PENTECOST SUNDAY, 2012
JOHN 15:26-27; 16:12-15
SOMETHING MOMENTOUS
HAPPENED THIS LAST WEEK, AT LEAST, MOMENTOUS TO MY EXTENDED FAMILY.
MY UNCLE PAUL KLEFFNER PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 95. HE'D BEEN ONE
OF TWELVE CHILDREN, TWO OF WHOM DIED IN INFANCY. HE WAS THE LAST OF
HIS GENERATION TO GO.
HE AND HIS BROTHERS AND
SISTERS HAD A STRONG SENSE OF FAMILY. THEY LOOKED OUT FOR EACH
OTHER. ANOTHER UNCLE OF MINE HAD LEFT THE CHURCH MANY YEARS AGO; HAD
BEEN MARRIED AND DIVORCED SEVERAL TIMES. WHEN HE WAS DYING, MY UNCLE
PAUL TRAVELED FROM MONTANA TO CALIFORNIA TO SIT WITH HIM AND
ULTIMATELY PERSUADE HIM TO RECEIVE THE LAST SACRAMENTS. ALTHOUGH HE
HAD EIGHT CHILDREN OF HIS OWN, HE WAS ALWAYS WILLING TO LISTEN TO MY
PROBLEMS AND GIVE ME GOOD ADVICE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP – AND I WAS
ONLY ONE OF HIS NIECES AND NEPHEWS WHO HAD THAT EXPERIENCE.
AND NOW HE'S GONE. BUT
HIS FAMILY LIVES ON. WHEN WE OLDER COUSINS GET TOGETHER, ONE OF US
WILL SAY SOMETHING OR DO SOMETHING, AND THE OTHERS WILL OFFER THE
OPINION THAT THAT IS A TYPICAL KLEFFNER THING TO SAY OR DO. WHEN I
WAS ABOUT 30 YEARS OLD, SOMEONE TOLD ME I HAD THE KLEFFNER SENSE OF
HUMOR – AND I WAS GLAD TO HEAR IT, BECAUSE I REALLY ADMIRED THAT
SENSE OF HUMOR IN MY MOTHER, MY UNCLES AND MY AUNTS. AND MANY OF MY
COUSINS AND THEIR CHILDREN HAVE “GREEN THUMBS” AND SPEND A LOT OF
TIME WITH GROWING PLANTS. ONE OF MY NON-KLEFFNER AUNTS ONCE OBSERVED
THAT KLEFFNERS WERE HAPPIEST WHEN THEIR HANDS WERE DEEP IN THE DIRT.
MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO
JOSEPH KLEFFNER AND CLARA BOGNER, FIRST GENERATION AMERICANS OF
GERMAN STOCK, GOT MARRIED AND BEGAN TO FORM A FAMILY. BUT EVEN
THERE, THEY WERE PART OF THEIR OWN FAMILIES. IN A SENSE, THE
KLEFFNER FAMILY GOES WAY BACK, AND GOES FORWARD. IT WON'T ALWAYS
LOOK THE SAME, OR HAVE THE SAME NAME, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING REAL
HERE, EVEN THOUGH WE CAN'T PUT OUR FINGER ON IT.
THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHOM WE
CELEBRATE TODAY, IS SOMETHING LIKE THE ESSENCE OF A FAMILY. IN A
HUMAN FAMILY, ALTHOUGH WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS, WE SHARE A COMMON
STORY; WE HAVE TRAITS THAT IDENTIFY US AS MEMBERS OF THE FAMILY, LIKE
A SENSE OF HUMOR OR A LOVE FOR GREEN PLANTS; WE HANG TOGETHER EVEN
THOUGH IF WE WEREN'T RELATED, WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO
DO WITH EACH OTHER; AND WE LOOK OUT FOR EACH OTHER.
GOD THE FATHER GENERATES
THE SON; THE LOVE THEY HAVE FOR EACH OTHER, THEIR RELATIONSHIP, IS
THE HOLY SPIRIT, A PERSON EQUAL TO THE FATHER AND THE SON IN ALL WAYS
EXCEPT FOR HIS PLACE IN THE TRINITY. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS ALWAYS AT
WORK BUILDING UP THIS FAMILY. SAINT PAUL CALLS HIM THE SPIRIT OF
ADOPTION – BECAUSE HE WORKS TO MAKE SONS AND DAUGHTERS FOR THE
FATHER OUT OF LOWLY HUMAN BEINGS. ONLY CHRISTIANS REFER TO GOD AS
FATHER, AND WE HAVE THAT RIGHT BECAUSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THROUGH
WHOM THE FATHER LOOKS UPON EACH OF US AS HIS OWN BELOVED CHILD.
THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE
SPIRIT OF TRUTH. HE REMINDS US OF OUR FAMILY HISTORY, OF HOW OUR
OLDER BROTHER JESUS DIED FOR US. HE LIVES IN THE CHURCH JESUS
FOUNDED SO THAT WE CAN BE SURE ITS TEACHINGS ARE FROM GOD. HE HELPS
US DEVELOP THOSE FAMILY TRAITS WHICH MARK US AS CHRISTIANS, AS
BROTHERS AND SISTERS OF JESUS. YOU HEARD THOSE FAMILY TRAITS TODAY:
LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GENEROSITY, FAITHFULNESS,
GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL.
HE IS THE SPIRIT OF LIFE.
SAINT PAUL TELLS US THAT THE SAME SPIRIT WHO RAISED UP JESUS FROM
THE DEAD, WILL RAISE US UP AS WELL.
AND HE IS THE SPIRIT OF
GLORY. GLORY BELONGS TO GOD ALONE; BUT THE SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US
GIVES US A SHARE IN THAT GLORY. AND THERE IS GREAT CONSOLATION FOR A
CHRISTIAN IN REMEMBERING THAT THE GREATEST GLORY COMES IN SUFFERING –
NOWHERE DID JESUS SHOW GOD'S GLORY MORE PROFOUNDLY THAN ON THE CROSS.
MY UNCLES AND AUNTS
ALWAYS ENJOYED GETTING TOGETHER, EVEN INTO THEIR OLD AGES. THEY
WOULD GATHER OVER A MEAL, TEASE EACH OTHER, TELL STORIES, MAKE JOKES;
THE YEARS WOULD FALL AWAY. THAT IS A TRAIT OF HAPPY FAMILIES. WHEN
I VISIT MY COUSINS OR MY SISTERS, ITS THE SAME; AND I SEE MY OWN
CHILDREN DOING THIS AS WELL; THEY ARE PART OF THE KLEFFNER FAMILY,
BUT A NEW FAMILY AS WELL, ONE JOAN AND I STARTED BACK IN 1966. WE
FEEL OUR FAMILY TIES THE STRONGEST WHEN WE GATHER TOGETHER. AND THE
HOLY SPIRIT DRAWS US TOGETHER IN HOLY MASS, WHERE WE EAT TOGETHER,
WHERE WE PRAISE OUR FATHER, WHERE WE LISTEN TO THE TEACHINGS OF OUR
BROTHER JESUS. A PERSON BECOMES MORE THAN HIMSELF IN THE PRESENCE OF
HIS FAMILY, AND THAT'S EXACTLY THE REASON THE SPIRIT BRINGS US
TOGETHER – TO MAKE US MORE THAN WE COULD EVER BE BY OURSELVES
ALONE.
THE FIRST FAMILY OF THE
UNIVERSE, THE FATHER WHO CANNOT BE FATHER WITHOUT THE SON, AND THE
SON WHO CANNOT BE SON WITHOUT THE FATHER, ARE BOUND IN THE
RELATIONSHIP CALLED THE HOLY SPIRIT. AND THE HOLY SPIRIT WORKS TO
CALL US INTO THE FAMILY OF GOD, THE TRINITY.
SO ON THIS FEAST OF THE
HOLY SPIRIT, LET US ASK HIM THAT THOSE FAMILY TRAITS BELONGING TO THE
FATHER AND THE SON WILL BECOME MORE AND MORE RECOGNIZEABLE IN US.
LET US ASK THAT OUR SENSE OF FAMILY, OUR SENSE OF KINSHIP WITH EACH
OTHER AND WITH JESUS AND MARY AND THE SAINTS, WILL GROW STRONGER, SO
THAT WE WILL ALWAYS BE CONSCIOUS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP, SO THAT WE WILL
AVOID WORDS OR ACTIONS WHICH REFLECT BADLY ON OUR FAMILY. AND LET US
ASK HIM TO SHOW SOME OF GOD'S GLORY TO OTHERS THROUGH US, ESPECIALLY
AT THE TIME WE SUFFER, AS WE ALL MUST SUFFER SOONER OR LATER.
BECAUSE HE IS THE SPIRIT OF LIFE, AND ETERNAL LIFE IS OUR FAMILY
INHERITANCE.
MY UNCLE PAUL HAS PASSED
AWAY, THE LAST OF HIS GENERATION; HIS FAMILY LIVES ON, BUT WILL
BECOME MORE AND MORE DILUTED AS HIS CHILDREN AND NIECES AND NEPHEWS
BUILD THEIR OWN FAMILIES. BUT THE ESSENCE OF GOD'S FAMILY, THE HOLY
SPIRIT, MAKES ALL THINGS NEW, AND KNITS ALL OF US INTO THE CHANGELESS
FAMILY OF THE TRINITY. COME, HOLY SPIRIT, COME!
