A Harvest of Fruits

Pentecost 2018

Many of you are aware that Pentecost is an important feast in our liturgical calendar and for good reason. Pentecost signifies the dawning of the age of the church, a new era in which the Spirit’s gifts, previously limited to particular people and situations, are now distributed liberally to all the people of God, young and old, male and female, slave and free. In popular parlance, this feast has been described as the “Birthday of the Church.”

But did you know that Pentecost originally was a Jewish festival? That’s right. And not just any Jewish festival, Pentecost was also a harvest festival, a first fruits harvest festival.  Now when I say that Pentecost originally was a Jewish festival, you would not find that in the Old Testament, at least no reference to the word “Pentecost.” This is because the word “Pentecost” comes from the Greek word for "fiftieth" (pentecoste). Pentecost is the fiftieth day after Easter Sunday. Although you won’t find the word “Pentecost” you would find references to the Feast of Weeks (because it fell at the end of the seventh seven-days-week after Passover, the Jewish equivalent of Easter). Pentecost and the Feast of Weeks are really the same thing. The Hebrew name for this festival is “Shavuot,” which means “Weeks.” So seven weeks after Passover, after seven sevens, that is, on the fiftieth day, they had this festival.

What was Shavuot or Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks about? Well, as I said, it was a harvest festival. When Israel would get into the Promised Land, and the Lord would bless them in that bountiful land, then thereafter every year when the first fruits of the wheat crop would come in–at this time of the year, in late spring–the Israelites were to have a festival and give thanks to the Lord. They were to remember and to rejoice. They were to remember how the Lord brought them out of their bondage in Egypt at the Passover, and brought them up into the Promised Land, where they could enjoy such bounty. Another thing that was remembered and celebrated by Jews at Shavuot was the Lord giving His Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 19 it does say that Israel came to Mount Sinai around that time of the year, so the giving of the Torah became associated with the Feast of Weeks as well. And so it was a time of rejoicing, a time to remember and a time to rejoice in what the Lord had done, a time to rejoice over the gift of the Law and the Covenant.

So it’s Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, the day of Pentecost, fifty days after the Passover. The disciples of Jesus–indeed, the whole company of believers–were all together in Jerusalem. Jesus had ascended into heaven ten days earlier, and now they were waiting there, together, as He had instructed. They were not the only ones in Jerusalem, because, Pentecost was one of the three pilgrimage festivals (the other two being Passover and the Feast of Booths), so you have all these scattered Jews, from all over the world, coming into Jerusalem to worship at the temple. A fitting audience for what was going to happen next!

Then the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples and they were overwhelmed by what sounded like a gale force wind, releasing them into strange tongues, so ecstatically that the bystanders assumed they were drunk. They weren’t, it was all happening too early in the day, as Simon Peter noted, perhaps with a touch of humour. It certainly bewildered the crowd. The descent of the Holy Spirit, and thus the creation of the Church, occurred in this eruption of mutually unintelligible languages, in which nevertheless the mighty works of God were praised and proclaimed accessibly to all and sundry. Peter began preaching to them about Christ crucified, whom now God has raised from the dead and who has been made their Lord, the very same one that they had crucified. This message cut the hearers’ hearts to the quick, and heeding Peter’s exhortation, they repented and were baptised. The Acts of the Apostles speak of three thousand were added on that very day. In so many ways, Pentecost is truly a harvest festival, not of the crops of the people but rather the people themselves, and the three thousand were the first fruits of that harvest. Soon there would be thousands–no, millions–more. But the Pentecost explosion has not ended. Its ripples continue to be felt throughout the world through all generations. So it is for us too, at this Feast of Pentecost.

This harvest is the fruit of the seed sown by Christ. We recall Our Lord's words in John's Gospel anticipated in the conversion of the Samaritan woman at the well, the first missionary: “I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already ripe for harvest” (Jn 4:35). Our Lord gave the apostles to understand that only after His death would they reap the harvest of the seed He had sown: “’One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that which you did not labour; others have laboured, and you have entered into their gain” (Jn 4:37-38). From the day of Pentecost, through the work of the Holy Spirit, the apostles will become the reapers of the seed sown by Christ. And indeed, on the day of Pentecost, there was an abundant harvest!

