INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily is, “Do Not Quench the Spirit!”
It’s a message from St. Paul in today’s second reading from 1st Thessalonians 5:19.
“Do Not Quench the Spirit!”
Quench – meaning “to put out” – “to extinguish” a light or a fire, to blow out a candle or throw water in a fireplace – “to terminate” a fire or desire or thirst.
“Do not quench, put out, extinguish, terminate the Spirit – the Fire – the Light.”
The Greek verb used by Paul is “SBENNUMI” – “to extinguish”. I found it interesting that the Greek word “ASBESTOS” “not quenched’ – “not being extinguished” – has the same root [a + sbennynai].
Today is the middle Sunday in Advent – sometimes called, “Gaudete” or “Rejoicing Sunday”. It’s just like the middle Sunday in Lent, “Laetare” or “Rejoicing Sunday”.
Rejoice. “Do Not Quench the Spirit.” Don’t stop the “joie de vivre” [zhwah de veev-ra] – the joy of living. Don’t kill the spirit of imagination. Don’t stop the spirit of creativity in children – or anyone. Don’t lose the playful child inside of us adults.
Christianity is a religion of joy. “Humbug!” on the Scrooges and any sad faced Christians in our midst!
FIRST READING
Today’s first reading is from Isaiah 61. It is the great text that Jesus reads and preaches on in his inaugural address in Luke 4: 18-19.
“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
for he has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor,
to heal the broken hearted,
to proclaim liberty to captives,
and release to prisoners,
to announce a year of favor from the Lord
and a day of vindication by our God.”
Christianity is a religion of Glad Tidings - Good News – Godspell – Gospel.
Christianity is a religion of receiving a Spirit – the Holy Spirit – a Spirit of healing, forgiveness, liberty, release, favor – inside us – and then it erupts out of us as we become instruments of peace – as we go out and forgive, releasing grudges and bringing joy to each other.
Forgiveness is God’s favorite theme. [Cf. Luke 15.]
God favors us. Did you ever wonder if God has favorites? God does. It’s us. Experiencing this brings great joy!
Doesn’t the favorite student of the teacher, the favorite athlete on the team, the favorite neighbor on the street, the favorite child in the family, feel a special joy? I’m blessed. I’m favored. Pinch me!
That’s the message the angels sang over Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Well, Jesus was God’s favorite. That’s the Good News that John the Baptist – “the voice of one crying in the desert, making straight the way of the Lord” proclaimed as we heard in today’s gospel.
John the Baptist was not the anointed one – not the Christ.
The word “Christ” is from the Greek word, “CHRIO” - anointed.
John the Baptist was the messenger – the proclaimer – the one who points out whom to look for – to discover the favored one – the Lord.
That’s what the voice from the heavens proclaimed at the Jordan – when Jesus was baptized, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
That’s the voice we hear at our baptism – when we are anointed – when the chrism – when the sacred oil is put on us – and the priest or deacon who baptizes announces, “He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life.”
This message is powerful. Each person baptized, adult or child, is the anointed one, is the beloved – the one whom God is well pleased with.
And when this is authentic – real – felt – experienced – we follow suit – we treat others as special, God’s favorite – and on and on and on.
This is what happened to Jesus. He experienced this being loved, so then he went out and loved others – spreading that Good News by words and actions.
Hopefully, we have the same experience.
Love has a bounce!
St. Alphonsus – the founder of the Redemptorists – the priests in this parish – whose statue is up there – used to say, “God is crazy! “pazzo” in Italian, because He loves us so much. He’s crazy in love with us.
St. Alphonsus had a great revelation in his life. He was very scrupulous in his early years – thinking he was a great sinner – that everything was a sin. Then he experienced the love of Christ for him. His book, The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, can be summed up in the word “practice”. Jesus practices loving people. Unfortunately, St. Alphonsus became scrupulous again in his old age – but in the meanwhile, he had a great run on being loved and loving others – especially folks nobody was rushing to be with.
He simply did what Jesus did. He experienced himself and others as God’s favorite. That’s why he reached especially to those who felt like rejects.
I love the saying, “Each person is in the best seat.”
I love the words I’ve heard some people say well after their parents are dead – for example my sister Mary – “Our parents had 4 only childs.”
Rejoice. God sees each person as the only person.
Rejoice. God sees all persons as one person.
Rejoice. Heaven is when all persons are one in God – who is Three – who is One – who is Many – who is One. You think three persons in one God is deep mystery. There are billions and billions of people in God. It's called "The Kingdom of Heaven."
Rejoice.
Rejoice Christmas is coming – and Jesus is coming to us – again and again and again to make all this come – to make the Kingdom come – on earth as it is in heaven.
