PENTECOST SUNDAY MAY 31, 2020
IN THE LAST 48 HOURS YOU AND I HAVE WITNESSED BURNING AND DESTRUCTION ACROSS OUR LAND. WHEN YOU SEE HATRED, VIOLENCE AND FRIGHTENING CHAOS YOU KNOW IT IS FROM AN EVIL SPIRIT. NO WAY DOES IT COME FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD.
TODAY IS PENTECOST SUNDAY WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS INTO THE WORLD. TODAY IS PENTECOST SUNDAY WHEN WE CELEBRATE THE GIFTS AND FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
THESE ARE THE GIFTS THAT INSPIRE MEN AND WOMEN TO LIVE PEACEFULLY WITH ONE ANOTHER. THESE ARE THE GIFTS THAT PRODUCE ANGELS OF MERCY.
IN EAST BERLIN BEFORE THE BERLIN WALL CAME TUMBLING DOWN, THE COMMUNISTS BUILT A GIANT TELEVISION TOWER ABOVE THE SKYLINE OF EAST BERLIN. JUST BELOW THE TIP OF THE TOWER WAS A REVOLVING RESTAURANT. THE COMMUNIST OFFICIALS INTENDED THIS TOWER TO BE A SHOWPLACE TO IMPRESS THE WESTERN NATIONS WITH THEIR MATERIALISM.
YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? SOME STRANGE FLUKE IN THE DESIGN TURNED THE TOWER INTO A HUGE SHIMMERING CROSS. WHENEVER THE SUN HITS THAT TOWER IN A CERTAIN WAY FOR MILES AROUND, YOU CAN SEE THIS CROSS IN THE SKYLINE. THE CROSS WAS NOT WHAT THE OFFICIALS HAD IN MIND.
THEY TRIED EVERYTHING THEY COULD THINK OF. THEY WERE NOT ABLE TO CHANGE THE EFFECT AND GET RID OF THE IMAGE OF THE CROSS.
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW EMBARRASSED THE COMMUNISTS WERE TO BE ADVERTISING THE CROSS BY A GIANT TOWER THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO ERADICATE ANY REMEMBRANCE OF THE SPIRITUAL?
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW EMBARRASSED THE ROMAN OFFICIALS AND THE JEWISH LEADERS WERE WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS WAS NOT THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT?
THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS TURNED OUT TO BE A STUNNING EVENT. EVEN WITHOUT FACEBOOK, CHRISTIANS WERE SPRINGING UP EVERYWHERE. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE WERE CARRYING THE MESSAGE THAT JESUS IS ALIVE. THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT SPREAD LIKE A RAGING FOREST FIRE.
CHRISTIANITY IN 30 SHORT YEARS GREW FROM A TINY SPARK INTO A RAGING INFERNO. THE FIRE WAS IGNITED AT PENTECOST. THE HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS EXPLODED IN THE UPPER ROOM IN JERUSALEM.
WE READ IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES: “SUDDENLY THERE CAME FROM THE SKY A NOISE LIKE A STRONG DRIVING WIND, AND IT FILLED THE ENTIRE HOUSE IN WHICH THEY WERE. THEN THERE APPEARED TO THEM TONGUES AS OF FIRE WHICH PARTED AND CAME TO REST ON EACH ONE OF THEM. AND THEY WERE ALL FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND BEGAN TO SPEAK IN DIFFERENT TONGUES, AS THE SPIRIT ENABLED THEM TO PROCLAIM.”
NOTHING LIKE THIS HAD EVER HAPPENED BEFORE. THE EFFECT WAS STAGGERING. THE PEOPLE IN THAT UPPER ROOM WERE TRANSFORMED.
