May 9, 2010 SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
9 MAY 2010, 5:15, 8:00, 10:00
READINGS: Acts, 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23; John 14:23-29
SAINT MARY PARISH, VIROQUA
Introduction: The readings for this, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, speak to us of the importance of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church, in our lives.
1. First, a story! Once upon a time we captured God and we put God in a box and we put a beautiful velvet curtain around the box. We placed candles and flowers around the box and we said to the poor and the dispossessed, “Come! Come and see what we have! Come and see God!” And they knelt before the God in the box. One day, very long ago, the Spirit in the box turned the key from the inside and pushed it open. The Spirit looked around the church and saw that there was no one there! Everyone had gone. Not a soul was in the place. The Spirit said, “I’m getting out!” The Spirit shot out of the box. The Spirit escaped and has been sighted many times since then. The Spirit was last seen with a bag lady in McDonald’s. Indeed, since our Baptism, and even more since our Confirmation, the Spirit of God dwells in us. We are mediators of his life to others.
2. Now, he does not dwell in us inertly but in a vibrant fashion. Many of you know the wonderful legend of Saint Christopher. At a young age this giant of a man decided to serve the most powerful king on the earth. One day when he was listening to a minstrel sing to his master, the minstrel sang a song that made reference to the devil. Each time he did so, the king crossed himself. Christopher asked why. The king answered, “So the demon will not gain power over me.” “Well, if the devil is stronger,” Christopher said, “I will go to serve him.” So Christopher enrolled in the devil’s army. One day passing with his master before a cross he noticed the devil was trembling. “Why?” asked Christopher. “Are you afraid?” “Yes,” the devil answered, “I fear Christ.” “Then, I am going in search of this Christ,” said Christopher. “A holy hermit offered to instruct him. “What must I do?” asked the giant. “Fast and pray,” he replied. “Until I learn my prayers can I do something else?” The hermit showed Christopher a turbulent river in which many people had been drowned. “If you stay here to take the travelers across for nothing, it will be a charitable work for which Christ will be grateful.” Christopher ferried people across the river. One day it happened that he was hailed by a child. As he carried this child on his shoulders across the river he grew heavier and heavier. When he finally placed him safely on the other side the child revealed himself to Christopher as the Infant Jesus, and, in fact, gave Christopher his name. Christopher means “Christ-bearer.” We are all to be “Christophers.” Wherever we go, we carry Christ with us.
3. The smallest, poorest, least educated person can be a Christopher. Someone once asked a Jewish rabbi, “Why did God choose to speak to Moses through a common thorn bush?” The rabbi answered, “Yes, it might have been a sycamore tree or a giant redwood. But God teaches us that there is no place devoid of God’s presence, not even a thorn bush.” Meister Eckhart, a spiritual writer of 14th century wrote, “The seed of God is in us. Now the seed of a pear tree grows into a pear tree, and a hazel seed into a hazel tree; a seed of God grows into God.”
Conclusion: The Spirit of God is within us. May we carry God’s presence everywhere we go!