May 19, 2024--Pentecost

Deacon Nelson's First Homily

Pentecost (ABC)

Bring Your Humility, Fidelity, & Prayer to Church

Msgr. Thomas Gervasio

Pentecost is a Greek word meaning “fiftieth.” Fifty days after Passover, the Jewish people observed the feast of Shavuot, a celebration of the Spring harvest, fifty days. They also celebrated the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Fifty days after Easter, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles in wind and fire, just as God appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Pentecost is the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise to send the Holy Spirit to the Church he founded. Coming in wind and fire, the Holy Spirit transformed the apostles into courageous witnesses of the Gospel! The nascent Church would then continue to preach the Gospel to all peoples until the end of time. This is why Pentecost is often referred to as the “Birthday of the Church.”

But what does it mean to belong to the Church? Pope Francis sees three “pillars” of belonging the Church.

The 1st is humility. Belonging to the Church means having the humility to say, “I am only a small part of the great people that walks the path of the Lord.” How many people take it upon themselves to choose what they want to believe and create their own personal version of Catholicism. It is the attitude of “Cafeteria Catholics,” who embrace the teachings they find appealing and reject those they dislike. Some say, “I follow Christ but without the baggage of the Church” “The Christian,” the Pope says, “is not baptized to receive Baptism and then go his own way!” We cannot separate Christ from the Church. Why? Because the Church is the Bride of Christ and he died for her. How can we say we love Christ without loving his Bride? Imagine if we said to a friend, “I love you, I admire you, you’re great. But your bride…she’s another story.” I doubt you would remain friends for long!”

Carlo Carretto, was a wealthy businessman who gave up everything to spend the rest of his life as a hermit in North Africa. (Some parishioners would love it if their pastor did the same!) He was often scandalized by the Church but wrote: “I cannot free myself from you, because I am you…And besides, where would I go? Would I establish another Church? I would not be able to establish it without the same faults, for they are the same faults I carry in me. And if I did establish another, it would be my church, not the Church of Christ.” Belonging to the Church requires this kind of humility.

The 2nd pillar of belonging is fidelity. St. Boniface saw the Church as a ship being pounded by the waves of life’s different stresses. “Our duty is not to abandon ship,” he said, “but to keep her on course.” We can always point to problems in the Church. If we look for perfection in the Church, we will not find it because it is made up of humans, of sinners striving to be saints. Here is Carlo Carretto again: “How baffling you are, O Church, and yet how I love you! How you have made me suffer, and yet how much I owe you! You have given me scandal and yet you have made me understand what sanctity is. I have seen nothing more compromised and yet I have touched nothing more pure, generous, or beautiful. I have often wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face, and how often I have prayed to die in the safety of your arms.” Belonging means being faithful.

The 3rd pillar is prayer. We pray for many things. Let us not forget to pray for the Church so that it can be what it should be in the world…holy, united, a reflection of Christ. Cardinal Martini of Milan wrote, “When I was young I prayed for the Church I wanted. Now, I pray for the Church—that it be what Christ wills it to be.”

On this great feast, let us pray that the Holy Spirit increase our sense of belonging…granting us humility, fidelity, and an ever-prayerful spirit.
 

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Deacon Nelson's First Homily

Hello Our Lady of Sorrows/St Anthony family!!!

On this Pentecost Sunday, I would like to talk to you about unconditional love.

You see, I did not know the true meaning of unconditional love until I became a parent—a Father. I have been blessed to have two wonderful children and since they were born, I always wanted to be a part of their lives, and I strived to be a leader, provider, and protector to them at all times. Now this was easy when they were very young, but as they grew older, and more independent, they were not around the house as much, so staying in touch became harder. Now being their father, and of course, the head of my household (when Nancy gives me permission), I made the decision to get our children cell phones.

Now I was not a big fan of cell phones at the time, but I did see the many benefits for our children to have a cell phone such as:

• Always being able to be in contact with them.
• Being able to get ahold of us in case of an emergency.
• Always knowing their location in case of an emergency.

