Pentecost Sunday, Year C, 23.05.2010

Acts 2:1-11
Romans 8:8-17
John 14:15-16, 23b-26

Most of the liturgical seasons and feast day celebrations of the Church are easily identifiable from the images and symbols that are used.

For eg, when we see an evergreen wreath with 4 candles, we will know it’s Advent.

When we see a crib and some figurines, we will know it’s Christmas.

When we see a cross and purple cloth, we will know it’s Lent.

When we see the big candle out here, we will know it’s Easter.

But how about Pentecost? What concrete image or symbols would indicate it’s Pentecost?

Could it be the red-coloured vestment? But it also looks like CNY.

So there is the traditional symbol of the dove, and those tongues of fire.

Actually it’s 7 tongues of fire to denote the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Of course we are not going to let go some doves here, because something else other than gifts will drop on us.

And we are also not going to carry lighted candles to denote the tongues of fire, because some of us might be on fire, in the wrong sense.

So it is actually quite difficult to have a concrete image or symbol for the celebration of Pentecost.

So what concrete image for symbol did Jesus use to symbolize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?

Well, He didn’t use an image or symbol.

Rather, He used an action – He breathed on His disciples and said: Receive the Holy Spirit.

Quite plain, right? No drama at all?

We would expect something like Jesus would go to each disciple and lay His hands and say “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

And they will drop and rest in the Spirit, and start speaking in tongues or whatever.

I still can remember the time when I was at a Confirmation camp for teenagers who were preparing for the Sacrament.

The highlight of the camp was the praying over each participant.

I was asked to help out in the praying over and at that time I was still a seminarian.

I was given this group of boys to pray over.

So I prayed over the first boy. I didn’t really call fire from heaven. There was no need to; after all, they are only 14-year old boys.

So I prayed over the first boy, then I prayed over the second boy.

Then I prayed over the third boy. After praying over him, he looked at me and said: Didn’t feel anything.

I was taken aback and felt a bit cheezed, so I retorted: Tsk, it takes a while lah!

He got no reply to that, and I thanked the Holy Spirit for shutting his gab!

So when Jesus first appeared to His disciples after the resurrection and breathed the Holy Spirit on them, I think that the disciples also did not feel anything. Just that they didn't dare say it.

But 50 days later, on Pentecost, something happened and things were never the same again.

Yes, it took a while, but when the Spirit moved the disciples, things got moving.

The Church took shape and started to grow.

But it was not an easy growth, because blood was shed and lives were lost.

But the Holy Spirit kept the Church moving and going.

There is this story of a daughter who complained to her father about how life was so difficult for her, with one difficulty after another, and her prayers were not answered.

Her father, who was a chef, took her to the kitchen.

He filled 3 pots with water and put them to boil.

In one, he put in carrots, in the second, he put in eggs and in the third he put coffee powder.

He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

The daughter wasn’t very amused and was getting impatient with her father.
After 10 minutes, the father turned off the fire and he took out the carrots and the eggs.

Then he ladled the coffee into a mug.

Then he asked his daughter: What do you see?

She replied: Carrots, eggs and coffee.

He asked her to feel the carrots and she did and said they were soft.

He then asked her to break an egg. After peeling off the shell, she observed that it was a hard boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee and she tasted the rich aroma.

Then she asked her father what it all meant.

The father explained that each of them has faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently.

The carrots were hard and strong, but in the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The eggs had been fragile, but after sitting through boiling water, its inside became hard.

The coffee powder was unique in that after they were in boiling water, they changed the water.

Finally, the father asked his daughter – So what are you? When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or coffee powder?

The point of this story is that do we let the world and all its adversities change us?
Do we get weakened and disillusioned like the carrot; or do we become hard and bitter like the egg?

Or do we change the world when faced with its adversities, like what the coffee powder did to the boiling water.

So the symbols of red-coloured vestments and tongues of fire still give very profound meanings for Pentecost.

Red is the colour of martyrdom. The blood of martyrs gives rise to the Church.

And the tongues of fire purifies the Church, and sanctifies the Church, in the face of adversity.

And the Holy Spirit continues to move in the Church.

Well back to the story of that 14 year old boy who said “Didn’t feel anything”.

Well, after the Confirmation camp, I nicknamed him “Mr. Didn’t Feel Anything” and I thought he was rather arrogant and cocky at that time.

He looked like he was going to end up on the sleazy side of life.

He in turned called me “Bro. Wait a While”.

But that was many years ago. Now he calls me “Fr. Wait a While”.

That “Mr. Didn’t Feel Anything ” has become someone doing something.

He is active in his parish community and he is a catechist teaching Confirmation class!

He has come a long way and I am sure that the Holy Spirit was moving him along the way.

