ࡱ> 8:7a jbjb $*.......:::: F ffffffff. 0 0 0 0 0 0 , R (\ .fffff\ . ..ffq . . . fR.f.f. . BD,....f. . . ... Z ~:v. . 0 . ). ). . .Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-11; 1 Cor 3b-7,12-13; Jn 20:19-23 Notre Dame Church (Michigan City, IN) May 27, 2007 The stories about Saint Francis of Assisi are familiar to many of us. One of them took place when he was twenty-three years old, a young man who had already fought in two local battles. He was praying in the abandoned and ruined chapel of San Damiano outside the city walls. There he seemed to hear a voice from the crucifix say Francis, rebuild my church, for as you can see it is in ruins. The voice said this three times, and Francis took its command literally. Without permission, he took some of the richest textiles from his fathers shop and sold them to raise money for the chapels repair. Eventually he understood that the repair work Jesus was seeking was on the living stonesi.e., the people of God and its leaders, not on the building. Francis came to recognize the gifts that the Holy Spirit had awakened in him for this task. And he set to work. Along with Easter and Christmas, Pentecost is one of the three most important divine mysteries we celebrate each year. What does it accomplish? The Pentecost event creates the community of the Church. The Spirit recognizes those born from the blood and water flowing from Christs pierced side in baptism. The Spirit fills a lethargic assembly with zeal and love. The Spirit empowers those who have walked with Jesus to buildor rebuildthe Church. The Spirit imparts special gifts and talents to each person gathered in prayer and worship. The Spirit commissions these baptized and empowered followers of Jesus to go into the streets and proclaim the mighty acts of God. In todays Gospel we see how this Holy Spirit is breathed forth from the Risen Christ to strengthen his followers to forgive and to be forgiven. This is what the Church is: followers of Christ, living as a community, filled with zeal and spiritual gifts, to bring good news to a bewildered world. This is what membership in the Church means for us as well as for the first disciples. This is what diocese and parish and community and family mean. A Christian is not simply for himself or for herself, focused on ones own soul. A Christian, a Catholic Christian, is part of a tightly-woven fabric called community. Community defines us. Those who miss Sunday mass weaken the community of Christ like a moth harms a sweater. If I injure you, I injure the whole Christian community because we are all one body. If we do not put in to the church in the form of self-giving, personal and public prayer, offering our time or gifts or talents or financial resources, we are letting Jesus church fall into ruin. We are failing to live the Christian mission and ignoring the plea of Jesus for his ruined church. We are rejecting the Holy Spirit. And this commission by Jesus is not part of our lives; it is our lives. A few years ago the Gallup Organization published a book based upon its polls and research into churches. It concluded that 53% of church-going people do not feel empowered by their church. The traditional language of the churches, said the report, is fixed on our weaknesses. We call ourselves miserable sinners, unworthy or wretches saved by grace. We are taught to be watchful of pride. We misunderstand the meaning of humility. This kind of thinkingnegative thinkingin communities, churches, families or personal lifeseeps into the psyche to become very destructive. It is a distorted understanding of the message of Christ. Yes, of course, we are called to constant conversion. We are called to conversion and change, not because we are bad, but because we are goodGod made us good, in his image. Conversion reveals our true, God-made self. It reveals our