Yesterday, the Christian world celebrated the feast of Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter. We hear in the Gospel how the Apostles were all gathered together in a locked room in fear. What they were afraid of is really unimportant. If it were fear for their lives, or fear that they would be tortured, or just fear that they would be ridiculed… whatever the fear is of little consequence. The most important aspect of their fear is that it resulted in their doing… NOTHING!!
There they were huddled behind locked doors. What did they speak of? Were they praying? The matter was grave so obviously, there was no levity. Their hearts were heavy, were troubled by the “abandonment” of Jesus. Though they had been with Him for three years, had heard His words of love and peace, had seen the miraculous cures of lepers, of people born blind, of people who had died, they were still afraid. And, in spite of all that they had seen, had heard, had understood by being with Jesus because of this fear they could do nothing. The fear gripped their hearts so intently that it rendered them incapable of speaking about Jesus, preventing them from showing the love and peace that had been theirs just a few days earlier.
Such is the curse of fear. Whoever it grips it renders them powerless. It prevents them from saying and doing what they know must be said or done. To combat this Jesus comes to them and simply tells them, “Peace be to you”. In saying this to them, He is also saying it to us, as well, “Peace be to you”. For fear and peace cannot co-exist.
What fears do we have? What are the things that prevent us from doing what is right? What fears have locked us inside our own hearts? They are many, our fears. We fear being ridiculed. We fear being regarded as a failure. We fear what others may think or say about us. Are we afraid we might be judged incompetent, dreamers, foolhardy? We might be rejected. We might be laughed at. If I do that, people will wonder about me, they will think I am crazy, they will talk about me behind my back.
What are our FEARS?? What are OUR fears??? We cannot ignore them. We must be able to recognize and admit to ourselves what they are. In the quiet time of our lives we have to objectively look at ourselves and see what irrational fears we have. With the precision of a surgeon’s scalpel we need to recognize what does and does not belong and take the necessary steps to remove that which does not. The causes of fear may run deep. We may or may not be able to see or understand them. But what we can do is to see and understand the resultant fears. I may not know why I am fearful of what people think of me, but I can recognize that that fear does exist. If we can see it as irrational, then we can begin to take the necessary steps to overcome it.
How do I want to be? Is what I want to be a good or a bad? If it is a bad, then I must look elsewhere, for what I want to be. If it is a good, then what is preventing me from being that way? If you dig deep enough, you will find the preventer is a fear. That fear is the key to your future. It is the key to your heart. That fear is what is preventing you from being the person you want to be, is preventing you from being the person the world needs you to be. That fear is preventing you from being the loving person your family needs you to be. It is preventing the Peace of Christ from filling your heart.
Tag Archive: Pentecost
The first recorded miracle of Jesus was done at the joyous occasion of a marriage in Cana. Mary’s simple statement, “They have no wine”-1 results in the beginning of Jesus’ public life. From Cana He travels to Capharnum and then Jerusalem. Where today’s Gospel shows Jesus in the temple where he found people selling pigeons, oxen and sheep.-2 His righteous anger spills out of Him causing chaos among all the bewildered sellers. They in turn, challenge Him with, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” To which Jesus replies, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” -3
These three encounters are listed here to show how even the earliest events in Christ’s life affected the Apostles, later on. The Gospel verse John 2:22 shows the impact of these events with, “When therefore He was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that He had said this; and they believed…”
We commonly understand that Christ’s public life lasted for three years. We don’t exactly know when the group of the apostles came into existence, but it seems to be shortly after Jesus’ public life had begun. So for three years, this group of men had heard and seen things but, more than likely, did not really understand what was going on. What kept them together? Curiosity? Wonder? Amazement? Can you imagine the arguments that must have been started within the marriages of those Apostles that were married? It probably sounded something like:
Wife: Where are you going now?
Apostle: Me and the guys are going with this Jesus fellow.
Wife: Again? You’ve been wandering all over this countryside with him.
Apostle: Don’t start on that again. He is different, somehow.
Wife: Different? Is he going to put food on our table?
Apostle: No, he just says things that I feel inside me. I can’t explain it.
Wife: Mark my words. No good is gonna come from this. Just mark my words.
And still, they stayed with Him, listened to Him, thought about what His words meant, and how they applied to them. What happened after those three years? What changed them? The best comparison we have in the terminology of today is when someone says a light bulb went on. OR RATHER…….
Jesus told them that, only if He went to the Father, could He send them the Holy Spirit. Picture that first Pentecost. There they were, leaderless, afraid. They probably spent those days together praying, recounting the things that Jesus had said, and remembering the things that He had done. (Very much like our modern day retreats.) Maybe one, maybe it was Peter, or John, maybe all together, but at some point things began to make sense to them. Things started to add up. The more they thought, and talked, the more they realized the significance of Jesus’ actions, His words.
Can you imagine that first Baptism of the Holy Spirit? They were probably crying with joy, fascinated with the goodness that had been part of them, and that was, now, in them. Joy, relief, understanding it came upon them in waves. They understood. They were fearful, no more. They may have been poor in the eyes of the world. They may have been considered ignorant, illiterate men. But, they possessed the most beautiful gift of all. The Holy Spirit had enlightened them, had given them wisdom beyond all comprehension. Their hearts were filled with compassion.
Though it appears that it happened all at once, these men had been growing and learning beside the greatest Teacher ever known. But, the Apostles, who at times, floundered in their disbelief, who struggled to understand, who argued who would be first in the kingdom of Jesus, they had been reduced to shells of men because of the weight of all their anxieties. The goodness was there, had been nurtured by Christ, carefully shaping these men. It was there, but now, without Christ, they had allowed these things to overcome them, to cloud their vision. And then came their Pentecost.
It can happen like that to us, as well. Our minds and nerves are overwhelmed with problems. Some are of our own making, and some are not. Our daily planners look more like children’s scribble we have crossed out and entered so many things. We say things like there isn’t enough time in the day, and don’t know where to turn next. We are confused, bewildered, stressed, anxious and many times even depressed. The more we twist and turn to extricate ourselves, the deeper we seem to sink in this quicksand of activity.
This helter skelter life may actually be telling us, warning us that we are distancing ourselves from Christ. We have so much to do, we cry out, “WHO HAS TIME FOR PRAYER!!!” We flee the very thing our heart is craving, peace. It is time for us to begin the journey back. It may be shorter than we think. It is time to reacquaint ourselves with Jesus. It begins by reading about Him, getting to know Him again, talking to Him in meaningful conversations, listening intensely to hear His words in our heart. If we do these things, we cannot help but to love Him. Because we will realize that all He said and did, was for us, for me. His words, His love will prepare us for our Pentecost.
-1 John 2: 3
-2 John 2: 13-15
-3 John 2: 18-20
I used to think that the Apostles were lucky. They could see Christ, be with Him, and talk to Him. They had everything going for them. View full article »
Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, I saw my Padre Pio statue on the dresser. I didn’t think much about it. But then, this thought came into my head: View full article »