Rejoice a new calendar year is coming – and once more we’re going to have feelings of resolution, “This year I’m going to be more joyful, happy, alive, trusting, a giver, filled with God’s Spirit.”
Rejoice, “This coming year, I’m going to exercise more, eat better, read more, do more for others, pray more, enjoy more, listen more.”
When those feelings come up sometime around December 29 till January 1st, “Do Not Quench the Spirit.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Today’s gospel is from the beginning of the Gospel of John – and we heard that John the Baptist came and testified to the Light – so that all might believe in the light.
Rejoice. Christmas is a feast of Light.
Rejoice. Jesus, the Light of the world, comes into people’s minds and hearts in so many interesting ways.
Looking at your life, how have you seen the Light?
How have you been enlightened?
St. Alphonsus had a great revelation in his life. He was very scrupulous in his early years – thinking he was a great sinner – that everything was a sin. Then he experienced the love of Christ for him. His book, The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ, can be summed up in the word “practice”. Jesus practices loving people. Unfortunately, St. Alphonsus became scrupulous again in his old age – but in the meanwhile, he had a great run on being loved and loving others – especially folks nobody was rushing to be with.
He simply did what Jesus did. He experienced himself and others as God’s favorite. That’s why he reached especially to those who felt like rejects.
I love the saying, “Each person is in the best seat.”
I love the words I’ve heard some people say well after their parents are dead – for example my sister Mary – “Our parents had 4 only childs.”
Rejoice. God sees each person as the only person.
Rejoice. God sees all persons as one person.
Rejoice. Heaven is when all persons are one in God – who is Three – who is One – who is Many – who is One. You think three persons in one God is deep mystery. There are billions and billions of people in God. It's called "The Kingdom of Heaven."
Rejoice.
Rejoice Christmas is coming – and Jesus is coming to us – again and again and again to make all this come – to make the Kingdom come – on earth as it is in heaven.
Rejoice a new calendar year is coming – and once more we’re going to have feelings of resolution, “This year I’m going to be more joyful, happy, alive, trusting, a giver, filled with God’s Spirit.”
Rejoice, “This coming year, I’m going to exercise more, eat better, read more, do more for others, pray more, enjoy more, listen more.”
When those feelings come up sometime around December 29 till January 1st, “Do Not Quench the Spirit.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
Today’s gospel is from the beginning of the Gospel of John – and we heard that John the Baptist came and testified to the Light – so that all might believe in the light.
Rejoice. Christmas is a feast of Light.
Rejoice. Jesus, the Light of the world, comes into people’s minds and hearts in so many interesting ways.
Looking at your life, how have you seen the Light?
How have you been enlightened?
What have been your many Christ moments?
Take the image of candle light.
You’re sitting here in church and you’ve seen these four candles up here a hundred times through the years – but this year, a light goes on inside of you..
Suddenly you get the insight. This candle is me.
My life is like a candle. It only has so much burn time and the call is that I bring light to others.
Then I say to yourself, “I have a time limit. Oops.”
Then I realize time limits scares me. Then I start thinking, “No wonder I blow out the candle. I want a longer life. I don’t want to keep on giving, giving, giving.”
Then I laugh. Then I cry. Then I realize when I do this, I’ quenching the light, the fire, the candle, the Spirit – the meaning of life.”
Rejoice. I thank God for the light, the insight I just had.
CONVERSION MOMENTS
When I realize this I’m having a conversion moment.
Life is filled with conversion moments.
Life is filled with insight moments.
In The New York Times for yesterday, there was an obituary for Avery Dulles – the son of John Foster Dulles. Avery had a conversion. He became a Catholic. He became a Jesuit. He became a priest. He became a Cardinal.
One of the courses I took to get a master's degree at Princeton Theological Seminary, was given by Avery Dulles. It was on "Models of the Church" - which came out afterwards as a book. Besides getting an A, I found him to be very insightful – a delight. One day, someone in a next door classroom told a joke or said something very funny. The laughter came through the walls. Avery Dulles paused, smiled and said, “That will probably be the only laugh you’ll hear in this classroom this semester.” At that, we all laughed. He smiled even more. Then he added, “As my name indicates, I’m known for being rather Dull.” Well, I found him far from dull – simply one of the best teachers I ever had.
Talking about moments of light and insight, listen to what The New York Times says in the middle of Avery Dulles' Obituary:
His spiritual passage to Catholicism was like a fable. A young scholar with a searching mind, he stirred from his establishment Presbyterian family to face questions of faith and dogma. By the time he entered Harvard in 1936, he was an agnostic.
