May 23, 2021: Pentecost B

 May 23, 2021: Pentecost B

On Saturday morning, the people gathered in St. George Church saw a rare sight: three men prostrated on the floor of the Church during the rite of ordination to priesthood. As a visible sign of their trust and love for God those men were prostrated on the floor of the sanctuary while the bishop, priests, and parishioners sang the Litany of Saints, calling out to the communion of saints for their strength and support. Their prostration was a symbol of their humility before God and death to self that is necessary before their rebirth into priestly service. What was going through their mind as they lay there on the cold floor? One priest recollected his experience of prostrating on the floor of a cathedral as he was ordained.  “I shall never forget lying on the ground at the time of my own ordination. When I was ordained, my intense feeling of inadequacy, incapacity, in the face of the greatness of the task was strong… The fact that the praying Church was calling upon all the saints, that the prayer of the Church really was enveloping and embracing me, was a wonderful consolation.”  

I couldn’t help but think that these men on the floor of the church had to empty themselves of their own plans, desires, ambitions, and passing pleasures in order to entrust their future into the hands of God. They had a promising future in the secular world--a chemical engineer, a healthcare professional, and a businessman. Yet they felt in their heart a purpose and a destiny far greater than what their mind could conceive. With their openness of heart, they allowed the Holy Spirit to alter the whole pattern and trajectory of their lives. 

On this great feast celebrating the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Church, we need to ask ourselves whether we have given permission to, or surrendered our lives to the guidance of, the Holy Spirit as did our Blessed Mother 2,000 years ago. Do we ask the Holy Spirit to empty our hearts of selfish preoccupation and to give us the boldness to entrust ourselves to God? A young girl living in a tiny town of Nazareth gave the Holy Spirit her absolute trust which allowed the Holy Spirit to change her forever. 

Archangel Gabriel visited Mary and asked for her consent, “Hail full of grace… Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son… The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” She was not asked to renounce anything, but to receive an incredible gift. She was not asked to do anything herself, but to let something be done to her. Mary said with great humility and awe, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary said yes, and her ‘yes’ was for all of us. Thirty-three years later, she helped the disciples of Jesus to open themselves to the gifts of the Holy Spirit as they gathered in the Upper Room following the ascension of Jesus.    

Beginning with our baptism, we too have been visited by the Holy Spirit. At baptism our souls were transformed so as to be made adopted sons and daughters of the Father. While the Holy Spirit did not manifest himself with tongues of fire or gushing wind at our Sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit nevertheless came upon us to bring changes in our lives by imparting the gifts and the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Our responsibility is to surrender what we are, our humanity, our flesh and blood, to the Holy Spirit in order to allow Christ to shape us. We’ve been given everything we need in order to be Christ’s presence in this world. We may think that we are less important or useful because in comparison with others, we seem to have far less advantages. It’s a great mistake to think that God has made some luckier than others in the lottery of life. To God, everything and anything can be used for His glory. Take Lazarus for example. God used him even though he was dead in the tomb. 

When people were impressed with Mother Teresa’s accomplishments, she often replied, “It is God’s work. I am like a little pencil in his hand. That is all. He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used.” Mother Teresa believed that everything she was able to do was done by God’s power working through her. We are pencils in the mighty hand of God; the more we renounce our preconceived notion about what we are capable of and the more we trust in the gifts and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be amazed at what God accomplishes through us.