Homily for the Feast of Pentecost, Year C

Pentecost And The Mass Shooting In Our Nation

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Feast of Pentecost, Year C

St. Bridget Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 5, 2022

Today we celebrate the great Feast of Pentecost, which is the coming of the Holy Spirit the Comforter. What is the job description of the Holy Spirit? What is the Holy Spirit coming to do? To form the church! Our today’s first reading (Acts 2:1-11) shows that the first work of the Holy Spirit is the formation of an ekklesia (a church), which will subsequently transform the world. The Holy Spirit is meant to prepare us to enter into relationship with Jesus and then embark on the mission of transforming the world or in the language of Psalm 104, “renew the face of the earth” by means of the Church. In the words of the Nicene Creed (I believe in one God…), this ekklesia is said to be “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.” How come?

The Church is one. This quality of oneness or unity can be seen from the early formation of the ekklesia. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that in the morning of Pentecost, the Apostles together with the Blessed Mother Mary gathered in one place for prayer. The Spirit draws and brings all the followers of Jesus together in unity. Although there is diversity and variety of personalities, pastoral emphases, theological schools etc. in the ekklesia, the community of Jesus is meant to be united. It is only when we are united that we can possibly unify the world. It was the great Origen of Alexandria who said, “Where there is division, there is sin.” The Church’s missionary task is to overcome division, wherever it is found. Jesus wants the Church to become one; He also wants the world to become one by means of the Church. At the Last Supper, before Jesus died, he prayed, “that they may be one, just as you, Father, and I are one” (John 17:22).

Secondly, the Church is holy. The Church is meant to be holy. We are all meant to be holy. What is holiness? It is striving to be like Jesus. None of us can achieve this without the help and involvement of the Holy Spirit. Everything in the life of the Church— sacraments, the Eucharist, the liturgy, preaching, prayer, bible study, devotions, adoration, the witness of the saints etc. is meant to make us holy. I am always appalled when I encounter Christians, especially Catholics who profess strong devotion to prayer, to the sacraments, doctrines and practices of the Church, yet are clearly filled with hatred. Hatred opposes love, and one clear effect of holiness is love. Jesus loves saints and sinners. He loves saints f0r who they are, and He loves sinners for who they could become. Hatred is a sign of unholiness. If you have passionate commitment to the sacraments, to prayer, to the Church’s teachings while at the same time is filled with hatred, know this now: all your devotions are fine, but in your case, they are not working.” The night before he died, Jesus said, “This is how the world will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Love, which is willing the good of the other and doing something about it is the flag of the Holy Spirit. 

Thirdly, the Church is catholic. The ekklesia of Jesus is meant for all people of the world— black, white, brown and for all languages— Igbo, Swahili, French, English, Spanish, Vietnamese etc. It is meant to bring the entire world to Christ; to bring the wandering ones to Jesus. He himself said, “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). But bringing the wandering ones to Jesus should not be done by way of compulsion or violence or threat of violence or imposition. In the past, such tactics have been used by some Christian missionaries. The task of the Church is simply to be the light and salt for the whole society, and to be the leaven that makes the dough to rise. Authentic missionary activity does not suppress the plurality of cultures, rather it evangelizes the culture via love. I want everyone to be a Catholic Christian, but I cannot force people or support laws that force people to become Christians. Jesus didn’t do it. He only invited people to freely follow him.

Finally, the Church is apostolic. What does it mean? The word “apostle” is derived from the Geek word apostelein, which means “to send.” The twelve Apostles were sent into the world to evangelize after being empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Church exists primarily to make disciples for Christ. If we stop doing it, we will become irrelevant. When was the last time you told someone about your faith? When was the last time you prayed and reflected over the Bible with your family?

This year, it is providential that we are celebrating the Feast of Pentecost at a time when we are confronted yet again with mass shooting here in our country. So, as we celebrate the coming of the Comforter, we offer our prayer of comfort for our brothers and sisters in Buffalo, Uvalde and Tulsa. The past few weeks have been very difficult for a lot of people. Lots of tears and blood have been shed. Each time there is a mass shooting, we pray, light candles, and our political leaders make speeches or issue statements. Incidentally, the overwhelming majority of people in this great country have been Christians— which is to say, people who are baptized into the divine life, filled, at least in principle, with the Holy Spirit. If Christians have been the dominant presence in our country for many centuries, why isn’t there more unity and love? Why is there so much mass shooting in America? We are told that all these shooting are done by people with mental health problem, but is America the only country with people with mental issues? Actually those who say these shootings are perpetrated by mentally ill people are talking down on the country. Because what that says to other nations is that America is littered with mentally sick people. That America is not really beautiful. That America is sick. After the shooting in Uvalde, it was reported that presidents of Russia and China, two authoritarian leaders were mocking America. Let me say this: every country has mentally sick people. The difference is that in America, there is more availability of guns, and not just guns but the kind of guns used by the US army in war front. I understand the Second Amendment says that the right of people to keep and bear arms… shall not be infringed. I get that. But when the founding fathers included that section into the Constitution, did they really mean any type of arms including the one used by the 18 year old boy in Uvalde? I am not a constitutional lawyer or scholar, but I know something is wrong somewhere. As we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, I urge you to celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit, but then get out of the Upper Room. Influence and evangelize the culture. Light the fire of love in the family, in the streets, in the halls of government, in the world of communication, in business and industry, in schools, and in the hearts of your friends and neighbors. The constant mass shooting in our nation can be reduced by love. Let’s stop blaming mental health alone. What about the absence of love in our family, politics, state, communities and even in our Church? Where love and charity abide, there God is found.