freedom, our human dignity, our empowerment by the Holy Spirit. Commissioned by the Gallup Organization, several ministers wrote a book called Living Your Strengths. The role of the Church is to help us fulfill Gods purpose in our lives. We contribute to the mission of Christ and his Church by living our strengths. Another way to describe these strengths is to say they are gifts of the Holy Spirit. A few weeks ago, several members of the Pastoral Council spoke to us of the importance of taking ownership of this parish. I spoke of our common baptismal call to bring Gods kingdom into the family, the workplace, and the community. Each of us can do this by coming to knowdiscerningthe gifts the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon us. Some of us think we dont have any gifts. Some of us dont see our gifts as spiritual enough. This is simply not true. The gifts of God are more numerous than the sands of the sea. Some are good at details. Some are good at hard work. Some are good at ideas. Some have talents in art or crafts or music. Some are good at computers or software programs. Some have a special ability to pray. Some people are especially sensitive and compassionate toward others. Some people have a sense of humor that lightens the burden of others. Some are patient. Some people suffer without complaint. The list is endless. Every gift, says Saint Paul, is given to us for the upbuilding of Gods kingdom. Or, as in the case of Saint Francis, the repair of the Church or the world around us. Pentecost is a good day for us to see the gifts the Spirit has sent us. Instead of looking up to heaven waiting for wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, piety, fear of the Lord, or fortitude to come fluttering down upon us, look within. The Spirits gifts are already there. Are you using them for the kingdom? for the Church? for this parish? for your neighbors? May the Spirit teach us to use these gifts and talents. We are called to recognize them and return them to God with interest. r   L U 03=>hxhNCJhNhNCJ hN6CJ hNCJhNCJOJQJ=cpqr >?> d`gdN d`gdN":pN/ =!"#$%<@< NormalCJaJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRi@R  Table Normal4 l4a (k@(No List *!z!z z z>N=cpqr> ? >0ˀ0ˀ@0ˀ0ˀ@0ˀ@0ˀ00ˀ0ˀ0ˀ0P0ˀ0000000ˀ00P0ˀ0ˀ0ˀ0ˀ0ˀ0ˀ0ˀ0ˀ@0ˀ@0ˀ> ? >ĀĀĀGp0DB"000000000000000!$13el)y),<4<=::::::::@y @UnknownGTimes New Roman5Symbol3 ArialA Arial Narrow 1hGµ ӵb 4dvb@XQMacintosh HD:Applications:Microsoft Office 2004:Templates:My Templates:SunHom.dotPentecost SundayKeith McClellanKeith McClellan Oh+'0! ,8 T ` l x'Pentecost SundayKeith McClellan SunHom.dotKeith McClellan4Microsoft Word 11.3@#@@S@ @h ĻGPICTb HHb bHH [< [Pbb           # s^cRg9F1^cwZg9;wg9Vwsws^kZwg9wwswwcwo{w 8wRVsZV^sw^Zwo{cwZZcsg9w sZg9kZwo{     eg9o{{{s{kZ{{kZ{{ss{{s{s{{s;cJRVZcRJRVZRNsRJRcVRg9JRcZ^RJR^g9ZRccg9ZZF1g9R^V=JRcg9g9B^cRJR=JRZRcJRZ{wQsws{s{ssss{{{sg9Acg9JRVRccJRVJRccRRNsJRB^VR=VJRJRVRo{RZcRo{1cZZJR^VVZVR^ZR9{R9JRJRRJRcRJR'swwwo{esssssss{{{sss{o{o{s{{o{:Ro{JRRJRRJRRg9^VRJRZcRJRRJRcg9JRcRo{Rg9R^Rg9NsRcNsVZ{ZBRo{RZJR^RZg9JRRg9JR5V'wo{swo{ussss{ss sskZkZs{{{so{{{ssg9o{BRNsRJRJRRJRVJRRJRJR^JRg9JRVJR^JRRJRVg9RcV-k^g9RJRNsRJRRRJRcF1JRV5V^g9F1Ro{Bg9Z{cJRV^Vsw _ss{s{so{{o{o{kZ{{s{ssssDJRVZVVJRcVJRcRJRVR^R^RJRVF1RJRc5V^^JR^g9NsRZRZZ^RJR^F1{^VNsJRg9g9JRJRcZ^JRJR^^JR{ww]sw{{{o{g9{s{o{o{{o{wskZ{{CcR^RZZRJR^RJRZ9NsF1g9JR^JRg91{cJRV^RJRVZR95F15^VVNsJRcVZ{RJRJRZ^-k^g9Zww{swsswsskZo{ws{ {{s{s so{{s{CcRRNsNsZ^RJRcJR=JRJRg9NsV9g9g9Z{^^NsJRRJRcJRV5cg9ZZBJR{JRVcRRNsZRJRBRc5VJR^JRVZcwsq{{{ss s{s{swssss{s{{s{sskZCcVRcg9BZc^RJRcJRg9ZcRcJRV^Z1RJRRJRJRZRg9JRcJRVJRccR^BZVJRcRJRVZcR^cJRV^JRRJRVg9Zsws[ {kZ{{g9ss{so{{o{{so{s{^VJRRg9^{V:JRcJRRRZJRVJRJRJRV^ZcRRJR5Rc5V^VJRRJRRo{R^NscV1ZRo{RZZVVNsg9JRRRo{RZ!swso{ k{sc{{{o{{o{sso{wss{{ss{o{@RJRcJRVg9g9^g9JR9cRJRVZwwcV{{5VJRVRJRg9VRccg9RJRRJRJRg9cZBRJRV^Z{JRRcRJR5Vo{ssks{ss{kZ{{{{o{{s{{s{{so{sskZ{ss