The harvest is also the fruit of Christ's sacrifice. Jesus spoke of the sower's “toil,” and this consists especially in His passion and death on the cross. Christ is that “other one” who has laboured for this harvest. He is the one who has opened the way for the Spirit of truth, who, from the day of Pentecost, begins to work effectively by means of the apostolic kerygma. So, we cannot boast or take credit for what has happened, what is happening and what will be happening in the Church. It is all the fruit of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice on the cross and re-presented at every Mass. At every Mass, we do not only witness the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ made present again. It is Pentecost too that is made present again. And, that is the reason why it is accurate to say that the Eucharist makes the Church.

Pentecost was and continues to be an outpouring into real people, lives receptive to the Spirit, ready to emerge from locked rooms into the community to preach, heal and minister to others. We are these real people today who need this outpouring of the Holy Spirit so as to come out from the safety of living behind locked doors. Though it is safe and secure to live our Christian lives from behind locked doors; but just like fruits, when they are kept locked away and not eaten, they eventually rot and go bad. Our fruits demand sharing and witnessing. Without such testimony the “word” of our Lord is soon forgotten, and we settle for our own words and we become an echo chamber for our own ideas. Pentecost serves, like every birthday celebration, to remind us that our lives are meant to be shared. Everything is a gift meant to be used fully and joyfully to our benefit and that of those around us.

Pentecost day is marked with exuberance, confidence, abundance. In dark times, when our future is uncertain, when the forces of evil seem more prevalent than the good, when there is every reason to despair and give up, when our lives seem old and tired, Pentecost invades our lives once again and reminds us, that we are part of the harvest of fruits sown by Christ and made possible by His sacrifice. And that, changes everything!  The great news of Pentecost is that even when things which seemed impossible begin to happen, and a message that seemed difficult to comprehend or express is widely proclaimed. Pentecost reminds us that just when we thought there would be no closure to the story, with the Holy Spirit, we will find fulfilment and completion. Pentecost is not just a season or annual feast for us. It is not simply a fact or event that we commemorate. It is our beginning, our entry point, our ever-present moment. The Holy Spirit continues to work in us to transform and inspire us, so that God’s great work of salvation can be shown forth in us and brought to its completion. Inspired by the Holy Spirit’s action, we receive the courage to lift our hearts in hope, and the Spirit fills us, making us new.

We've got to pray just to make it today

Seventh Sunday of Easter Year B

Remember MC Hammer, that rapper artist who made it big in the late 80s and who gave a new definition to big baggy pants – well it looked rather like two helium balloons encasing his legs. His single most successful hit was ironically entitled, ‘Pray.’ Like other rapper artist, MC Hammer was never known for his humility. His songs often fed his inflated ego and spoke of exaggerated personal achievements that towered over others. The hubris of the artist and the lyrics were often the selling points. But in this single hit, he highlighted the reason for his unexpected success. The answer was found in the refrain that littered the whole song, “We got to pray, just to make it today.”

Jesus isn’t a proficient rapper by any standard but seems to agree with the logic of the above song, “We got to pray, just to make it today!” In today’s gospel, we hear Him praying to the Father in this magnificent prayer recorded in Chapter 17 of John’s Gospel. Throughout the Last Supper Discourse and as Jesus and His disciples make their way to Gethsemane, Jesus continues to speak to His disciples, preparing them for the future, and assuring them of His provision for all their needs in His absence. At one moment, He is teaching His disciples, and in the next, He is praying to the Father. The Lord was acting as a high priest on behalf of His people, thus earning the passage this name – ‘The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus.’

The High-priestly prayer is divided into three parts. The first part (verses 1-5) speaks of Jesus’ own relationship with the Father. The second part (verses 6-19), which is what you had heard in today’s gospel reading, speaks of Christ and His disciples. The third part (verses 20-26) deals with the relationship of Christ and His Church. By stringing these themes together, Jesus presents to us a powerful model for prayer, or rather the attitude or presuppositions we must have as the premise for our prayer.

The first presupposition that is made, is that glory and suffering are not mutually exclusive. Jesus speaks of Himself being glorified by the Father. The manner of His glorification, the manner in which He will come to have authority over death and the power of evil is none other than the Way of the Cross. Jesus’ suffering and sacrifice on the cross will be His glory, and through His self-giving act, God Himself will be glorified. This seems strangely at odds with our notions of prayer. We often pray that suffering will go away and not the reverse. But the prayer of Jesus does not deny the reality of suffering. On the contrary, the prayer transforms the cross from a symbol of pain, humiliation and failure to one of joy, glory and victory. Christians do not pray away sufferings. Suffering, hardship and the cross are inevitable. We pray, however, that we may find glory in enduring our crosses so that God may be glorified. We pray that we may be united with Christ in the Paschal Mystery, the mystery of our salvation. We pray not just for temporary relief. We pray for eternal salvation.