THE NEW PENTECOST TRANSFORMED THIS DISORGANIZED BAND OF BELIEVERS INTO A SINGLE BODY THAT WE CALL THE CHURCH. THE NEW PENTECOST ARMED THIS CHURCH WITH THE GIFTS OF HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. THE NEW PENTECOST BECAME THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
- LUKE IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES TELLS US ABOUT ALL THE JEWS WHO CAME TO JERUSALEM TO CELEBRATE THE OLD FEAST OF PENTECOST: “THERE WERE DEVOUT JEWS FROM EVERY NATION UNDER HEAVEN STAYING IN JERUSALEM—PARTHIANS, MEDES, ELAMITES, INHABITANTS OF MESOPOTAMIA, JUDEA, CAPPADOCIA, PONTUS, ASIA, PHYRGIA, PAMPHYLIA, EGYPT, LIBYA NEAR CYRENE, TRAVELERS FROM ROME, CRETANS AND ARABS.
JEWS CAME TO JERUSALEM FROM ALL OF THESE PLACES. THEY CAME TO JERUSALEM TO CELEBRATE 50 DAYS AFTER PASSOVER. NEVER, IN THEIR WILDEST DREAMS DID THEY EXPECT WHAT HAPPENED THAT DAY. THEY WERE ASTOUNDED WHEN THEY HEARD PEOPLE, WHO WERE GALILEANS, SPEAKING IN LANGUAGES THAT FOREIGNERS COULD UNDERSTAND.
THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD CREATED A PERFECT SETTING FOR THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHURCH. THREE THOUSAND WERE BAPTIZED THAT DAY. WHEN ALL OF THESE PEOPLE WENT BACK TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES SMALL GROUPS OF CHRISTIANS SPRANG UP EVERYWHERE SO THAT BY THE FOURTH CENTURY CHRISTIANS WERE OVER 50 % OF THE POPULATION.
NEVER UNDER-ESTIMATE THE HOLY SPIRIT WHO WAS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT FROM THE BEGINNING.
NEVER UNDER-ESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH THAT INFLUENCED THE VERY FRAMEWORK OF SOCIETY—THE SOCIETY THAT WE CALL WESTERN CIVILIZATION. NOT ONLY DID THE EARLY CHRISTANS BUILD UP THE CHURCH BUT THEY CHANGED THE ATTITUDE OF HISTORY.
THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION WAS NOT LIKE THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION OR THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION THAT ENSLAVED AND MURDERED 100 MILLION PEOPLE. THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION WAS NOT LIKE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION THAT WENT MAD WITH HATE AND REVENGE.
IN THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION ONLY ONE MAN LED THE BATTLE AGAINST EVIL. IN THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION THE BLOOD OF ONE MAN BROUGHT THE PROMISE OF DIVINE LIFE TO THE HUMAN RACE. THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION WAS NOT LED BY THE FORCES OF HATE AND REVENGE. THE CHRISTIAN REVOLUTION WAS LED BY THE FORCES OF LOVE AND FORGIVENESS.
WHENEVER YOU SEE THE MARVELOUS WORKS OF MERCY AND COMPASSION IN THE WORLD YOU WILL SEE THE HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS AT WORK.
IT IS INTERESTING THAT JEWS WHO OPPOSED THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT THE BEGINNING WOULD BE RESCUED BY THAT SAME CHURCH 1900 YEARS LATER DURING THE NAZI HOLOCAUST.
HISTORY RECORDS THAT PRIESTS, NUNS AND LAY CHRISTIANS RESCUED THOUSANDS OF JEWS FROM EXTERMINATION.
THE HOLOCAUST WAS A SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT. IT IS A STORY OF INDESCRIBABLE TRAGEDY AND HORROR. IT MUST NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. THE NEW PENTECOST WILL NOT ALLOW IT TO BE FORGOTTEN.
