*Homily Notes*
Have you ever had the experience of being next to a fire in the midst of a cold night?
Perhaps it was in the fireplace of your home in the winter
Or outside somewhere on a chilly summer night
The closer you get to that fire, the warmer you get
And as you watch the crackling flames, sometimes you can just get lost in time
As though you’re watching a sunset
The full combination of the sounds, the sight, and the warmth almost seems to penetrate straight to the soul and warm us up.
My brothers and sisters, today is the feast of Pentecost
It is the birthday of the Church
When Jesus fulfilled His promise to send the Holy Spirit upon His disciples
To fill them with His very life
To help them understand the gifts that God give them as part of His Divine plan
Scripture tells us that the room filled with a tunneling wind
And tongues of fire appeared over each of their heads
They were to use this fire not just for themselves
But to warm the world
To be a light for the world
And tradition tells us that each one accomplished this task in His or Her own way
One mission
But different ways of spreading the Word on Fire – The Good News of Jesus Christ
Today my friends Pentecost is still happening
The Holy Spirit is very much still active in the world today
We’ve received His light,
We continue to receive His gifts every time we celebrate the sacraments
We receive the fire of His love every time we get lost in prayer
When minutes feel like seconds…when hours feel like minutes
But we cannot hold the Flame of Hope to ourselves
The Lord invites us to carry out His mission to warm the world.
He calls us to spread the Fire of His Love.
How do we do this?
Think about the last time someone did something nice for you or said something kind to you.
How did that make you feel?
It warmed you up on the inside.
It warmed the other person up as well.
How much better of a world would we live in if people sought to do this constantly?
To go out of our way to help each other... to build each other up?
The next time you find yourself in front of a fire or before you go to bed each night ---
Ask yourself: "what did I do today to warm the world around me...what did I do to spread the fire of the Holy Spirit?"
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