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Lesson from Fr. Paulus | The Church’s Work: Reuniting Mankind

Thursday, 02 June 2022

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For the ancient Jews, Pentecost was one of the top three religious holidays. It had two important meanings.

First, on Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover (the word "Pentecost" comes from the Greek for "fifty"), the first fruits of the spring grain harvest were offered to God in a special sacrifice at the Temple. That may sound strange to people who live in a climate that has only one harvest each year. But in Palestine, they had two yearly harvests.

In this sense, it was highly appropriate that God sent the Holy Spirit to his Church in a public way on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is the first fruit of the harvest of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is Christ giving us a new, redeemed life of grace. This life begins here on earth under the action of the Holy Spirit, but it will only reach its fulfillment - the full harvest - in heaven.

But there was a second meaning to the Jewish festival of Pentecost. It commemorated God giving Moses the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai. Soon after the Israelites had miraculously escaped from Egypt, God sent them the Law, a guide for how they should live now that they were freed from slavery to Pharaoh.

In this sense too, it was appropriate that God sent his Church the Holy Spirit during that Festival. The Holy Spirit is the bond of unity between the Father and the Son. And the Law of the New Covenant, the Law of the Church, is unity. As St Paul says, the Church is a body with many parts, but it remains one, united body.

It is the Church's mission to reunite the human family that has been torn apart by sin. That's why all the visitors in Jerusalem heard the Apostle's words in their own languages. That's why as soon as the risen Jesus breathes on his Apostles; he instructs them to forgive sins.

ILLUSTRATION: Pope John Paul II's Funeral

Most of us (maybe) remember the events surrounding the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Those extraordinary few weeks gave us a brief glimpse of this work being done by the Holy Spirit through the Church, this work of gradually uniting all of mankind.

More than three thousand foreign journalists descended upon Rome as John Paul II was dying. Almost overnight hundreds of media broadcast tents sprang up on the outskirts of Vatican City.

Worldwide media gave around-the-clock coverage to viewers across the globe, of every age and ethnic group. During the week before the funeral, 2 million pilgrims paid their last respects in person to the pope as he lay in state.

Some of them waited in line for 24 hours to do so.

On the night before the funeral, more than 800,000 pilgrims spent the night praying and waiting in the streets and plazas of Rome.

Most of these were young people who had come from all five continents. All night long you could see them waiting in line for confession at makeshift, outdoor confessionals that Rome's priests had set up on doorsteps and under lamp posts.

The funeral itself was followed closely by millions via television and radio. The amount of world leaders who actually came to be physically present was extraordinary. It included four queens, five kings, seventy prime ministers or heads of government, and more than 100 other recognized dignitaries. Dozens of Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish leaders joined them. It looked and sounded like the first Pentecost.

The whole series of events was like a living symbol of what God is doing, has been doing, and will continue to do through his Church until the end of time: making one family out of a divided world.

APPLICATION: Breaking Down Barriers

We are members of this Church, and so we have all benefited from its mission of unity - the Church has reached out to each of us and brought us into God's family. But as members, we are also responsible for carrying this work forward.

One way to do so is by breaking down barriers. Barriers are things like fear, misunderstanding, prejudice, jealously, envy, resentment, grudges. These are at the root of all the conflicts that threaten world peace. But all those large-scale conflicts can always be traced back to conflicts in individual hearts. If we learn to break down barriers in our own hearts, we will become more effective builders of unity in the world around us.

One of the barriers that come up most frequently in our daily lives is that of misunderstanding. This is also known as "lack of communication" or "miscommunication". An international business consulting firm did a study a few years ago about the most common obstacles to productivity.

They concluded that over 85% of problems in the business world stem from miscommunication. In family relationships, I would estimate that the percentage is even higher.

Jesus has given us the method for breaking down this ubiquitous barrier. Before allowing ourselves to pass judgment on someone, we should make an effort to see things from their perspective. Until we can express the other person's point of view even better than they can, we should refrain from passing judgment on it.

That's what Jesus did. Instead of passing judgment on sinful humanity, he came down from heaven and lived among us. He showed that he knew our perspective. And so, he was able to break down mankind's misunderstanding of God and open the way for a renewed relationship of trust.

Today we will receive Jesus in Holy Communion. When we do, let's promise that this week we will follow in his footsteps, doing our little part in this great Pentecost mission of uniting a divided world.