NO NATION EVER ATTEMPTED THE SYSTEMATIC MASS MURDER OF PEOPLE AS DID GERMANY IN WORLD WAR II. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 11 MILLION PEOPLE WERE VICTIMS OF NAZI GENOCIDE. 6 MILLION VICTIMS WERE JEWISH. OVER 3 MILLION OTHERS WERE GYPSIES, CHRISTIANS AND ANYBODY WHO WAS A THREAT TO THE STATE.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND THE UNFIT WERE CAUGHT UP IN A CRUEL GENOCIDE.
IN THOSE TIMES OF CHAOS, IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND DIFFICULT TO ORGANIZE RESCUE ACTIVITIES. THE NAZI GESTAPO AND SECRET POLICE WERE VIGILANT, RUTHLESS AND QUICK TO PUNISH ANYONE WHO TRIED TO RESCUE JEWISH PEOPLE.
THE CATHOLIC PRIESTS, NUNS AND LAY PEOPLE WHO ENGAGED IN RESCUE ACTIVITIES DID SO AT THE RISK OF THEIR OWN LIVES.
RESCUE ACTIVITIES INVOLVED MANY PEOPLE. THEY HAD TO HIDE JEWS SO THEY COULD HELP THEM ESCAPE. THEY PROVIDED FALSE IDENTITIES, FOOD AND SHELTER. ALL ACTIVITIES HAD TO BE CARRIED OUT IN SECRET. THE GESTAPO WAS EVER ON THE WATCH. IF EVER THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AT WORK AGAINST EVIL IT WAS IN THE RESCUES DURING THE HOLOCAUST.
WHEN RESCUERS WERE ARRESTED THEY WERE SENT TO CONCENTRATION CAMPS AND PRISONS. MANY WERE KILLED. THE STORIES OF THE HEROIC PRIESTS AND NUNS WHO RISKED THEIR LIVES TO RESCUE JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOCUMENTED, THEY HAVE BEEN HONORED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, BY THE YAD VASHEM, AND BY THE HOLOCAUST DOCUMENTATION CENTER IN ISRAEL.
THESE STORIES MUST NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT MUST NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.
IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT ITALY WAS GERMANY’S ALLY ON THE BATTLEFIELDS, MANY PRIESTS AND NUNS IN ITALY WERE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN RESCUE ACTIVITIES. WITH THE APPROVAL OF POPE PIUS XII 155 CATHOLIC INSTITUTIONS, CONVENTS, MONASTERIES, ORPHAN HOMES, AND HOSPITALS IN ITALY OPENED THEIR DOORS TO JEWISH REFUGEES. WE WILL NEVER KNOW THE FULL STORY OF HOW THE MAJORITY OF ITALIAN JEWS WERE SAVED FROM THE HOLOCAUST.
A LARGE RESCUE EFFORT TOOK PLACE IN ASSISI, THE BIRTHPLACE OF ST. FRANCIS, JEWISH PEOPLE WERE HIDDEN IN MONASTERIES AND CHURCHES IN ASSISI AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE.
SHORTLY AFTER THE NAZIS INVADED ITALY, THE RECTOR OF THE SEMINARY OF SAINT DAMIANO MADE THE BASILICA OF ASSISI A HIDING PLACE FOR MORE THAN 300 JEWISH REFUGEES AND HELPED THEM ESCAPE. NOT ONE OF THE 300 REFUGEES SHELTERED BY THE SEMINARY WAS CAPTURED.
THOUSANDS OF JEWISH REFUGEES FROM POLAND, GERMANY AND OTHER COUNTRIES WERE FLEEING TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE. LITTLE DID THEY KNOW THAT THE VICHY GOVERNMENT WOULD BEGIN ITS RUTHLESS MANHUNT FOR JEWISH REFUGEES? A CAPUCHIN FATHER WELCOMED THEM TO THE CAPUCHIN MONASTERY IN MARSEILLE. HE ARRANGED HIDING PLACES AND PLANNED THEIR ESCAPE INTO SWITZERLAND AND SPAIN.