In his second book, “A Testimonial to Grace,” a 1946 account of his conversion, Cardinal Dulles said his doubts about God on entering Harvard were not diminished by his studies of medieval art, philosophy and theology. But on a gray February day in 1939, strolling along the Charles River in Cambridge, he saw a tree in bud and experienced a profound moment.
“The thought came to me suddenly, with all the strength and novelty of a revelation, that these little buds in their innocence and meekness followed a rule, a law of which I as yet knew nothing,” he wrote. “That night, for the first time in years, I prayed.”
His conversion in 1940, the year he graduated from Harvard, shocked his family and friends, he said, but he called it the best and most important decision of his life.
He joined the Jesuits and went on to a career as a major Catholic thinker that spanned five decades.
When I read that, I was trying to recall a moment from Thomas Merton' life. It might be in his book, The Sign of Jonah. He might have been going to a doctor in Louisville. He looks out the car window and sees a billboard with a Lucky Strike advertisement. It's Ash Wednesday, I think, and he sees the ash tip of the cigarette. The cigarette is going to continue burning. Then it will come to an end. It’s life. And then Merton, like Avery Dulles, realizes spring, new life, buds budding, are going to happen soon.
CONCLUSION
Take the image of candle light.
You’re sitting here in church and you’ve seen these four candles up here a hundred times through the years – but this year, a light goes on inside of you..
Suddenly you get the insight. This candle is me.
My life is like a candle. It only has so much burn time and the call is that I bring light to others.
Then I say to yourself, “I have a time limit. Oops.”
Then I realize time limits scares me. Then I start thinking, “No wonder I blow out the candle. I want a longer life. I don’t want to keep on giving, giving, giving.”
Then I laugh. Then I cry. Then I realize when I do this, I’ quenching the light, the fire, the candle, the Spirit – the meaning of life.”
Rejoice. I thank God for the light, the insight I just had.
CONVERSION MOMENTS
When I realize this I’m having a conversion moment.
Life is filled with conversion moments.
Life is filled with insight moments.
In The New York Times for yesterday, there was an obituary for Avery Dulles – the son of John Foster Dulles. Avery had a conversion. He became a Catholic. He became a Jesuit. He became a priest. He became a Cardinal.
One of the courses I took to get a master's degree at Princeton Theological Seminary, was given by Avery Dulles. It was on "Models of the Church" - which came out afterwards as a book. Besides getting an A, I found him to be very insightful – a delight. One day, someone in a next door classroom told a joke or said something very funny. The laughter came through the walls. Avery Dulles paused, smiled and said, “That will probably be the only laugh you’ll hear in this classroom this semester.” At that, we all laughed. He smiled even more. Then he added, “As my name indicates, I’m known for being rather Dull.” Well, I found him far from dull – simply one of the best teachers I ever had.
Talking about moments of light and insight, listen to what The New York Times says in the middle of Avery Dulles' Obituary:
His spiritual passage to Catholicism was like a fable. A young scholar with a searching mind, he stirred from his establishment Presbyterian family to face questions of faith and dogma. By the time he entered Harvard in 1936, he was an agnostic.
In his second book, “A Testimonial to Grace,” a 1946 account of his conversion, Cardinal Dulles said his doubts about God on entering Harvard were not diminished by his studies of medieval art, philosophy and theology. But on a gray February day in 1939, strolling along the Charles River in Cambridge, he saw a tree in bud and experienced a profound moment.
“The thought came to me suddenly, with all the strength and novelty of a revelation, that these little buds in their innocence and meekness followed a rule, a law of which I as yet knew nothing,” he wrote. “That night, for the first time in years, I prayed.”
His conversion in 1940, the year he graduated from Harvard, shocked his family and friends, he said, but he called it the best and most important decision of his life.
He joined the Jesuits and went on to a career as a major Catholic thinker that spanned five decades.
When I read that, I was trying to recall a moment from Thomas Merton' life. It might be in his book, The Sign of Jonah. He might have been going to a doctor in Louisville. He looks out the car window and sees a billboard with a Lucky Strike advertisement. It's Ash Wednesday, I think, and he sees the ash tip of the cigarette. The cigarette is going to continue burning. Then it will come to an end. It’s life. And then Merton, like Avery Dulles, realizes spring, new life, buds budding, are going to happen soon.
CONCLUSION
What are your moments of light and insight?
They happen every day. Ask God that you see them.
“Do not quench the Spirit.”
Rejoice when the Spirit whispers or yells in your brain, “Rejoice highly favored one. I see you and I’m calling you.” Amen.
They happen every day. Ask God that you see them.
“Do not quench the Spirit.”
Rejoice when the Spirit whispers or yells in your brain, “Rejoice highly favored one. I see you and I’m calling you.” Amen.
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