The Nazareth Page - A gospel meditation for your home
May 23, 2021 – Pentecost Sunday - John 20:19-23
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
Download this simple process to Prepare for Sunday using the Observe, Judge, Act Method.
We are used to dividing up the year into four seasons. Football fans in a similar way divide their favorite game into four quarters. Baseball is well known as a nine-inning game. When it comes to dividing time as Christians, we think of ancient time as connected with the Father, the life of Jesus as tied to the life of the Son, and after his death and resurrection as a time connected with God’s Holy Spirit. This Sunday marks the celebration of beginning of that third period of time, the time you and I now live in.
It is important to keep in mind that during all three of these historical periods, God was immediately present here on Earth. Further, God is present before, during and after the existence of the universe. But the divine presence is understood in different ways during history, typically centered around the lifetime of Jesus.
Let’s call our present time as Phase Three of the Divine Plan for us. A first thought is this: God is currently present everywhere, but especially so in us. The Gospel today states that God’s Spirit was breathed into us. (It’s interesting to know that the word spirit and breath are the same word in biblical Hebrew.) There is also reference to God’s presence coming to us during both the Church’s baptism and confirmation rituals.
Here, I suggest a few ways we might gain a fuller awareness of the presence of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives. There are thousands of ways we might affirm God’s presence, but here are some I find helpful.
The Holy Spirit is presence and active in us when we:
- Help anyone in need.
- Notice the beauty of Nature.
- Take a deep breath to rejuvenate ourselves.
- Get a new idea.
- Solve a problem.
- Complete a project.
- Make a new discovery.
- Overcome a difficulty.
- Enjoy music or an artistic creation.
- Or, one of my favorites, enjoying a sunrise or sunset
- And knowing who to thank.
©David M. Thomas, PhD