And he did feel something, although it took a while.

Well, it may take a while for us too. We may have to wait a while.

But meanwhile, may the Holy Spirit fill our hearts and kindle in us the fire of God’s love.

Fifth Sunday of Easter, Year C, 02-05-10

Acts 14:21b-27
Revelation 21:1-5a
John 13:31-33a, 34-35

For a start, I would like to ask you a few questions.

These are no trick questions; just general knowledge questions.

Also there is no need to shout out the answers because I know you won’t shout in church.

So here come the questions: Name the three wealthiest people in the world.

Name the last three people who have won the Nobel Prize for Peace.

Name the last three winners of the Oscar awards for best actor.

Name the last three winners of the Miss Universe pageant.

You may wonder, what is the point of asking these questions, when most of us can’t remember any of those names.

But that is the point. Most of us can’t remember much of who made it to the headlines of yesterday.

Well, those who made it to the headlines are certainly no second-class achievers.

They are indeed the best in their fields, the cream of the crop.

But the applause, no matter how loud and how prolonged, will fade.

And the awards will tarnish. And the achievements are slowly forgotten.

Yesterday’s headlines are stale news. They are yesterday’s papers, left in the corner and maybe even used to wrap doggy pooh.

Now here is another quiz. Let us see how we will do for this one.

Name three teachers who taught you in school.

Name three friends who helped you through a difficult time.

Name three persons who have encouraged you and affirmed you.

Name three persons whom you enjoy spending time with.

Now, was that easier? And why was it easier?

Well, from the two sets of questions we can realize one thing.

We realize that the people we remember most in our lives are not necessarily the ones with the most money, or the most credentials, or the most awards, or the ones who make it to the headlines.

Rather, the people we remember are the ones who care about us; they are the people who love us.

So in the final analysis, what really matters is who loved you, and who you loved.

In the gospel we hear of Jesus giving us a new commandment.

It is the commandment of love – just as Jesus have loved us, we are to love one another.

What Jesus gave us is a commandment; it is not a suggestion.

A commandment does not give us an option.

Rather it requires from us a decision.

And if we call ourselves Christians, then we have already made that decision.

To say that we are a Christian, and yet, not fulfill that love commandment, then that is a contradiction.

Yet within us there exists this contradiction of sinfulness and holiness.

Within us there is selfishness, and yet there is also selflessness.

So when we decide to love, that is a profound decision, because it comes out of a struggle from within.

A journalist was watching the late Mother Teresa attending to a man suffering from gangrene.

The sight and smell of the wounds were just too revolting for him and he said to Mother Teresa: I wouldn’t do that for a million dollars!

Mother Teresa replied: Neither would I do it for that amount of money. But for the love of God, I will do it.

Yes, love always demands the best out of us, and love brings out the best in us.

And love will also help us understand others, and love will help us see how they need to be loved.

Maybe let me tell you a pre-Mother’s Day joke, since next Sunday is Mother’s Day.

Four very successful brothers were sharing with each other what they gave to their mother, who lived far away in another city, for Mother’s Day.

The first said: I had a big house built for Mama.

The second said: I had a state-of-the-art theatre built in that house.

The third said: I had a limousine delivered to Mama.

The fourth said: You know how Mama loved reading the Bible, but her eyesight is failing. I came across this parrot which can recite any passage of the Bible.

Mama just had to name the chapter and the verse and the parrot will recite it.

That parrot costs $500 000, but I thought it was worth it and I had it sent to Mummy.

The other brothers were impressed.

After Mother’s Day, the brothers received thank you notes from their mother.

The first – Dear Milton, the house you built was so huge and I live in only one room but I had to clean the whole house. Thanks anyway.

The second – Dear Marvin, I am too old to drive. I stay home and have things delivered to me. I don’t use the limo. Thanks anyway.

The third – Dear Michael, you built for me an expensive theatre which can sit 50 people, but all my friends are dead. My hearing and my eyesight are failing, I won’t be using the theatre. But thanks anyway.

Finally, the last one – Dearest Melvin, you were the only son who had given a little thought to your gift. Thanks for the live chicken. I cooked it and it was delicious. Love you, mummy.

So, to be a person of love, we don’t have to be rich and famous, or great achievers and high-flyers.

We only need to have a heart which decides to love, and keep on loving to the end.

St Terese of Lisieux, the “little flower” has this wise saying for us: I do small things with great love.

Yes, small things like cooking a simple meal for our family members, helping those who call upon us. Spending time with those who need us.

Yes, to fulfill the commandment of love is simple.

We just have to do small things with great love.

And by that love for each other, others will know that we are disciples of Jesus.

And they will also remember how we showed love and that is, by doing small things with great love.