Homily of the Rev. Dr. David A. Killian
Day of Pentecost
May 27, 2007
All Saints Parish
Brookline, Massachusetts
Text: Acts 2:1-11
I
Pentecost is a great feast day and it has a special meaning for me because 40 years ago on Pentecost Sunday I celebrated my "first Mass" at my home parish, St. Paul's Church in Milwaukee. My brother was the lector that day and he practiced for hours the pronunciation of those strange names that we heard in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles. Like today's lector, he got those pronunciations right, not an easy accomplishment. Thank you to all who participated in reading the account in Acts in multiple languages today - which helped give us a sense of the first Pentecost.
Pentecost marks the transition of the disciples from frightened, cowering, intimidated people into courageous leaders. Why were they frightened, you might ask. Well, they had good reason to worry that the authorities were going to do the same thing to them as the authorities had done to Jesus. So in fear the disciples hid behind locked doors.
And then something wonderful happened: "There came the sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability."
The scene of the disciples locked in a room in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost makes me think of a time seven years ago that I was in a large room in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I had gone to Belfast with a group of peacemakers from the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation. We had driven from Dublin, crossed through the border check point staffed by British soldiers and arrived at a house near Queens College.
Belfast was a divided city, with a wall separating Catholic and Protestant districts. When you entered Catholic neighborhoods, you saw flags of the Republic of Ireland. Drive a few blocks and you entered a Protestant section flying the Union Jack of Great Britain.
We were to meet with leaders from two Protestant political parties and two Catholic political parties. I was anticipating what it would be like to hear the Catholic and Protestant leaders debate one another. However, that was not to happen. We did meet with the Catholic and Protestant leaders, but not with them at the same time, because the Catholics and Protestants would not agree to be in the same room with one another. Each side still nursed old wounds and resentments from the conflict that had claimed over 3,000 lives. Why, they said, would I want to be in the same room with a murderer? Why would I want to be in the same room with someone who had killed my brother, sister, father or mother?
No, they would not be in the same room with one another, but, both sides were observing a truce and they had stopped killing one another. That was a big improvement from a couple of decades earlier when death squads from both sides were setting bombs killing innocent people, in a cycle of reprisal and revenge. Since 1998, both sides were obeying the Good Friday peace accords; the wanton and random killings had stopped.
Just a few weeks ago, on May 8, 2007, nine years after the Good Friday accords, the people of Northern Ireland have taken another huge step. Who could believe it? There on the front page of papers all over the world was a picture of Ian Paisley, the Protestant leader, and Martin McGuiness, the Catholic leader, forming a united government in Northern Ireland - Protestant and Catholic - in which both sides would share power.
II
I see the Holy Spirit involved in the peace accords and power sharing in Northern Ireland. To me, it is like Pentecost happening again. People who were locked in fear are unlocking doors and coming together to build a new society and a new world.
I would like to share two other examples from the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation that are ways that I see the Holy Spirit working in the world.
The first is with young people. Glencree sponsors a summer program that brings together Protestant and Catholic young people from Northern Ireland with young people from Israel and Palestine. These young people learn skills of conflict resolution and peacemaking that they can take back home to their communities. These youth form friendships that are a foundation for their societies to live in peace.
Do you not wish that there could be such summer programs for Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, for Hindus and Muslims in India and Pakistan, for Sunnis and Shias in Iraq?
The second example is senior citizens who come at their own expense to Glencree to spend their summer vacation on construction projects, serving meals, and other work to aid the peacekeeping effort. The Holy Spirit doesn't have an age limit to become active in your life. The Holy Spirit can fire your imagination, enthusiasm, and commitment - no matter your age.
III
In a few minutes, we will celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism by water and the Holy Spirit for Jayden, Avery, and Liam. The outward sign today will not be the rush of a violent wind nor tongues of fire - as it was on Pentecost Day 2,000 years ago. The outward signs today will be the pouring of water, which symbolizes new life in Christ, the anointing with oil that symbolizes the priestly dignity of the baptized, and the giving of lighted candles that symbolize the light of Christ. These are the outward signs. The inward signs are the renewal of the Holy Spirit and being marked as God's own forever.
At the first Pentecost, the disciples received the Holy Spirit and a great power was released within them that gave them strength to unlock doors to bring the message of the good news of Christ to the world. As you can see, the doors of our church are wide open today. Our church is open and welcoming to all who want to enter. However, maybe there is a locked part in your heart that keeps you imprisoned in some way. Perhaps it is a resentment, a grudge, a fear, or a feeling of unworthiness. Whatever it is, the Holy Spirit wants to unlock whatever is imprisoning you, so that you can be free to love and serve the Lord.
Amen.