We Catholics won’t all hear the same Scriptures this Sunday. This solemn feast of Pentecost is so big that the vigil Mass (for Saturday) has its own readings. And both the vigil Mass and the Sunday Mass give the priest celebrant quite a few reading choices to use. In a way, I guess, this multiplicity of Pentecost Scriptures reflects the main idea of this feast: that the good news is not confined to one idea, or meant for just one people, or even meant just for our own time. The multiple Scriptures and the metaphors in them make the Gospel message fluid, applicable to the variety of humans and human experiences that have been, are, and will be throughout human history.
And God’s own nature as Spirit is also presented in different ways: wind, fire, a power that unifies our understanding so that different languages don’t block God’s message, a power that brings dead bones to life, a power that makes one people out of many tribes, a “reminding spirit” to keep us steadily on the path, an advocate to bring peace. Pentecost tells us that our faith is dynamic, like one flowing stream made up of many currents within it, “living water” nourishing things and going somewhere. There is an unfinishedness to Pentecost. We ourselves are also unfinished, still being built into more complete images of God. And we are finishers — given charge by Christ, with the help of the Spirit, to complete His work of building the kingdom of God. We won’t get it done in our lifetime! But we don’t need to worry about the whole thing, about understanding everything, only the small part that is our life, our time. Pentecost invites us to let go of the need to be certain, the need to be in control. Instead, it invites us to focus on what our limited human selves are called to do in this kingdom enterprise. It might be something new, or something continuing. It is God as Holy Spirit that helps us to discern how to help with His finishing work.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post June 8, Solemnity of Pentecost, Unfinished: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.