THE GERMANS OCCUPIED FRANCE IN JUNE 1940. THE VICHY FASCIST GOVERNMENT COLLABORATED WITH THE NAZIS. THE POLICE WERE RUTHLESS. TO A LARGE DEGREE, THE WAR AGAINST THE JEWS OF FRANCE WAS A WAR AGAINST CHILDREN. BETWEEN 1942 AND 1944, 11,401 CHILDREN WERE DEPORTED TO NAZI DEATH CAMPS. NEARLY 12,000 CHILDREN WERE RESCUED BY PRIESTS AND NUNS.
THE FATHERS OF ST. FRANCIS, A CATHOLIC SEMINARY CLOSE TO THE SWISS BORDER HELPED MANY PEOPLE ESCAPE. THE PRIESTS AND SEMINARIANS ENABLED HUNDREDS OF REFUGEES, MOST OF THEM JEWS, TO ESCAPE INTO SWITZERLAND. ONE OF THE PRIESTS WAS BETRAYED AND WAS EXECUTED IN 1944. THE SEMINARY WAS CLOSED.
IN BELGIUM A BENEDICTINE MONK WORKED WITH JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS AND PLACED HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN IN HOMES AND CHURCHES IN THE LIEGE REGION OF BELGIUM. THE GESTAPO LEARNED OF HIS ACTIVITIES. THE MONK HAD TO GO INTO HIDING. THIS MONK SAVED THE LIVES OF MORE THAN 300 CHILDREN AND 116 ADULTS. AFTER THE WAR, THE PRIEST SEARCHED FOR THEIR PARENTS AND REUNITED AS MANY AS HE COULD WITH THEIR FAMILIES.
IN POLAND, ASSISTANCE TO JEWS WAS MADE A CRIME PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. YET NUNS IN MORE THAN 300 INSTITUTIONS SHELTERED JEWS IN CONVENTS AND SCHOOLS. FALSE BAPTISMAL CERTIFICATES HAD TO BE OBTAINED FOR EVERY CHILD. THEIR NAMES HAD TO BE CHANGED.
WHILE WE ADMIRE THE FAITH AND THE COURAGE OF THESE SISTERS PRIESTS AND LAY PEOPLE WHO RESCUED THE OPPRESSED WE ARE NOT SURPRISED TO FIND THE SPIRIT OF COMPASSION FROM THOSE WHO WERE COMMITTED TO THE SPIRIT OF JESUS.
THE CHURCH TODAY IS THE CHURCH OF THE NEW PENTECOST. THE CHURCH TODAY IS A SHARING, WORSHIPPING, JOYFUL CHURCH. THE CHURCH TODAY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT OF JESUS WORKING THROUGH THE SACRAMENTS, THE MASS, AND WORKS OF MERCY.
I WANT TO CLOSE WITH A TESTIMONY TO THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AS OBSERVED BY PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN FROM HIS CIVIL WAR DIARY:
“LINCOLN WRITES:
“OF ALL THE FORMS OF CHARITY AND BENEVOLENCE SEEN IN THE CROWDED WARDS IN THE HOSPITALS, THOSE OF SOME CATHOLIC SISTERS WERE THE MOST EFFICIENT.
“I NEVER KNEW WHENCE THEY CAME OR WHAT THE NAME OF THEIR ORDER WAS. LOVELIER THAN ANYTHING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN ART… ARE THE PICTURES OF THOSE MODEST SISTERS, GOING ON THEIR ERRANDS OF MERCY AMONG THE SUFFERING AND THE DYING?
“GENTLE AND WOMANLY, YET WITH THE COURAGE OF SOLDIERS… THEY WENT FROM COT TO COT... THEY WERE VERITABLE ANGELS OF MERCY.”
THE RESCUERS OF JEWS AND THE ANGELS OF MERCY WERE FUELED BY THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW PENTECOST. IN OUR OWN DAY BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION ARM EACH OF US WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE NEW PENTECOST TO BUILD UP A BETTER WORLD, NOT TO TEAR DOWN AN OLD ONE.