Day of Pentecost (Year 4, NL)

Why are you and I offered this wonderful performance on this Advent Sunday? Because although it may be winter in the realm of nature, it is springtime in the realm of the spirit and of our Christian hearts. We are not far from the fields and caves of Bethlehem. But before we come to them, we need to know that every one of these songs was sung in spite of the times. Knowing this, it is salutary to look once again at the extraordinary joy that bubbles forth.

"When the Counselor comes!" What was Jesus trying to tell us? His words came after an embarrassing incident. When none of us disciples was willing to wash someone else's feet, Jesus did it. Our rabbi and leader. Not until much later would we understand what he was doing; on that night we could only listen and try to make sense of his words.

In the original Christian Pentecost are seeds of a universalist impulse, a catholic principle.

Paul refuses to let God become just another novelty.

You can’t micromanage a road trip. The wind blows where it wills.

Again and again in scripture, pounding hearts become burning hearts.

As a seminarian, I never seemed to be there when Jesus arrived.