20210523 IGNITE AND SHINE: BUILDING A CHARISMATIC CHURCH
23 May, 2021, Sunday, Pentecost
First reading | Acts 2:1-11 © |
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak foreign languages as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech.
Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven, and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language. They were amazed and astonished. ‘Surely’ they said ‘all these men speaking are Galileans? How does it happen that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; people from Mesopotamia, Judaea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya round Cyrene; as well as visitors from Rome – Jews and proselytes alike – Cretans and Arabs; we hear them preaching in our own language about the marvels of God.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 103(104):1,24,29-31,34 © |
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord God, how great you are,
How many are your works, O Lord!
The earth is full of your riches.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
You take back your spirit, they die,
returning to the dust from which they came.
You send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the earth.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
May the glory of the Lord last for ever!
May the Lord rejoice in his works!
May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I find my joy in the Lord.
Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.
or
Alleluia!
Second reading |
Galatians 5:16-25 © |
If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you
If you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you. When self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires.
Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit.
Gospel Acclamation |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
John 15:26-27,16:12-15 © |
The Spirit of truth will lead you to the complete truth
Jesus said to his disciples:
‘When the Advocate comes,
whom I shall send to you from the Father,
the Spirit of truth who issues from the Father,
he will be my witness.
And you too will be witnesses,
because you have been with me from the outset.
‘I still have many things to say to you
but they would be too much for you now.
But when the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
since he will not be speaking as from himself
but will say only what he has learnt;
and he will tell you of the things to come.
He will glorify me,
since all he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.
Everything the Father has is mine;
that is why I said:
All he tells you
will be taken from what is mine.’
IGNITE AND SHINE: BUILDING A CHARISMATIC CHURCH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ACTS 2:1-11; PS 104; GAL 5:16-25; JN 15:26-27,16:12-15]
What does it mean to celebrate the 200th Pentecost in Singapore? Ever since the first Pentecost was celebrated by the faithful in Singapore 200 years ago, our community has grown in numbers. We estimate that there are about 380,000 Catholics in Singapore, although about 140,000 attend church services regularly and the others on special occasions, if at all. Although the Church has grown in number, most members have not grown in depth in their love for God, as manifested in the lack of evangelical zeal in many of our Catholics, the small number of conversions and the falling number of priestly and religious vocations.
Indeed, something is missing in the lives of many baptized Catholics. Some drag their feet to church every Sunday. Some find our worship boring and disconnected. Some who are active in Church, including priests and religious, see it as their duty. Many young people are not interested in their faith. Many are fearful, like the apostles hiding in the Upper Room, afraid to engage the world and to announce the Good News of our Lord. There is no zeal, no joy, no enthusiasm and of course no life! We must ask ourselves honestly whether we are running a maintenance Church. When a Church becomes too institutionalized over time, it is the beginning of stagnation and decadence, as we see in many parts of the world. When the Church is old and too established and complacent, it lacks the dynamism for growth.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we find two cases when St Paul also found something amiss and lacking in the Christian community. At Galatia, he found a Jew from Ephesus who was “an eloquent man, well versed in the scriptures. He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.” (Acts 18:25) Soon, when he arrived at Ephesus, he found some disciples who had never heard of the Holy Spirit or was baptized in the Holy Spirit. They were then baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. “When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.” (Acts 19:1-7)
Truly, without the Holy Spirit, the Church is reduced to an institution at best, and at worst, a maintenance Church. It is not engineered by God but by the ingenuity of man, using their knowledge, talents, techniques and technology to grow the Church. Perhaps this is the reason why the Church is seen by some as just another human institution, seeking power, wealth and influence. In many places in the world, many are leaving not just the traditional, mainstream, but even evangelical churches. They have given up their faith and hope in the institutional Church because of corruption and scandals. Wasn’t this what St Paul was writing about, that without the Spirit, “the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things.”?
More than ever, we need to be reignited in the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to receive the Holy Spirit anew, like the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles, before we can shine in society and in the world. When the Holy Spirit descends on us, we will be lighted by the fire of love and truth. We read in today’s first reading, “When Pentecost day came round, they had all met in one room, when suddenly they heard what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven, the noise of which filled the entire house in which they were sitting; and something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each of them.” Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit because fire is a symbol of the love of God and also a symbol of truth, because fire purifies evil through judgement.
How, then, does the Holy Spirit reignite us? St Paul tells us, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5) When we are loved, we will naturally be loving and out-reaching. When we find love, there is hope and meaning in life. So it is the love of God that has impelled priests, religious and missionaries over the last 200 years to give up their life, their comforts, their family and their country to bring the gospel to the people in Singapore. St Paul wrote, “For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.” (2 Cor 5:13-15)
But this divine love is not just a doctrine, it must be a heartfelt and personal experience. We read in the first reading that the fire of the Holy Spirit “came to rest on the head of each of them.” The Holy Spirit is not just given to the Church as a body but to individuals, who then, sharing the same Spirit of Christ, forms the Ecclesia, the Assembly of God, the Body of Christ. So unless each and every member is renewed in the Holy Spirit and is touched by His love in a personal and tangible way, we can only speak of a mere abstract doctrine of the Holy Spirit present in the institutional Church. Every member of the Church must be filled with the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Church must be charismatic before it becomes institutional. The purpose of the institution is to guide the use of the charisms so that there will be order and unity in the Church, but never to stifle the charismatic dimension of the Church, without which, we lose our dynamism and power to transform and evangelize.
However, we are not just motivated by love, we are also motivated by truth. In today’s gospel, the Lord said, “when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come.” Love convicts the heart but truth convicts the mind. When our minds have been enlightened in the truth, we will have the conviction to preach, teach and announce the gospel with courage and fortitude, just like the early Christians and many devout Catholics today because they truly believe in the Lord and the gospel. When truth is in us, we cannot stop speaking. When Peter and John were ordered by the Sanhedrin, “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19f)
Thirdly, we are motivated by joy and peace that come from intimacy with the Lord. The prophet Nehemiah wrote, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Neh 8:10) Indeed, this is the measure of whether we have been touched and filled with the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit comes down upon us, we are filled with joy and peace. This was what happened to the apostles when they saw the Risen Lord. We experience true freedom, the freedom to love others before self, freedom from guilt, and the joy of praising and worshipping God spontaneously. St Paul wrote, “What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This explains why those in the Renewal exude much joy and love in the way they proclaim Jesus and share the Good News with others and their spontaneous love for their brothers and sisters. They are often expressive in worship, not just in words but bodily as well because they pray not from their mind but from their heart. This is the freedom that the Spirit gives.
So my dear friends, in the responsorial psalm we prayed, “Send forth your spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.” We can do this only when we are humble and docile to the Holy Spirit. We must allow ourselves to be reignited by the Holy Spirit by attending the programs offered by the Renewal movements in our Church today, whether it is the Charismatic movement, Neo-Catechumenate, Landings, Marriage Encounter, Couples for Christ, Divine Mercy, Conversion Experience Retreat, etc. There are so many of them. Be empowered!
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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