The second presupposition of the High Priestly Prayer is that, it assumes the sovereignty of God in the salvation of men. Man’s welfare or rather his salvation is God’s principal priority. It is God who provides leadership as we have seen in the first reading. In the gospel, Jesus prays in such manner because He understands and is convinced that it is God who lays the foundation for communities. It is God who provides the mortar to the Church for its unity. It is God who protects us from adversity. It is God who makes communities, not man. It is God who saves us, keeps us, cares for us and liberates us. Without God, none of this would be possible. Thus, any prayer should begin with this firm conviction and faith that, it has already been answered by God in the best way possible.

The problem is that our prayers are often worded in a way where we have inserted a caveat or fail-save clause which betrays our lack of trust in God’s providence on the one hand, and a greater trust in our own devices on the other. Sometimes you hear people saying, “We’ve done all we can. The only thing we can do now is to pray.” We popularise clichéd statements like this “God helps those who help themselves,” treating them as if they were biblically inspired. Ultimately, these statements and beliefs are based on the premise that it falls principally on man to work out his own salvation and only when he has exhausted his resources, should he then rely on God. Therefore God would only be the second or last resort. That’s Pelagianism, not Christianity.

We often turn to human machinations and try to brainstorm alternative solutions when faced with a crisis. What more can we do to promote vocations to the priesthood? How can we be more creative in attracting the young to religious life? How can we work on the unity of our members? How can we convince more people to come to our BECs? How can we bring change to the political culture of this country? We place greater faith on our structural abilities than on the power of prayer. To dare to suggest that we pray is to suggest that we don’t have a backup plan. Therefore, many people often think that prayer is meant for those who are just not clever enough to solve their problems on their own, those who cannot resort to their rationality. We think that prayer is not for the strong. This explains why devotion before the Blessed Sacrament is never filled with men. Because men often pride themselves as rational beings, as Mr. Fix-it and Fix-all. So we tend to stereotype that prayer is meant only for old women, for the sick, and particularly for the weak – for those who have no recourses to any other solution except in God.

There is a time for prayer and there is a time for action. But action often seems more tangible and dependable than prayer. But the recent General Elections debunked the myth that action and prayer are incompatible or at least that the former is superior to the latter. Many took to prayer, even keeping constant prayer vigils, fasting and novenas, whilst others went on the political campaign trail. A colleague of mine just after having cast his vote in the morning commented, “The ruling party will retain its hold on power. There is no way the opposition will win with all the odds stacked against it plus the unfairness of the whole process. The only way they could win is through some sheer divine intervention.” Well, I guess his words were prophetic without him realising it at that time. Whenever, we place our hope solely on man’s ability and potential to effect change, we are bound to be disappointed. Our human projects may meet with failures but we can be certain of this, God never fails and He can never fail us. Let’s never waver in our prayers.

Today, we are challenged to make this paradigm shift to make prayer our first priority. Prayer is never a sign of weakness but rather, of strength. Prayer acknowledges that it is ultimately God who chooses leaders, calls vocations, forms communities, protects us from adversity, brings changes and allows us to love beyond what is humanly possible. Prayer should never be the last resort but the first thing we do in any situation. We must pray with the confidence that our Loving God has already answered our prayers. Though the outcome may differ from what we may conceive, we are assured that God’s decision and God’s action will always be the very best of human solutions. Just remember, “We got to pray, just to make it today!”

Look up but don't forget to look down

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord Year B

I had recently returned from my pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Many of the shrines we visited required some form of contortionism – you had to literally bend down to avoid hitting your head while going through portals that were better suited for hobbits. The problem is that in our excitement to look upwards, we often failed to look down. There is not only the risk of hitting your head on a low ceiling but also missing a step on an uneven floor.  

It does seem that life is often made up of a series of choices where you either have to choose to look up or to look down? Christians are often accused of having their heads in the clouds, for looking upwards without having any care for what is below. On the other hand, many people live as if there is no life after death. They believe that everything must find a final resolution or closure within this life. They search to better their lives by looking for or constructing an earthly Shangri-la or Utopia here below. People’s reaction to the result of yesterday’s general elections may fall into either one of these categories.  To the first category, the general elections were met with indifference but to the second, the general elections meant everything. To the losers, it felt like the end of the world.

