Pentecost Sunday Mass during the Day

Lectionary: 63 

No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

Saint Paul's addressed a marvelously diverse church when he wrote his several letters to the Corinthians. (There were at least four.) Situated on a narrow isthmus between two gulfs, ancient merchants docked in Corinth, portaged their goods, and then resumed their journey. This was faster and safer than sailing around the Peloponnese peninsula. Sailors of every age come from anywhere; they mix and match continually, and create their own argot of words. Wherever they dock they play the local pleasures and indulge the entertainments; they're a law unto themselves, dealing with the local police and populating the city jails. The injured, ailing, and elderly, weary of the sea, settle wherever they land, and cities are formed. Some turn to religion. 

Arriving there in 49-50 AD, Saint Paul announced "Jesus and him crucified" to Jews and Gentiles, and a church was born. They were a quarrelsome bunch, each believing in the Lord but everyone bringing their own cultural assumptions of what is right and proper, how God should be addressed, and how faith should be celebrated. The missionary Paul and other former Jews tried to teach and promote Jewish ethical and moral standards even as they learned to eat gentile food. When one wealthy fellow married his father's mother, many thought nothing of it, Jewish Christians were appalled. Corinthian controversies were loud and divisive; their spirit was vigorous and cohesive. 

Saint Paul's reassurance began with, No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit." 

I can think of few words more needed than those in our time. Here we are in a dangerously polarized age as politicians, journalists, and preachers arouse the populous to a murderous frenzy. Advertisers know that emotions attract money, and their algorithms are designed to stimulate excitement and accumulate cash. 

Undisciplined orators suggest violence with deniable expressions. They don't mean fight literally, and "someone ought to be shot" doesn't mean you should commit murder (...although it'd be wonderful if you did.) If one in a thousand take such words literally, and a thousand in a million act on it, that's not the fault of the speaker! 

Amid all this commotion, the Holy Spirit impels and guides the Lord's disciples like sailors in a storm. They must learn the ancient skill of sailing by God's Spirit even as diabolical tempests, squalls, and gales drive them in every direction.

Our study begins with "Jesus is Lord!" and the assurance, there is but One God. Hearingthe expression, Jesus is Lord, we understand that we must, "Be still and know that I am God."  

We want to hear God speak to us us, realizing that those who pick and choose what they want to believe are not listening to God. They worship idols of their own making. 

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths but do not speak;

they have eyes but do not see;

They have ears but do not hear;

Nor is there breath in their mouths.

Their makers will become like them,

and anyone who trusts in them. (Psalm 135)

Those who hear the Word of God and keep it are God's people. And yes, it does matter what you believe. Fools believe nonsense and suffer its consequences; the wise, aware of their own foolishness, search for wisdom.

If we would be one nation under God, or one world with God as our Father, we declare "Jesus is Lord!" and welcome the Holy Spirit to take charge of our lives. With Pope Francis we practice discernment and discover that our deepest desire is, for God's sake, to sacrifice our desires.