|
Connections&
June 11, 2000
Pentecost
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. Acts 2:1-11
Jesus breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit& " John 20:19-23
The music of God
It begins as a piece of wood or a metal tube. Then a craftsman, using skills and tools that have been passed down for centuries, meticulously forms the wood or metal, carefully drills holes in the shaft, devises a system of stops and valves in the metal, installs an intricate system of strings, turning keys and hammers. The wood is then beautifully finished with resins and varnish; the metal is polished until it gleams. The craftsman's long hours of detailed work results in a finished flute or violin or guitar or piano.
But the completed instrument, though a beautiful work of art, remains just a piece of wood or metal until a musician takes it up and breathes into it while gliding his or her fingers across the stops and expertly manipulates the strings and keys. Then that piece of wood, that tube of metal, is transformed into a musical instrument, a portal for us to a world of beauty and transcendence.
CONNECTION: The mystery of the Church is like a musical instrument. God has formed us into a community, and instrument for bringing his life and love into our world. But what makes our Church more than just a gathering of good people is his "breath" infusing the Church with the music of his divinity. Today we celebrate the presence of God's life-giving breath in our lives and our Church. The word in Hebrew is ruah -- the ruah of God living in us and transforming us so that we might bring his life and love into our broken world. In Jesus' breathing upon the assembled disciples on Easter night the new life of the Spirit, the community of the resurrection -- the Church -- takes flight. That same spirit continues to "blow" through today's Church to give life and direction to our mission and ministry to preach the Gospel to every nation, to proclaim forgiveness and reconciliation in God's name, to immerse all of humanity into the life and love of God manifested in Jesus' resurrection. <
|
|