The cell phone is truly a great earthly communication device, no doubt, but now let me speak to you about the greatest of all communication devices—The Holy Spirit—our heavenly communication device.

You see, our heavenly Father, God, also loves each and every one of us unconditionally. He wants to be part of lives, have a relationship with us, and protect us from all harm and evil. So, once we were baptized, our original sin was wiped away, we were sealed with an indelible mark, and at confirmation, we come full circle being sealed in The Holy Spirit. Then we became a new creation, adopted children of God.

(Also, for those of you here that are not baptized, no problem, Please come see me after Mass—I can do that now)

Now we have read in the past weeks the Passion of Christ, and how the disciples, firsthand, witnessed Jesus’ terrible persecution and death on a cross. And even though the disciples walked with Jesus and knew him, the disciples, at the death of Jesus, we read today, are locked in an upper room, terrified of what would happen to them next. So, was there any hope for disciples in this terrified state? Is there any hope for us in this crazy world?

Yes, God has a plan and set it in motion. Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room and says, “Peace be with you”—He wants his children not to fear any longer and be at peace. He then breathes on them, and The Holy Spirit descended upon them, and they became a new creation in Him.

We see this as the birth of the church because even though Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins, leave us, and ascend into heaven, our lovingly heavenly Father, Abba, didn’t want us to ever be alone, so He gave us all the greatest of all communication devices—Himself, through The Holy Spirit—our great advocate—the 3rd person of the trinity. You see the Holy Spirit is the bridge that keeps us connected to God and the glue that connects us to each other as Christians.

And unlike our cell phones which we may forget at home or lose (setting us into panic mode), as Catholics, we should always be at peace because we have, built into our DNA, the temple of God, right here—the ultimate heavenly communication devices—The Holy Spirit.

So brothers and sisters—God is always with us—We are never alone.
Let me say that again—God is always with us—We are never alone.
 

• If we need to talk to God, God is right here.
• If we need help, God is right here.
• If we are lost and need direction or guidance in life God is right here.

But there is a big problem we cannot overlook with our earthly and heavenly communication devices. That no matter if we have best of cell phones money can buy, they sooner or later will run out of power after constant use and so do we.

Our daily lives in this world will beat us up and take a toll on us, wear out our batteries. So where do we go to get charged up? Right here at this. As within a few moments, we will receive God Himself, in the Holy Eucharist—Body and Blood.

Quick Side note: Every night I would put my cell phone to charge but in the morning when I grabbed my cell phone it was only about 30% charged. I couldn’t figure it out. One morning as I was getting ready for mass, I was explaining this to Monsignor and Monsignor told me to check if I had a good connection. To see if my connection had gotten dirty over time and just needed to be cleaned. So, I went home and checked the connection, and it was very dirty. I cleaned the connector to my phone, and within about an half an hour, my phone was fully charged.
– Monsignor was right again.

Brothers and sisters, our connector with God can also get very dirty through our daily walk-in life. So, to fully get charged when we receive the Holy Eucharist at this altar, we need to get clean first. Please, please take full advantage of confession. Get yourself clean, and then get fully charged here at the altar with the body and blood of Christ, and receive all the gifts and graces God has for you.

Also remember if our cell phones were not portable, we could only use our cell phones when they were connected to our chargers at home—they would be of very little use to us. Most people would be lost in this world without their cell phones with them 24/7.

The same goes for here in Church. If we are only Catholics here in church, as we get fully charged, and not outside these walls once we leave, then we are all guilty of not doing the work of our Heavenly Father and living our faith. Jesus gave us this new commandment—love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

So let us never forget, coming here to Mass today is not the end of another week but the beginning of a new one. Our lives, as disciples of Christ, truly start as we walk out these doors.

Let us get fully charged here at the altar today and be the adopted children of Christ we were meant to be, spreading the good news of eternal life and salvation to everyone—to love unconditionally.

And as we leave here today, please take to heart the words I will be saying to you shortly as we go to leave mass and act on them—
“Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.”

So Peace be with you and May God bless you all today and always - Amen