The entrance is one of peace. Hopefully, I pray, the same way we enter the Upper Room here on Grove Street; with peace. The entry brings peace, and just before the departure of Jesus he brings forgiveness of sins. Notice that there’s nothing negative or harsh about our Lord? Entering their presence after the resurrection, he doesn’t say to them, “Why did you all run away from me when I needed you most? Why did you all skedaddle to the four winds like a bunch of frightened sheep and leave me standing there in the midst of a slew of angry men with clubs and torches and bad intent? Some friends you are! Why didn’t you get arrested with me?”
He enters with peace. “Peace be with you.” He enters with peace because he loves those that he chose for a great purpose called the Kingdom of Heaven. The same way he comes to us in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist; in peace. Have you ever seen an angry Eucharist of all the times you’ve received our Lord? I haven’t. Christ entering our room is always an experience of peace. How blessed are we to have the Eucharist?
And, it certainly takes a person of peace, a hater of violence, to offer forgiveness: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them.” We all know that very difficult word; forgiveness. Forgiveness and suffering are the two hardest words in any language. We want nothing to do with both. And sometimes when we suffer – and I’ve witnessed this – we may believe it’s because God hasn’t forgiven us of some past indiscretion. This image of God that says, “He sent me this suffering because he hasn’t forgiven my saying one bad word on the golf course 7 years ago. Now I have heart disease because of it!” This is a skewed image of God. He enters with peace. They left him high and dry when being arrested and crucified. He comes back to them with, “Peace be with you.” And, “Forgive sins.” Peace and forgiveness. We can’t have one without the other.
In our celebration of Pentecost, God knows we need help to succeed at the seemingly impossible. We’re presented the opportunity to arrive at the solemn understanding that the Spirit of God, the breath of Jesus and the Father, makes possible what we may think not possible. The Spirit who is Holy, when called upon, gives us the joy to resurrect the good after times of human weakness. The peace that Jesus brings with him into the Upper Room was not for Apostles only, by a longshot. The Spirit of his breath presents the great possibility of practicing virtues that on our own would not be possible.
God walks with us. I can assure you as priest that I am a big-time, major failure without the Spirit of God working through all that a priest can do. I would be as bad as all those Red Sox teams that had no clue about how to win a World Series. They floundered; they got scared; they were divided; they looked like the Bad News Bears. How would you like a priest like that? You don’t have to answer that question.
Yet, I have no greater capacity for the Spirit than you do. In fact, some of you have way more Pentecost than yours truly, and I want some of your portion. The way Bridget sang Ave Maria last Sunday for Mother’s Day… and the way Henry played the organ for it. Lots and lots of Spirit there!
But at the heart of the mission before us is spreading peace and forgiveness. That’s the truest definition of Pentecost, because it reflects to perfection the love of Jesus Christ after his resurrection. Peace and forgiveness is the message when he enters the Upper Room where he gave us his Body & Blood. It’s so God-like that peace and forgiveness would be extended in the same room where he left us this testament of his abiding presence. The Eucharist offers us the grace to move mountains; especially the Rocky mountains and the Alps of peace and forgiveness.
For those who believe that God comes to us with an angry pointed finger, this Gospel disproves that belief, as do many other Gospel stories of Christ. Jesus had every opportunity to come at them with a Pentecost of anger because they ran away like the Road Runner when our Lord encountered Judas and the evil men. He comes back to them with forgiveness, not holding their cowardice against them, and offering his peace. This is how Christ comes to us.
The Spirit of Pentecost is a spirit of peace and forgiveness. We can’t have one without the other. Trying to do so is futile. May we bring the spirit of peace and forgiveness to those we encounter, knowing that our Risen Lord is the Source of both those virtues.