Reflections on the Readings
Pentecost Sunday - June 8, 2014 - Year A
I Highly Recommend It!
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. (Acts 2:1-4 NRSVCE)
"Someone with an experience is no match for someone with an argument!" my Pentecostal friend declared. My friend was bolstering his claim that non-Pentecostals who argue against the Pentecostal experience (the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues as understood by most traditional Pentecostals) need a deeper encounter with Jesus who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
My Pentecostal roots reach back for four generations; a movement of the Holy Spirit that broke out at the turn of the 20th century. This is my heritage. I was Pentecostal back in the day before the modern Charismatic (whether Catholic or Protestant) movement; before it was acceptable and cool.
David du Plessis, a South African-born Pentecostal minister was invited to the Vatican in the days of Pope Paul VI to offer an explanation of what Pentecostals meant by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Pastor du Plessis was instrumental in introducing the Pentecostal blessing to the established historic churches including the Catholic Church. Consequently, broad acceptance of the Pentecostal message began to take place. I'm personally convinced that had it not been for David du Plessis, an anointed ambassador of the Pentecostal movement, there may not have been a Charismatic movement that has swept into every major Christian denomination including the Catholic Church in the last 50 years.
Cindy Wooden of the Catholic News Service reported on the recent June 1st gathering in Rome of 50,000 Catholic Charismatics in the Olympic Stadium in that city. According to the the CNS report, the crowd included charismatics from 55 countries of the world. Pope Francis invited them to come to St. Peter's Square in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic movement. The news story notes that the Catholic Charismatic movement traces its origins to a retreat held in 1967 with students and staff from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
Pope Francis told the gathering that, "In the early days of the charismatic renewal in Buenos Aires, I did not have much love for charismatics." "I said of them: They seem like a samba school." Little by little, however, the Pope explained that he came to see how much good the movement was doing for Catholics and for the Church.
CNS reports that the celebration in Rome's Olympic Stadium began with the song, "Vive Jesus, El Señor," (Jesus, the Lord, Lives") a Spanish-language song which Pope Francis — who claims he is tone deaf — joined in singing with his hands open like many in the crowd. The pope says he likes the song, which charismatics in Argentina also sing.
"When I celebrated the Holy Mass with the charismatic renewal in Buenos Aires cathedral, after the consecration and after a few seconds of adoration in tongues, we sang this song with such joy and strength," he said.
Dr. Alan Schreck, professor of theology at Franciscan University in Stuebenville, OH has written a very helpful book Your Life in the Holy Spirit (What every Catholic needs to know and experience.) He suggests in the appendix of his book a way to invite the charismatic expressions within the Liturgy. Indeed, when I was a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church, this was invited within the context of the Liturgy. It seems to me this, the charismata and their expression, is also a gift of the Eucharistic Liturgy and of the renewal of the Church in both its worship of God and its witness to the world.
The scripture reading says that on the day of Pentecost 'they were all together in one place.' Who are 'they?' In Acts 1:12-15 we read that it was a company of about 120 persons, including the Apostles, together with the women witnesses of the resurrection and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers. And when the Holy Spirit descended with the 'sound' of a mighty rushing wind, every last one of them spoke in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them to speak.
In 1974 my dad accepted a call from the South Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church to become a UMC pastor. Dad sold the house to the next door neighbor and he and mom and my siblings packed their lives and memories and moved to South Arkansas where daddy accepted his first appointment in the UMC. Not long after he arrived the Board of Ordained Ministry interviewed him to outline daddy's educational formation for ordination. Knowing his Pentecostal background they asked him how he would handle his understanding of the Holy Spirit and of speaking in tongues. I don't think they saw it coming. Daddy responded, "I can not deny what God has done for me and I would never force it on anyone. However, I highly recommend it!"
Me too, daddy. Me too! Amen.
Dennis Hankins is a parishioner at Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral, of the Diocese of Knoxville, TN. Prior to uniting with the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil 2006, Dennis served as a priest in the Charismatic Episcopal Church. E-mail Dennis at: dennishankins@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter: @dshankins or visit him at: www.dennishankins.com
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