Pentecost 2009

Peace and Good in Christ!

Happy Pentecost! It is the birthday of the Church, so I can also say, "Happy Birthday!"

There are two scriptures that we can look at today: The first is the "mighty rushing wind" of God of Acts 2. The second is the gentle life giving breath of God of The Gospel of John. The first is witnessed at Pentecost with the wind of the Spirit, and the tongues of fire. The second is seen when Jesus breathed the Spirit upon the disciples.

The disciples had witnessed Jesus' life, teachings, and miracles. They had seen Him be true to those teachings to the point of death, death on a cross. They had experienced the unspeakable joy and wonder of seeing Him rise from the dead in the resurrection, and had had their faith that He came from God confirmed by seeing Him go back to God in the Ascension.

You would think that would have been enough to inspire them for the rest of their lives. But it wasn't. Jesus told them not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with the Power from on High, the power of the Holy Spirit. That happened at Pentecost.

There are some interesting words that are related. The first is, "inspiration." The second is, "respiration." Inspiration means to be in the spirit of another. When we are inspired by God we are in the Spirit of God. We are in the Spirit, and the Spirit is in us. The second word is, "respiration." It means to breathe in the Spirit, for the Spirit is the breath of God that gave the human being life. Without it we cannot live. We must breathe in order to remain alive. We must "respirate."

These two words bring out two aspects of life in the Spirit. The first brings out the powerful work of the Spirit as witnessed in the great spiritual gifts like tongues, prophesy, healing, teaching and others. These are very discernible signs that accompany the disciples of Jesus. They are "demonstrative" because they can be clearly seen and perceived by others. The second is more gentle, contemplative, and hidden. It is in the realms of the Mystery of Jesus. It is "mystical." The first is definable, and perceptible by the mind, emotions, and the senses of soul and body. The second is beyond all images, names, and forms. It can only be intuited by the spirit.

The Hesychasts of Eastern Orthodox Christianity divided things into "energy," and "essence" to help them understand these things. Such theological and metaphysical definitions are incomplete, but they at least help us to understand how such things work. They would say that all things have energies that are demonstrative and "knowable." They also have an essence that can only be perceived by intuitions beyond all definitions of name, form, or idea. Both are real, and are really part of the thing considered. But one exists in the realm of objective truth, and the other in the realm of mystery. This is partly because of our limited capacity to understand anything fully. We are only human. Part of it is because this is really how things must be understood in order to understand them fully.

If this is true with created things, how much more with God! Creation is limited. God is infinite. So, God has energy and essence as well. God's energies are "uncreated energies," since God is uncreated. His energies are the things that are perceptible through body and soul, through senses, emotions, and thoughts. His essence can only be understood in the spirit. His energies are given to us through His gifts of the Spirit. His essence is given to us through contemplation, Spirit to spirit. Essence is the deepest part of God that can only be known through "unknowing." One is part of God's "immanence." the other is part of his "transcendence." His immanence is known through the Incarnation of the Word in Jesus. His transcendence can only be known through intuition in the Spirit.

"Inspiration" is known and stirred up through enthusiastic participation in the Christian life, especially enthusiastic worship. This is especially seen in the Charismatic renewal and other renewal movements in the Church. "Respiration" is known through the more quiet and contemplative prayer methods of Christian tradition. These include Lectio, or slow meditative reading that passes over into contemplation beyond all words in the West, and the Jesus Prayer in the East. The use of slowing the breath while sitting in a still and stable posture is used in both today.

This Pentecost is filled with both aspects of God's Spirit. Let's open ourselves to the great spiritual gifts spoken of in scripture. Some of these are demonstrative for the building up of the Church through ministries of various kinds. These are filled with human and divine energy and enthusiasm. Some are quiet contemplative gifts that are quite personal and hidden. They are mystical. They communicate his deepest Mystery. Opening ourselves to this width and breadth of the Spirit makes us bigger people, and better Christians.

We desperately need big Christians today. The bigness of our world seems all the more accessible in modern times through technologies like the internet. Therefore, our world seems to be getting bigger and smaller. This makes both the wonder and the tragedy of the world all the more immediate to us in daily life. So the world still needs the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus. It is only in the power of the Spirit that we can accomplish this task. This is the Great Commission that Jesus gave us, and the main scriptural reason the Spirit was given to us at Pentecost. So let us open ourselves to the full gift of the Spirit, know the good news of Jesus personally, and bring the good news to the world!

Lastly, Pentecost is a liturgical celebration on a particular day at the close of the Easter season. But Pentecost should be every day! Liturgical celebrations are supposed to encourage and remind us of a particular aspect of the life of Christ and the Church that can be part of our life every day. Every day is Pentecost. Every day is Easter, Good Friday, and Christmas. Our life is to be abundant and full in Christ.

Have a great Pentecost!

In Jesus,

John Michael Talbot
Founder, and Spiritual Father
The Brothers and Sisters of Charity at Little Portion Hermitage