Pentecost Sunday 2010
Homily by Mother Mary Barnes osb
Be holy, says the Lord,
and I will multiply your number,
that you may pray for my people in this place.
Over the last few months, I have noticed how often the word “holy” has appeared in our liturgy readings. I was struck even more by this when in the last few weeks of Eastertide several times we sang that beautiful antiphon in the Commons booklet:
Be holy, says the Lord,
and I will multiply your number,
that you may pray for my people in this place.
That antiphon always calls out a response from me and I’m sure it does from you also. The Lord tells us that we have to be HOLY and then He will multiply our number so that we may pray for his people in this place. It is almost a command and most certainly a challenge: Be holy, and when you are holy, then I will multiply your number because I want you to pray for my people in this place!
Be holy! I suppose we would all like to be holy or regarded by others as holy – that would be the ultimate compliment wouldn’t it? But what does holiness really mean??? Just think for a moment……when you hear the word “holy” or “holiness” what does it mean to you? When you say someone “is holy” what do you mean? What is it about that person that arouses this sense of holiness?...........
I believe that holiness does not mean that we are always caught up in a state of prayer or meditation; that we are always present and always attentive and still during the liturgy. It does mean all that but it means more than that. If we are caught up in the heights of prayer and meditation but fail to love one another what sense does our prayer make?
I believe holiness means that we are open to sharing the fruits of the Holy Spirit which HAVE BEEN given to us. We have just had an intense experience of praying for the outpouring of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit through our Pentecost novena. Each night we listened to readings about the fruits and on Pentecost Sunday, in faith, we prayed for and believed that they were given to us – freely, lavishly and powerfully.
Have we now just moved on from there? Filing this experience away in our hearts as we have filed our Easter and novena books? Or are we ready to really claim the full force of the Holy Spirit here and now, allowing him to blow through us and change our lives – just as he changed the lives of Mary and the disciples on that first Pentecost?
In our daily living are we bearing the fruits of: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Self-control? These are indications of the presence of the Holy Spirit. These are the signs of a holy person. We cannot be before God in times of prayer and not before him in our interactions and relationships with one another. “By their fruits you will know them.” If we are bearing the gifts and fruits of the Spirit then we belong to the Spirit and are being led by the Spirit.
We are called to holiness not just in our prayer but in our living as St Bernard says:
I rejoice that you belong to this school,
that is, the school of the Spirit,
where you learn goodness, and discipline and knowledge etc.
We belong to this school of the Spirit where we learn to receive the gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, holiness and fear of the Lord and learn to bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. We are always learning – making mistakes but picking ourselves up and trying again. If we are bringing forth the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our daily interactions with one another and with all who come to the abbey then surely we are living the call to holiness.
The Holy Spirit is the principal teacher in the monastery. Jesus promised the Paraclete, the Spirit of holiness, who would lead us into all truth. If we are listening, with open ears and hearts and minds, the Spirit will burst forth within us and help us to walk in the spirit of Gospel holiness.
Because we have enrolled in the school of the Spirit daily he teaches us through the scriptures and through the Eucharist. But he also teaches and encourages us through the Church, the spiritual writings of our monastic forebears, through creation and through the good example of others - especially those with whom we live. Everywhere the Spirit of God is active and alive and it is up to us to give good example and encouragement to one another and be open to recognising and embracing the gifts and the fruits of the Spirit.
It would be a great shame if we became a stumbling block for another sister in the community and this can be the case sometimes can’t it? We can so very easily threaten, obscure or obstruct the freedom of another to grow in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
So let us encourage and support one another by sharing the gifts that have been given to us by the Spirit of God. Let us live lives of holiness. How often in the Old Testament do we hear the words: “Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” We are called to be like God…..holy. That is a rather awesome thought isn’t it? He is laying the gauntlet at our feet –
“Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”
are we going to take it up?
Let us share the holiness of God with one another in our daily living and rise above the little misunderstandings and frictions. We are called to something much greater – to be as holy as God!
Be holy, says the Lord,
and I will multiply your number,
that you may pray for my people in this place.