In the fourth verse of the 111th Psalm which we pray today, we hear Our Lord Jesus speaking: “The merciful and gracious Lord hath so done His marvellous works, that they ought to be had in remembrance.” I think Our Lord Jesus is referring here to the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, and the marvellous works of the Holy Spirit, Who guides us into all truth and bears witness to Christ. Now, “remembrance” in Scripture has a special meaning: it is knowing, but knowing personally, fully, and intimately. So Jesus is saying that the marvellous works of the Holy Spirit ought be known personally, fully, and intimately.
It was on Easter Day, the Day of Our Lord’s Resurrection, that Jesus was finally made fully known to His disciples. The key word there is “fully.” Up until His resurrection, Our Lord was only partially known to His followers, save a very select company that includes His Mother Blessed Mary Theotokos, S. John Baptist and his parents Ss Elizabeth and Zacharias, S. John the Evangelist (the “beloved disciple”), Ss Simeon and Anna, and perhaps a few others. Each of these Saints in this select group had some kind of meaningful awareness of Jesus of Nazareth as both man and Son of God the Father Almighty. Yet for all the other disciples – nearly all of the 120 male and female apostles in the Upper Room – their understanding of Jesus was basically that He was a man: a prophet mighty in deed and word, a charismatic teacher, a healer, a miracle-worker, a bold provocateur, and, truth be told, a mystery. His words and deeds had a very mysterious character to them, a mystical character, very spiritual, very prayerful, drenched in humility but also unpredictability. He was, even for His enemies but certainly for His followers, a man unlike any person had ever seen or heard of.
Easter changed all of that. Or more precisely, Easter Day began the process whereby the hearts and minds of the Upper Room apostles were transformed, and lit up with holy fire. The distribution of the Holy Fire began with the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women at the Tomb (including Saint Mary Magdalene). It continued with the Two Disciples (S. Cleophas and, possibly, S. Luke) at the house in Emmaus with the Breaking of the Bread and (retrospectively) the opening of Scripture by Christ along the way to the house. These were all works of the Holy Spirit upon Christ’s disciples.
And it continued in the Upper Room, on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” The peace which passeth all understanding – be with you. The peace which we share during every holy Mass – the same peace be with you: them, and us, the same peace! And when Jesus had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. His hands, where the nails were; His side, where the sword was. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Now, because no one recognizes Christ without the Holy Spirit, the revelation of Who was with them is another work of the Holy Spirit. And Jesus said again: “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” To be sent by Christ is the definition of apostle. And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” To testify to the importance of this moment, S. Thomas who was not present, did not accept the others’ testimony of Our resurrected Lord’s presence, and that was because, quite simply, he had not received the Holy Spirit; but Thomas did accept it a week later, for it was in seeing the mark of the nails and the mark of the sword that brought the Holy Spirit to Thomas, so much so that Thomas cried out, “My Lord and my God!”
My dear brothers and sisters, this moment for Christ’s apostles receiving the Holy Spirit was profoundly important for them, and it is profoundly important for the Church. Yet receiving the Holy Spirit is also an experience that happens in the life of a Christian, not only at Baptism and Confirmation but repeatedly in the life of a Christian who is obedient and faithful. What it means to receive the Holy Spirit, therefore, is of primary importance for Christians. And so it will be the theme of the Eastertide preaching this year, framed in this way: “How do we receive the Holy Spirit?”
As the Upper Room apostles began on Easter the process of receiving the Holy Spirit whereby their hearts and minds were transformed, so we during the Sundays and Holy Days of Eastertide, seek a greater understanding and awareness of the Holy Spirit, so that the words of dismissal at the end of the Mass – “the blessing of God Almighty: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be among you, and remain with you always” – become all the more meaningful, all the more accurate, and all the more real: the Holy Spirit among us, remaining with you, to make our hearts all the more established in Christ, our hearts all the more alive within the Holy Spirit, all the more participating in Whom we live and move and have our being. Amen.
Comments
No posts