COME  HOLY  SPIRIT! 

GOING  FROM  THE  KNOWN 

TO  THE  UNKNOWN

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily is, “Come Holy Spirit!  Going from the Known to the Unknown.”

Today is the Great Feast of the Holy Spirit. We sing, “Come Holy Spirit:” We sing, “Veni Sanctae Spiritus.”

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings obviously feature the Holy Spirit - often called, “The Unknown Person of God.” “The Unknown Person of the Trinity.”

We often hear of the Father and the Son - but not enough of the Holy Spirit.

So the title of my homily is, “Come Holy Spirit! Going from the Known to the Unknown.”

I’m simply going to move through 3 images of the Holy Spirit: Wind, Fire and the Dove.

ACTION STEP

I’m going to stress the action step of seeing and reflecting - using our eyes and our mind - to notice and to consider.

FIRST WIND

One of first images of God is that God is Spirit - Wind - Air.

Sit with a morning cup of coffee and look out the window or if you have a porch and look around you. Sense. Listen. See. Sit there and watch the leaves shaking like a fan in a hot church - fanning the air - getting us cooler. Watch the grass do a wiggle dance in our yard. Just sit there on most mornings - and sense the air, the wind, the breath of creation. Things are moving.

Remember the stories that begin our genesis in The Book of Genesis.

The Book of Genesis begins: “In the beginning of Creation, when God made heaven and earth, the earth was without form and void, with darkness over the face of the abyss, and a mighty wind that swept  over the surface of the waters. God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light; and God saw that the light was good, and he separated light from darkness. He called the light day, and the darkness night. So evening came, and morning came, the first day.”

Those are just the first 5 verses of the Bible - the book called Genesis - The Beginning.

I like to pick up any book and read the first 5 or so sentences - especially a novel or a short story.

“Mom and dad had me! Wow what a story so far. Wanna hear it?”

Read on.

Wind, air, breath are essential for life. Catch your breath.

Then God forms us out of the clay - the mud of the earth - like a sculptor - and breathes life into that clay and the statue called me becomes flesh like Adam and Eve - we walk with God especially in the cool of the evening.

Then God the Birth Mother and Father slaps us - gives us breath -  not artificial resuscitation - fresh breath, fresh air and we’re moving - living - breathing on our own.

That word for breath in Hebrew is “Ruah” - wind, air, breath - and the Rush of God is in us.  Life!

Primitive people figured this out. We are from God - we depend upon God - because when we stop breathing - we’re dead.

So the beginners knew God - absolute fear and trembling - mysterious God - especially when they stopped to have their cup of coffee each morning and see - feel - the breath of God.

So the primitive spiritual leaders told people to be aware of their breath, the wind, the air, “Breathe!”

“Come Holy Spirit.”

SECONDLY FIRE

In the Bible - the Holy Spirit is also pictured as Sparks of Fire - coming down on people.

As we know - fire needs air - oxygen. It’s all connected.

People - us primitive people also know the power of fire - volcano, the sun, the fire place, the stove, the blast off fuel of rocket ships going to the stars.

So too fuel - coal, oil, gas, wood, - get a light - ignite it - go deeper and discover atomic or hydrogen power - and who knows what’s next - in the next thousand years - where we’re headed.

Fire, power, fuel, sit looking into a fire place in the dead dark of winter or scouts while camping - or young people on the beach with a big beach party - stir sparks of light. There is something basic burning here in these moments - and we’re moved into deeper mystery - and we know more than we know - we go into the deep unknown - and get hints of God - so too in the absence of God and heat - we know we can freeze to death - and die.

Come Holy Spirit.

LASTLY, THE DOVE

And lastly we see a bird - a dove gliding on the invisible air - singing - sometimes with a sprig from a branch in its mouth. It might be building a nest - for the next generation.

Like Noah - after 40 days sailing in his boat on an empty looking sea - we see the message from the bird with the branch in its mouth and know there’s land near. 

So too Columbus -  as the myth and the legends and the stories go - they saw a bird with an branch and they too knew land was close by.

So from early, early times, the bird, whether it’s a raven or a dove, an eagle or a hoot from an owl, there is a message here for us to hear, to see, to notice and to learn from.

CONCLUSIONS

The title of my homily today is, “Come Holy Spirit! Going from the Known to the Unknown.”

I talked about wind, fire and the dove.

The action step is to see and reflect - notice and consider.

I love to see people on sail boats - looking and smiling - feeling and embracing a breeze off the water - filling a sail - or just  the skin on their face - and with eyes closed - their minds are filled with God and the beauty of life.

I love to see people on the New York or Toronto subway or metro - smiling to each other - people of all colors and shades - but their faces speaking the same language - and I get Pentecost - there is a language we all speak and signal - a sign language that says we are all brothers and sisters.

So too scenes around the fireplace - or a barn or beach fire. When we’re all one without words.

I love to watch the birds of the air. Wow can they fly.

I loved watching the birds of the air last Tuesday and Wednesday here in Annapolis, with the Blue Angels doing some of things real birds can do. Amazing.

All of the above tells me the Spirit of God is still involved in Creation.

Come Holy Spirit - you’re here. Thanks.