Birthday of the Church

In our American culture when a child completes a year of his birth, his family celebrates with gifts, a song and candles on top of a cake. The candles indicate the years the son or daughter has shone God’s light, love and truth into the family and world.

Today we celebrate the birthday of the Church, Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit was sent by God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, upon his faithful Apostles and disciples. Pentecost is the birthday of the Church because the Holy Spirit had poured out the full-ness of his divine gifts upon them.

We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life - natural and supernatural life. Just as the soul organizes and vivifies the body, similarly the Holy Spirit organizes and vivifies the Church, the Mystical Body of Jesus Christ.

In the first reading of today, the Holy Spirit revealed himself as tongues of flame, that parted and rested upon the heads of the Apostles and disciples; and all were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in foreign tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

And what did the Apostles and disciples proclaim? That Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Risen Lord of life and history, and that every person that repents and receives baptism as a disciple of his Church can be assured of the path that leads to heaven. With the power of the Holy Spirit in our souls and the grace of the sacraments, every disciple can live the Lord’s Ten Commandments of life, true love and eternal wisdom.

The tongues of fire over the heads of the Apostles and disciples were signs of the action of the Holy Spirit in their lives, and our lives also. Holy fire is good as its purpose is to illuminate, cleanse and make warm our souls with love for God and others.

St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians gives us an indication of the Holy Spirit’s role as holy fire for those who persevere in their building up the kingdom on the true foundation of Jesus Christ: “If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day (the day of judgment by Jesus) will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.” 1 Cor. 3:12-17.

Today the Church celebrates Pentecost, the day God the Father and God the Son gave the Gift of the Holy Spirit to purify and enliven the members of God’s Church with God’s indestructible divine life, true love and love for truth. The gift of the Holy Spirit in our soul gives us the

power and hope to overcome any temptation, sadness, loss or spiritual storms in our life, through prayer, worship, study, welcoming/evangelization and service. It is so good to fervently fulfill these spiritual works with you as we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ with the gold, silver and precious stones of true love instead of the lukewarm materials of wood, hay or straw.

Just as electricity starts and sustains appliances so that they can accomplish their purpose, so too the Holy Spirit enlivens the Church and we her members, in order to accomplish our purpose in life.

What is that purpose? To have a living relationship with God and one another through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit we praise and thank God, and we can order our lives to God who is the source of true love, peace, forgiveness and eternal wisdom.

When the Holy Spirit was sent upon the disciples who were in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, his seven divine gifts were fully given to them: wisdom, piety, fear of the Lord, knowledge, counsel, understanding, and fortitude. These gifts perfect the divine virtues of faith, hope and love, as well as the four moral virtues: prudence, justice, courage and temperance.

Pentecost is celebrated in a special way during the Sacrament of Confirmation when those who are disposed receive the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit’s gifts and are sealed by the Holy Spirit, which completes the recipients Sacrament of Baptism. The Holy Spirit continues to work with Jesus Christ and his Church for the sake of empower-ing each of us to defend and promote Jesus Christ and his saving truth and love, and thereby help evangelize the world.

In a sense, the Apostles and disciples who had the flames of the Holy Spirit hovering over their heads on the birthday of the Church, were the candles and the cake of Pentecost, and we can be too, because we can bring the sweetness of the supernatural life and light of God to the whole world, beginning with those people around us.

Happy birthday Church! Let us celebrate the perfect sweetness of Jesus Christ in his Word and Holy Communion by the power of the Holy Spirit. Peace in the Risen Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit,

Fr. Thomas McCabe