Reuben's Theme: "The Holy Spirit is with you!"
(Whit Sunday) - MORNING MASS
0930hrs at Saint Aidan's Church - Billy Mill.
Sunday, 8th. June 2003 Anno Domini.
Morning Mass: Acts: 2.1-21 Ps: 124: 25-35,37 Romans: 8.22-27 John: 12.26-27, 16.4b-15

June 8, 2003 Cycle B Whit Sunday (Pentecost).

COLLECT OF THE DAY

God, who as at this time taught the hearts of your faithful people
by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit:
grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things
and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort;
through the merits of Christ Jesus our Saviour,
who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.


Morning Mass:

FIRST READING Acts 2.1-21

A reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem.
And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in their native language. Amazed and astonished, they asked, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?
Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs - in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power.'
All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, 'What does this mean?'
But others sneered and said, 'They are filled with new wine.'
But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them, 'Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: "In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show portents in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist. The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."'

PSALM Psalm 104.25-35, 37

RR Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and renew the face of the earth.

O Lord, how manifold are your works! in wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. RR
Yonder is the great and wide sea with its living things too many to number, creatures both small and great. There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which you have made for the sport of it. RR
All of them look to you to give them their food in due season. You give it to them, they gather it; you open your hand and they are filled with good things. You hide your face and they are terrified; you take away their breath and they die and return to their dust. RR
You send forth your Spirit and they are created; and so you renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever; may the Lord rejoice in all his works. He looks at the earth and it trembles; he touches the mountains and they smoke. RR
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will praise my God while I have my being. May these words of mine please him; I will rejoice in the Lord. Bless the Lord, O my soul, Alleluia! RR


SECOND READING Romans 8.22-27

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Romans.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen?
But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.
And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

GOSPEL John 15.26-27, 16.4b-15

Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
[Jesus spoke to his disciples:]
'When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.
You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.
I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.
I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.
But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, "Where are you going?"
But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.'

POST COMMUNION

Faithful God, who fulfilled the promises of Easter by sending us your Holy Spirit and opening to every race and nation the way of life eternal:
open our lips by your Spirit, that every tongue may tell of your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reuben's Theme: "The Holy Spirit is with you!"

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

It's wonderful to be here again.... ...and by an enormous coincidence...

Last year - I was here on Whit Sunday...

Whit Sunday - A very special day...

The most wonderful thing that you could possibly imagine happened, on this day, about one thousand, nine hundred and seventy years ago!

At the time, though, things didn't seem to be going well at all.

As it says in our first reading today...
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Let's try to picture what's going on here.

Matthias, had been selected from the disciples to replace Judas - we heard about that in our first reading last week.
It was the feast of Pentecost. All twelve apostles were in one place.
It seemed as though everything had gone wrong.
Jesus' death has been a tremendous shock to the disciples.
Things hadn't happened the way they had expected.

But, Jesus conquered death and appeared to them several times.

Our Gospel reading today takes us back to before The Crucifixion...
Jesus, trying to explain what is going to happen.
"When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf."
And now, it's happening!
But what is going to happen?
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place, hiding in a room.
They are alone... ...well they think they are.
Jesus has ascended into Heaven.
They are frightened, unsure of themselves and feeling very vulnerable.
All that Jesus has told them is still echoing in their minds...
...but they can't make sense of it all.

Again from our Gospel reading today...
"You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning."
They don't feel much like testifying...
They need help... ...LOTS of help!

Jesus had gone and they are beginning to think that it's all gone wrong.
"...if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you."
Who is this 'Advocate'? Who is this who is coming?
They still don't understand all that Jesus told them.
They can't fathom it out.
They have all the information, they just don't have the skill to put it all together.
The apostles are in a room, all by themselves, somewhat lost, rather dejected and very frightened...

Jesus has ascended to heaven...
They are alone...
They are all that is left of the Christian Church... ...in one room.

Outside the room, in which they are secretly meeting, Jerusalem is very busy!
As it says in our first reading, "Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem."

Let's get this clear in our minds...
Jerusalem was packed!
There were thousands upon thousands of Jews in Jerusalem.
Jews who had travelled from everywhere to be there.

We're not talking about your average run of the mill, ordinary Jew here.
We're talking about devout, fundamentalist, hard-line, 'must - be - in - Jerusalem - for - Pentecost' Jews...

Not the sort of people our lonely band of Christians think they want to be talking to about Jesus.

The coming of the Holy Spirit!

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.

You may remember, when I preached to you last year, that I talked about this most peculiar event...

