fruit for our own souls. Note that the readings today are different from the readings tomorrow, even if both this vigil tonight and the Day of the Lord tomorrow form one and the same liturgical day. So today we do not read the actual coming of the Holy Spirit, but we read of Christ’s prophecy.
The English translation is particularly lamentable, as it says, “There was, of course, no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not been glorified.” This of course is nonsense, as there was never a time when there was no holy Spirit. Ancient texts have the word “dedomenon,” in Greek, or “datus” in Latin: giving a very different version. It is not, “there was no Spirit yet,” but “the Spirit had not been given yet.” The Spirit always was, but the Lord poured fourth the Spirit after he ascended, much like a great king would shower the booty won in battle upon the soldiers. This is what St. John means by saying, “Because Jesus had not yet been glorified,” referring to his ascension. (Cf. Jn 7:37-39.)
Let us focus on the comparison the Lord makes between His Spirit, which he will give, and water. First, he says “let anyone who thirsts com to me and drink.” So this is the first point of the Holy Spirit: he satisfies our thirst. Second, the Lord says, “rivers of living water will flow forth from within him,” indicating first that the Spirit is living, and second that it comes from within him who believes. Let us reflect a little on these three teachings: the Spirit quenches man’s thirst, the Spirit is living, and the Spirit flows forth from man’s interior life. I think these three reflections will give us abundant fruit for our own souls.
The Spirit quenches man’s thirst. What does man thirst? Water, of course. But there is another thirst, and that is a spiritual one. Water is not spiritual, it is material. So water cannot quench man’s spiritual thirst. The spiritual thirst, in fact, is harder to understand than the material one, because man does not understand what this thirst is, and he must explore his interior self, the cultural world and society of persons in which he lives and the meaning of all things in the universe before he can understand it. But once he understands what that thirst is, he becomes wise. And the thirst is this: a desire for God, a desire which must be satisfied at all costs, and it is a matter of life or death. Now, many men mistake this desire for God for things which are not God. While they really long for the truth, they long to love and be loved infinitely, they long for the eternal contemplation of eternal beauty, he instead falls into pride, greed and sensuality. He mistakes the fake for the real thing, and falls into sin. The Holy Spirit is God, and until man quenches his thirst with God, he will remain desperately, ravishingly thirsty.
Next, we said that the Holy Spirit is living. He isn’t just some metaphysical principle of the universe, nor is he some New Age styled emotional experience. He is a person, and he lives. Living things move, and so does the Holy Spirit. All that he animates by grace also moves and changes. Now, not all changes are good. But all of the Holy Spirit’s changes are good. If you ever need to make some change, some improvement in the Spiritual life, it is the Holy Spirit who will do it in you. Be close to the Holy Spirit of God, and you will make great progress in the spiritual life.
Third, we said that the Holy Spirit flows forth from the one who believes in Jesus the Lord. This is what was prophesied by Joel in the first reading, Joel the fiery prophet, who also spoke of “The Day of Wrath, That Day.” For Christ does not say the Spirit flows forth from himself, but from the one who believes in him. Now, it is true that the Spirit does flow forth from Christ, as the Lord breathed on the Apostles, giving them the Spirit; so we see the Spirit is transmitted from Christ the Lord. But here the Lord is making another point: that the spirit flows from the one who believes in him. This must also be true, then, of you. If you have faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will flow from you. I would venture to push this logic a bit farther: the more you believe in Jesus Christ, the more the Holy Spirit will flow forth from you. Whither will he flow? To the people around you, and indirectly into the whole world. How will he flow? Not exactly like water, which you can see and hear and feel. He will do so invisibly, inaudibly and imperceptibly. This being so, we should never fear to be apostles of the Lord, each one in the circumstances of the state of life in which he finds himself; but there, with as much courage as prudence, as much fortitude as love, one should bear witness to his faith, in word and deed; that is how the Holy Spirit will flow forth from you to your neighbor.
Let us therefore cultivate a closeness to the Holy Spirit. Let us quench the thirst of our whole lives by drinking deeply from the spiritual wells of God, as the scriptures say, “With joy he will draw waters from the wells of salvation.” Let us make progress in the spiritual life with complete dependency upon God the Holy Spirit. Let us spread the faith, confident that the Holy Spirit will do more and reach farther in other men’s souls than we ever could by our own, small efforts.
The blessed Virgin was she upon whom the Holy Spirit descended working the mystery of the Incarnation in her immaculate body. Let us ask her to draw us closer to the Holy Spirit, and advance humbly, steadily, towards the salvation which the Lord won for us. Amen.
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