This is a far cry from the message of the Feast which we celebrate today. The Ascension does not lead us to focus only on heavenly existence whilst ignoring earthly life. We need to look upwards, but we must never forgot to look down too. “Why are you standing here looking up into the sky,” was the question posed by the two men who were presumably angels. Perhaps, the disciples were stunned in disbelief, a kind of denial that Jesus had actually departed. In any event, the angels’ caution was a reminder that the disciples’ sky-gazing activities should not distract or detract them from their mission. On the other hand, whilst being committed to their mission on earth, they should also not lose sight of the eschatological event – that Jesus will one day return. In other words, we should not only look at what is immediately before us, but also ahead of us. Within this single scene, we can come to the conclusion that Christianity brings together both ethical obligations and missionary responsibilities that are tied to our existence here on earth as well as at the End Times.

In the early decades of Christianity, many Christians sincerely believed that the world was going to end with the return of Christ in their lifetime. This led to an entire spectrum, a variety of lifestyles and behaviour. Some stopped working for they thought that their days were numbered and should therefore be better spent in prayer and vigilance for the Lord’s imminent coming. This resulted in economic crises in families. There were others who felt that since the world was coming to an end, it would therefore be best to spend the remainder of our lives in purely hedonistic activities – debauchery, drinking, partying and fulfilling every particular need of the flesh. In many of Paul’s letters, we see him frantically trying to correct this misunderstanding on the part of Christians and to remind them that their new life in Christ and in the Spirit had serious moral implications. In any event, they should continue their daily business and apply themselves to the missionary responsibility and commitment to the community.

This feast, therefore, reminds us to pay attention to the way we live our present earthly lives so that this can be perfected in our heavenly life. Here, we cannot pretend to be angels. Rather than a denial of life, earthly responsibilities and commitments, this feast challenges us to affirm this life and recommit ourselves to our responsibilities, especially our responsibilities to our fellow brothers and sisters. St. Paul, in today’s second reading, writes to us: “I … implore you to lead a life worthy of your vocation. Bear with one another charitably, in complete selflessness, gentleness and patience. Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.”  Our responsibilities include the mission to evangelise. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus left His disciples and the Church this mission: “Go out to the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all creation.”

Although we are asked to proclaim the Kingdom of God through our words and actions here and now, we must not deceive ourselves by thinking that we can replicate heaven on earth. We must not confuse our present temporary existence with the eternal life promised by Christ to His believers. In the early age of Christianity, some Christians also grew impatient in waiting for Christ’s second coming. They felt weighed down by the trials and tribulations of their lives. They faced persecution from outside the church and conflict within the church. They were beginning to lose faith in God because they had lost hope in Christ returning to save them. In the face of such difficulties, we often find ourselves being blinded by our fears and anxieties, by the weight of present sufferings and trials. We are unable to see the light of God’s final act of redeeming humanity and recreating the world. Short term and seemingly achievable goals that provide temporary relief replace long term ones that promise salvation. Our vision becomes narrowed to the point of spiritual myopia.

This was the problem of the disciples in today’s first reading. When they asked Jesus whether the time had come for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel, their focus was only on building an earthly kingdom, a kingdom confined to their ethnic identity. But the event of the Ascension leads them to understand that the kingdom of God is much broader than any vision of an earthly paradise that could be achieved in this life or even in the future to come. The kingdom of God would only come to its perfection at the end of time, when God recreates the whole of the universe in Jesus Christ. This, however, does not release us from our present responsibilities but rather challenges us to constantly work for the Kingdom of God throughout our earthly lives. We will never be able to create a perfect society in our lifetime, therefore the need to always work for the betterment of society, the healing of relationships and the promotion of justice, love and peace in this world. Keeping our gaze on the bigger picture, on the Kingdom of God, allows us to rise above any setbacks, failures and disappointments. We are only able to see a small part of the picture. Our personal failure is not to be translated as ultimate failure which would be disastrous. In fact, our faith and hope informs us that our victory is already assured. The Ascension is our assurance of this.

Today, as we reflect on this feast of the Ascension, let us not look into the sky and be lost in the clouds like the disciples in today’s first reading. Rather, let us recommit ourselves to the mission which Christ has entrusted to us, here and now. But, let us also not be too concerned with our human pursuits that we lose sight of God’s kingdom and Christ coming at the end of time, for then, we will only substitute the promise of heaven with a poor imitation here below.