When something you didn't understand suddenly makes sense.
When the penny drops and it all becomes clear.
Such an occurrence often symbolised by a light bulb which appears in a thought balloon above the head.

They didn't have electricity in those days, so fire is the best symbol to use...

To symbolise something wonderful!

The fire that burned inside them!

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Yes, suddenly the apostles not only understood what it's all about, but they could explain it, in their own way, to anyone... ...and be understood!

So, what we have here, is a city packed full of devout Jews who are there for the feast of Pentecost...

...and in a room, hidden away, in the middle of all this, there are twelve Christians who have just got the plot!

They are so elated that they can't keep quiet!

And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, 'Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? What does this mean?'

Suddenly all of the apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to speak so that everyone can understand them.

The Holy Spirit has come among them.
The penny has dropped... ...Suddenly they understand.
They are so overjoyed, so moved, so very excited...

...and so very talkative.

Jews gather outside, remember as it says, Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven - in Jerusalem.

"What is going on?" they ask.
Jews from all nations can understand everything these Galileans are saying and are therefore a little confused.
"Are these Galileans drunk?"
Peter (my hero) he has to speak up.
Peter raises his voice and speaks to them.

As I said last year, today is not just about what Peter says, it's about what gave him the ability and courage to say it, and to say it so very effectively.

So, Peter raises his voice and speaks to them.

Filled with the Holy Spirit, he starts on a light-hearted note:
"Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, listen to me, I have something very important to say. These men aren't drunk, it's only nine o'clock in the morning."
I never can work out if this is Peter's naive logic, or his Jewish wit.
There's got to be some "Peter Logic" in there somewhere, but deep down I think he was winning the crowd over with his gentle humour.

Peter continues on a more serious note... "No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel" ...and quoting from the prophet Joel...
...this lovely man, who tried so hard to get it right (and often got it wrong)... ...this lovely man is now getting it right.

Quoting from the prophet Joel, Peter preaches the first Christian sermon, and concludes...

"Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Everything has become clear to him, and indeed to the other apostles.

Peter preached the first Christian sermon.

Right there in Jerusalem.

At Pentecost!

Among thousands upon thousands of Jews.

The very people they had been hiding from only a short time ago!

Peter, an ordinary fisherman.

Peter, who was the first to recognise Jesus as the Messiah.

Peter who, Jesus said, would be the rock on which our Church would be built.

This Peter had spoken so powerfully, and with such conviction, that he had an enormous effect on the now enormous crowd that had built up.

A Christian preaching to Jews!

Peter preaches Christianity to them...
...which should have been a very dangerous thing to do.

BUT IT WASN'T.

Well, it's not in the reading today, but the story does continue...

About 3,000 Jews turned to Jesus.

Peter preached the word of God...
...and about 3,000 Jews became Christians.

Peter preached the word of God...
...and about 3,000 Jews were Baptized that very day.

About one thousand, nine hundred and seventy years ago, the Christian Church was born.

The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and through them the power of God was made known to the world.

So, what about us, today?

Don't expect the sound of rushing wind and tongues like fire.

You and I receive the Holy Spirit in many ways.

We ask to be sent out in the power of God's Spirit, to live and work to His praise and glory.

We pray for the Grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, to be with us all, evermore.

During the Eucharistic Prayer, to which we all must say "Amen", we receive something that is given to us with the direct authority of Peter himself.
With the authority of Peter, passed on in the laying on of hands by the Bishop who ordained him, Fr. Roger, holding his hands up, will say something like, "...renew us by your Spirit, inspire us with your love, and unite us in the body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord...."
During the Eucharistic Pray, Fr. Roger, with authority passed down from Peter himself, will call upon the Holy Spirit to come upon us.

Us, the few Christians here in this church...

Us, the few Christians here in this room...

You are not alone! WE are not alone!

We receive the Holy Spirit in so many ways...

The Lord asked the disciples to the have courage to announce the Gospel, without worrying about the resistance and hostility they were to encounter. They were able to do this only by receiving the Holy Spirit.

The presence of the Spirit in the Church, in each one of us, must lead us to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Show the world outside that we are Christians - and not be frightened!

We are few, here at Saint Aidan's Church, at the moment, but that can change because we have hope and the Holy Spirit.

Paul says, in our second reading today, "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness..."

Today, is a day to make a fresh start.

Today, like every Sunday, we receive the Holy Spirit.

Today, we leave this room, knowing we are not alone.

Today is a day to start afresh...
...to build on God's Church here at Saint Aidan's.

We must let the Holy Spirit work within us.

You must let the Holy Spirit work within YOU.

The Church here at Saint Aidan's WILL grow.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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