PENTECOST MOMENTS

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The second reading at Vigils this morning was from Karl Rahner, S.J.. Tomorrow is the solemnity of Pentecost,so the readings have been preparing us for the celebration. (When I Googled a sentence from this reading just now, I was directed to my own Pentecost post of two years ago!) I’m going to refer to the same couple of sentences again. Here is the paragraph from Fr. Rahner:

"The Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of holy unrest, of eternal discontent, the Spirit that again and again startles us with the cry: “You still have far to go,” the Spirit that makes even the saints dissatisfied with themselves, makes them their own accusers… It is the Spirit that renews the face of the earth, the Spirit of life ever new in new forms , on new roads, in new conveyances, on bold ventures, This is how he is and wills to be the Spirit of the Church."

CAPS AND GOWNS ON THE CORNER

The weather this week was good for walking around downtown. As I took advantage of the

opportunity I kept coming across college graduates from various colleges in caps and gowns surrounded by family and friends. The Prudential Center seems to be a popular venue for college graduation ceremonies, and the campus of Rutgers Newark seemed to be sending a constant stream of capped and gowned young people into the neighborhood. The young grads always seemed excited and proud; some of them relieved, I’m sure, and all of them wondering about the future. As they stared into the camera I could imagine them asking themselves, “Will I find a job? Can I afford graduate school? How am I going to pay back those loans?” This was a “Pentecost moment.”

"The Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of holy unrest, of eternal discontent, the Spirit that again and again startles us with the cry: “You still have far to go,” the Spirit that makes even the saints dissatisfied with themselves…."

BACKPACKS AT THE BUS STOP

Less numerous but just as incongruous downtown were the freshmen from St. Benedict’s

Prep who sometimes wore their backpacks as they walked down to Penn Station Newark or waited at the bus stop. They are leaving on Sunday for the 53-mile hike in the mountains of Northwestern New Jersey, and they too are wondering about the future: :Will we run into bears? What if I fall and break my leg? Will I be strong enough to keep up with my hiking team?” Another Pentecost moment.

The Spirit of Pentecost is the Spirit of holy unrest, of eternal discontent, the Spirit that again and again startles us with the cry: “You still have far to go,” the Spirit that makes even the saints dissatisfied with themselves

SPIRIT AT A DEAD END

On Tuesday evening I was hearing confessions at a Penance Service here in the abbey church. I was sitting in a chair in front of the tabernacle with an empty chair facing me. The first penitent was a man in his twenties whom I’d never seen before. “The guy at the desk told me that they were having confession here so I came.” His story of drug addiction and failed rehabs and despair and self-loathing overwhelmed me; I felt totally useless to the poor guy. What could I say to him? I just kept trying to assure him “God loves you right now, just the way you are.” But of course he had a tougher time than most of us do with trying to believe that. After all,how could God love a drug dealer? We prayed together and I gave him absolution and a blessing with the invitation to come to the monastery any time and ask for me. Then he vanished into the darkness of the city streets. This, too, was a Pentecost moment for me. And who knows, maybe it was for that poor fellow as well. 

Let's pray for him using Fr. Rahner’s prayer from the passage I’ve been quoting:

“Come Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son…. Come secret jubilation in the tears of the world, come, life victorious in the death of earth. Come, Father of the poor, bulwark of the distressed… Abide with us, Holy Spirit. And change us. Come, Spirit of God.”  

The feast of Pentecost marks the end of the Easter Season, the culmination of the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s redemptive suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. It’s good to see some Pentecost moments in the city. May the Lord grant us many more!

“Come, Holy Spirit, and change us!”
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